Hello, I am Sabine, (my friends call me Biene) I am 12 years old. I live in Berlin the Hauptstadt of the DDR. I live with my parents in a nice flat, provided by the state. My Mother is a housewife and my Father is an officer in the MfS. He has been to Africa and Cuba but I cannot say too much about that ! I have an older brother who now is in the MfS school in Potsdam. As well as being a Young Pioneer I go to school, when I am 14 I can join the FDJ (Freie Deutsche Jugend). I love my City and last year (1987) was its 750th Birthday we had lots of celebrations.
I don’t know if you have noticed, all my pictures have been updated. this was because my uniform was very dirty. Everything has now been replaced and I am a smart Thälmann Pioneer again I got into trouble for not keeping it clean !
Hello,I am Erika and together with Sabine we are this sites Mascots. I am also 12 and Sabine is my best friend. My Father is also an officer in the MfS and he works together with Sabine’s Father to keep our Republic safe. I have a older sister Hedi, who is in the FDJ. We live in the same block of flats and go to the same school.
Here we both are,together outside Alexanderplatz bahnhof
I like to read books, this one is “We bear Thälmann’s name, be worthy of him, pioneer!” It encourages us to be good citizens
Hello, I am Hedi, Erika’s sister. I am older 13.4 and I am now a FDJ
Girl. I help to look after the younger Pioneer’s and make sure they
behave themselves ! I still go to school and like pop music.
I also have a boy friend, but that’s secret
G
My favourite dress,although I am a Thalmann pioneer, I don’t wear my uniform all the time, I wear this dress to school.
This is my favourite dress,like Sabine I am a Thalmann pioneer,but I don’t wear my uniform all the time, I wear this dress to school.My Papa got it from the Intershop for me.
20 years of the Thälmann Pioneers on a stamp issued at the time
Listen to a pioneer recite “We bear Thälmann’s name, be worthy of him, pioneer!”
This is Molly my Capitalist bear, she came from West Germany. My Papa got her for me at an Intershop and had to pay for her with convertible currency. They only accept dollars or Deutsch Marks. All my friends are jealous. She likes to live in our Republic and now she is a good Socialist Bear, and a Thälmann Pioneers, like mehe also has a winter sports badge just like mine. My Mom also gets presents from the Intershop, she likes perfume.
I was recently asked by a visitor from the west a question. Why do some Thälmann Pioneers wear blue scarves and others red scarves? Well, our Younger Pioneers wear blue scarves instead of red ones because blue is associated with the sky and the future. The idea is that the blue color symbolizes the hope and potential of the young members, reflecting the socialist ideals of progress and the building of a better society. blue also helps to differentiate the Pioneers from more political symbols and emphasize the focus on the youth and their role in shaping the future.
After you have been a Thälmann Pioneer for a while and get older you receive a red scarf. (My Pa helped me write this answer )
A stamp issued in 1982 to celebrate the VII. Pioneer Meeting, Dresden. Both scarves blue and red are shown.
This is “Mitzi” my beautiful cat, she is such a nice Girl and of course a good socialist cat.
Author ‘s Note: “In real life Sabine’s cat is Nala, my daughter’s cat who is a very good actress and lets me share her home with her”.
A 5 pfennig stamp showing Mauz and Hoppel from a DDR children’s TV show
As a service to my capitalist friend’s, our on-line shop is now open. Already it has quality Mugs (one of me and an Interflug TG44 mug). Also fridge magnets as well as “The Berlin Wall series of models in 1/87 scale as well as in 1/35 scale”. Please be sure to visit us soon. We only accept capitalist money ! MollyModelleisenbahnenundSpielzeug Click on the picture to go to the shop
Click on the picture to go to the shop
Click to expand images
They are €12.99 plus postage each, and if you want one please use the contact page and you can pay with PayPal (Sorry capitalist money only). They will be posted to you from Poland, and I get extra pocket money…. Thank you.
Sabine, Berlin August 1988
(Note: In real life Sabine would be 48 and she would not have joined the FDJ as the wall came down in 1989 before she was 13. Although Sabine is fictional she is based on my friends daughter, who was a MfS officer. We have been friends now for over 30 years since the Wall came down.)
My Berlin 750, writing pack, with paper and envelopes. Now I can write to my friends, and of course family!
It is so nice !
My medallion to celebrate, Berlin’s 750 birthday.
The front. I guess the people in the West will also celebrate Berlin’s birthday, but not as well as us 😊
My favourite Berlin Bear, he sleeps with me, but he is not 750 years old !
My Ruhla watch, it was a birthday present
My RFT Cassette player, it’s so cool
Click on the picture to hear my friends singing the folk song Unsere Heimat, which is very popular with the JP’s.The Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation, consisting of the Young Pioneers and the Thälmann Pioneers, was a youth organisation of children aged 6 to 13 in the DDR, based loosely on the Scouts. They were named after Ernst Thälmann, the former leader of the Communist Party of Germany, who was executed at the Buchenwald concentration camp on the 18th August 1944 by the Nazi’s.
Authors note : It should be remembered that at this tiime the DDR was occupied by the Soviet Union.
Two more of my friend’s studying. (Author’s note; this image has been enhanced from a newspaper illustration)