Anna Funder
Anna is the author of the book, a journalist who traveled to Germany in work interest. There, she decided to study the Stasi and the people who were affected by the Stasi and she began interviewing people who had connection with the Stasi or people who once worked for them. Anna talked both with people who worked for the Stasi and who were proud of what they did and with people influenced by the Stasi and pressured to do something they did not want to do. Anna is affected by the stories she hears and her recollection of the stories is important because it presents the horrible events that took place in Germany both from an outsider’s point of view and from the point of view of someone who lived in the German society during the time when the Stasi were in power.
Miriam
Miriam is the first person Anna interviews while in Lipezing. Miriam is a woman who grew up in Germany during the time it was under Communist control. Miriam was incarcerated because she distributed fliers promoting ideas against the state and because her husband was also seen as being a dangerous person. Miriam remained a widow soon after and she even tried to escape from East Germany but was caught. Miriam returned to East Germany after the fall of the Wall to try and find what had happened to her husband and find out how he died.
Julia Behrend
Julia is another person interviewed by Anna. Julia was born into a relatively well-off family. When she was a teenager, she got involved with an Italian man, something frowned upon by the state. Julia ended up breaking her relationship with the Italian man but the state still continued to persecute her, making it almost impossible for her to get a job. In comparison with other people, Julia refused to let herself be bullied into accepting what she was told by the Stasi and eventually she was given the job as a secretary. Julia tells Anna that after the fall of the Wall, she was raped one night in an elevator and the event affected her everyday life. When Anna returns to Berlin in 2000, Julia moved to America where she became involved with various social movements.
Frau Paul
Paul is an elderly woman Anna talks with while she was in Berlin. Frau Paul was imprisoned by the Stasi because she tried to run away with her husband and child to the other side in order to provide their son with the best medical care. Paul was detained for two years and during that time, she was separated from her son.
Karl-Heinz Weber / “Charlie”
Charlie was Miriam’s husband, an intellectual who was not liked by the Stasi. Charlie was imprisoned in the 1970s and he died in prison. Initially, Miriam was told Charlie killed himself but she is sure Charlie was killed by the guards in the Stasi prison. Years later, Miriam still tried to find justice for her husband.
Klaus Jentzsch
Klaus is another man with whom Anna talks with. Klaus was a musician who unfortunately had to stop playing music because the state no longer gave him a permit to do it. When the Wall fell, Klaus found he and his band were famous on the other side both for their music and for their resilience against the regime.
Hagen Koch
Hagen is a former Stasi member with whom Anna talks with. Hagen joined the Stasi not because he wanted to, but because he was pressured into doing so. When he was a member of the Stasi, Hagen would often rebel in various ways and he found the strength and courage to leave the organization even though he knew his family would suffer. At the end of the book, Hagen works at a museum presenting the history behind the Stasi organization.
Karl-Eduard von Schnitzler
Karl-Eduard von Schnitzler was the head of the propaganda office in East Germany. Anna talks with him and learns more about the practices used by the State in that period to better control the people.
Erich Honecker
Erich Honecker was the Secretary of State when the Berlin Wall fell. Erich Honecker tried in the last days of his power to ease the tension by allowing people to cross form one side of Berlin to the other but in no vain. In comparison with Mielke, who was imprisoned for his crimes, Erich Honecker managed to flee the country and found refuge in Chile where he died a few years later.
Erich Mielke
Erich was the head of the Stasi before the fall of the Wall of Berlin. After the fall, Erich was tried and imprisoned for his actions Erich is mentioned by many characters in the book who criticize him and talk about his influence. Towards the end of his life, Mielke found out that he was followed as well by the Stasi. Mielke died shortly before Anna returned to Berlin in 2000.
