The German Democratic Republic lasted for 41 years. Nowadays, it seems completely inexplicable to some why a large part of the GDR citizens wanted to leave and why they rebelled back then. "It wasn't all bad," and "At least we all had jobs back then" – memories of the GDR are often accompanied by nostalgia and half-truths. Facts are repressed, summarizes Pastor Werner Braune, who experienced the entire period of the GDR.

The author reports soberly on the grievances of the GDR, against which employees of the church and diaconate fought, how they advocated for the disabled, how vital relationships were, and how much strength and effort were needed in everyday life. Braune tells this authentically. Deeply personal experiences also come to life: how he visited Honecker in the hospital, confronted a Stasi employee at the door, and one day smuggled dissidents into West Germany. An unvarnished perspective of a pastor on four decades of GDR history.