“Von der Sovietunion lernen heisst siegen lernen” the inscription reads (Learning from the Soviet Union is learning to win).” The German words are chiseled into a plaque at the foot of a large bronze that stands in the open field that surrounds the Military History Museum at Gatow airport in Berlin, Germany.

History of the Statue

Created in 1970 by East German sculptor, Gerhard Thieme, and commissioned by the command of the air defense of the National People’s Army of East Germany, the sculpture stood in Strausberg, a city east of Berlin, until 1994. Four years after German re-unification, it was relocated to its current location.

Meaning of the motto “Learning from the Soviet Union is Learning to Win”

Named “Waffenbrueder” (Brothers in Arms), the statue depicts two men: A Soviet comrade and a German pilot or astronaut. Judging from the body language, the Soviet brother is explaining something. In the 1970s when the bronze was created, East German leadership often portrayed East Germany as the little brother in awe to its big brother, the Soviet Union. “Learning from the Soviet Union means learning to win” was an East German doctrine until Mikhail Gorbachev came into power.

Created by East German sculptor Gerhard Thieme, the Waffenbrueder statue depicts the little East German brother learning from his big brother, the Soviet Union. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2019. www.walled-in-berlin.com

My reaction to the Brothers in Arms statue

When I saw the bronze for the first time, twenty years after German re-unification, I scoffed at the slogan. “Learning from the Soviet Union is learning to win” is pure propaganda, I thought. I had grown up in West Berlin during the Cold War and was inoculated against communist propaganda at an early age. Hadn’t the East German leadership maintained that East Germany’s standard of living would exceed West Germany’s living conditions in short order? Hadn’t they proclaimed that the goals of each successive five-year economic plan had not only been met but had been exceeded every time? All lies. In reality, the East German state was close to bankruptcy and completely collapsed in 1989.

We need more critical thinkers

While I was inoculated against East German propaganda since I was a little girl, I never noticed, until years later, that the West promulgated its own propaganda, and West Berliners saw in America their big brother. Years later, American propaganda moved to a whole new level when ex-president Trump spread lies about his election loss and many believed them.  Regardless of the political system, leaders often activate the propaganda machine to influence the citizens. Only a population of critical thinkers, rather than followers, can thwart those efforts.

For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on my home page and feel free to follow my blog about anything German: historic or current events, people, places or food.

Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.