• Berlin Bulletin by Victor Grossman

    Devils and the Ukraine: Berlin Bulletin 204, September 21, 2022

    Am I mistaken in hearing echoes of grating radio voices from my childhood, in 1938, frightening even without translation, and omens of the giant tragedy which descended upon the world just one year later? Today’s tones are smoother, the words more circumspect, but I see election results in Spain, Italy, France, even Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands, the wrecking of the Labour Party in England and news from many regions of the USA—and I grow fearful.

  • Flag of East Germany

    My seventy years and the departed GDR

    It’s a momentous day! Not for the world–for which it’s nothing special. But for me!

  • Berlin Bulletin by Victor Grossman

    The war *Germany* the left: Berlin Bulletin No. 203, July 11, 2022

    In 1307 in Switzerland, so goes the legend, the Habsburg rulers’ local bailiff, Gessler, stuck his hat on a pole and commanded every passerby to salute it. Wilhelm Tell refused. As fearsome punishment he had to shoot an apple from his own little boy’s head with his crossbow. His aim was sure, the boy was safe. But “Gessler’s hat” still means forced obeisance to some symbol. Or else!

  • Berlin Bulletin by Victor Grossman

    Berlin  Munich  Kyiv: Berlin Bulletin No. 202, June 13, 2022

    The tide of public opinion in Germany is as overpowering–and changeable – as elsewhere: “Stop the Russian invasion!“ – “Defend Ukraine!”–“Send money”–“More, bigger, further-reaching weapons!”- “Defeat Russia!” Sustaining this tide is an all-encompassing media campaign.

  • Berlin Bulletin by Victor Grossman

    War and peace: Berlin Bulletin No. 201, May 2, 2022

    I’ve been toiling on this Berlin Bulletin for weeks, altering it, agonizing, starting anew. Events are simply too complicated and bitter–in the world and in Germany, too. Most dreadfully in Ukraine.

  • Berlin Bulletin by Victor Grossman

    Nonsense and panic: Berlin Bulletin no. 198, January 30, 2022

    Why do foolhardy spoilers insist on causing embarrassment? Why must out-of-step fools upset well-steered apple-carts? Why did German vice-admiral Kay-Achim Schönbach open his big mouth on Saturday in far-off Mumbai—and spill so many beans? Many or most U.S. media overlooked it—that is, buried it. Or emasculated it. In Germany they couldn’t fully ignore it—though unpleasant […]

  • Berlin Bulletin by Victor Grossman

    Shuffled cards: Berlin Bulletin No. 197, December 30, 2021

    After the German elections on September 26th it took, as usual, weeks and weeks for the three coalition parties to agree on one program, full of compromises, pledges and promises (some of which may even been be kept) and to resolve quarrels over who gets which cabinet seat.

  • Berlin Bulletin by Victor Grossman

    A hard loss and a triumph: Berlin Bulletin No. 196, September 30, 2021

    The most important election result is hardly discussed in the media—and when it is, then with satisfaction or joy. It is, in fact, a truly sad result. The Left (DIE LINKE) missed the red line level of 5%—but was miraculously saved by a special rule; if three or more delegates of a party win out in their own districts—with those first crosses—then their parties and their proportionate lists are saved, just as if they had reached 5%.

  • Berlin Bulletin by Victor Grossman

    Who with whom elections: Berlin Bulletin, no. 194, September 20, 2021

    In German elections—like the coming ones, as always on a Sunday—all you have to do is present the registration paper mailed to every citizen, then make crosses on a paper  ballot. No trouble with the boss, no missing work, long lines or quarrels about fraud or discrimination.  It sounds easy.

  • Berlin Bulletin by Victor Grossman

    Berlin Wall and Kaiser Palace: Berlin Bulletin No. 194 August 10, 2021

    Until 1989 that terrible Berlin Wall angered many an East German. The small part of Germany it helped preserve for 28 years was always the butt of anger, sarcasm, vituperation and resistance in one form or another.

  • Berlin Bulletin by Victor Grossman

    A happy warrior + Esther Bejarano + Presente: Berlin Bulletin No. 193 July 20, 2021

    Esther Bejarano’s death hits hard, leaving a painful gap in Germany’s anti-fascist scene. Most media and many politicians voiced their praise and mourning—after almost totally ignoring her in life and attacking and trying to squelch organizations she was active in, as an avowed Communist.

  • Berlin Bulletin by Victor Grossman

    Jack and Jill tumble: Berlin Bulletin No. 192, July 3, 2021

    After legally receiving a Christmas gift of 24,000 euros from her party, Annalena Baerbock somehow neglected to report it in her tax returns. No big deal, some might think, but after the scandals about Christian Democrats nobly enriching themselves when purchasing face-masks, and two far bigger scandals hanging over the head of the Social Democrats’ chancellor candidate Scholz (currently still Finance Minister), the squeaky clean reputation of the Greens had been a major asset. No longer!

  • Berlin Bulletin by Victor Grossman

    Donald Rumsfeld—RIP: Berlin Bulletin No. 191, July 3, 2021

    Don’t speak ill of the dead, they say, but if I were to choose candidates for a Hall of Evil Fame, I’d have to ignore such advice; the late Donald Rumsfeld would be close to the top of my list.

  • Berlin Bulletin by Victor Grossman

    Small State but big questions

    A week ago Saxony-Anhalt voted! The media prediction – a neck-and-neck race – was cock-eyed! But outside Sachsen-Anhalt (in German), did anyone really give a damn? Yes, some did!

  • Berlin Bulletin by Victor Grossman

    Anger and dismay

    “The Israeli warplanes bombed many different places in my area with more than 40 consecutive missiles, without issuing the prior warnings they used to issue in the past three wars. The sound of the bombing and shelling was so terrifying that I cannot describe it.”

  • Berlin Bulletin by Victor Grossman

    Greens, vaccines, maneuvers

    The Green party was at first an iconoclastic bunch, leftish, even radical. Its deputies, often women, showed up in the Bundestag knitting or even wearing woolen sweaters, shocking the conservatives. But its radicals grew older; many got rewarding professional jobs; its fundamentalist wing (“fundis“) lost out to the pragmatic “realos“ (realists). The Green retreat has continued ever since.

  • Berlin Bulletin by Victor Grossman

    Scandals, elections and emergencies

    Germany, once viewed as an exaggerated model of exactitude and discipline, is currently in a muddle.

  • Berlin Bulletin by Victor Grossman

    Surprise on the left

    Surprise, surprise! Things worked out quite differently than expected at the congress of the LINKE, the left-wing party.

  • Berlin Bulletin by Victor Grossman

    Echoes and elections

    The U.S.-American night-mare, tight-lipped and pouting, was finally forced to gallop off to its luxurious stable in Florida. Almost every European joined in “Hurrah!” cheers as it watched him go!

  • Berlin Bulletin by Victor Grossman

    An icy rally with burning demands

    The survival of polar bears, we know, is sadly threatened. The survival of a more colorful bear species seems assured. HARIBO (an acronym of HAns RIegel BOnn), which makes those little “gold bears” sweets, was founded in a laundry room in 1920.