‘I believed that Germany, given its history, would be the last place on earth to ever have anything to do with any form of totalitarianism again.’

Horst Pfeiffer, born in1956, was a production worker in the Cottbus textile factory. He frequently questioned the operational procedures there, and thought them to be too far away from democratic decision-making processes.

Two men, two paths—although many aspects of their lives are different, both men, due to their backgrounds, experienced the pain of extreme measures of deprivation, intimidation and ostracism. This two-part article will explore the main thing they have in common: a suppressive political system shaped their future.

Located on Museum Island, the Berlin Pergamon Museum is one of the city’s most popular tourist museums.