A British Communist Working in Cold War East Germany (104)

Cold War Conversations - "vivid & compelling" The NY Times

Ian Sanders

History, Documentary, Society & Culture

4.8 • 865 Ratings

🗓️ 11 January 2020

⏱️ 75 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

John Tarver was born into a middle-class family. He joined the British Communist Party on his 18th birthday in 1948 because he felt the Soviet Union had made the most effective resistance to fascism. He worked as a party activist in Britain and made several trips to the GDR where he would get a job at Potsdam as head of the final year of studies in the English language. His 18 years’ work as a Communist party organizer set him apart from other Britons in the GDR and he became an informer for the Stasi. Now if this podcast was a magazine you wouldn’t mind paying a few quid or dollars a week so I’m asking you to support us for the bargain price of $3 a month. In the last few weeks John Newlove and Mike Hart have joined in helping to cover the show’s increasing costs and keep us on the air, plus they’ve got the sought after CWC coaster too. Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ Special thanks to Ian Hawkins who allowed me to use these audio files from his excellent documentary “My DDR T-Shirt” which will feature in the show notes. John Tarver talks openly about his personal, political and professional life in Britain and East Germany/GDR. He also talks about his commitment to Communism, the work he did as a Stasi agent, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of the GDR and his return in recent years to the Catholic faith. We welcome John Tarver to our Cold War conversation… There’s the full version of the "My DDR T-Shirt" documentary, further information and links on this episode in our show notes, which can also be found as a link in your podcast app. https://coldwarconversations.com/episode104/ Radio GDR If you are interested in East Germany we can highly recommend our friends over at Radio GDR. Support the project! https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/ Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Cold War Conversations, the home of real stories of the Cold War.
0:05.8	I readily agreed to work for the Stasi because I thought I would be doing something
0:10.8	to defend the socialist system in which I deeply believed.
0:17.7	This is Cold War Conversations. If you're new here, you've come to the right place to listen to first-hand Cold War history accounts.
0:27.7	Do make sure you follow us in your podcast app or join our emailing list at coldwarconversations.com.
0:36.9	John Tarva was born into a middle-class family in the UK.
0:41.9	He joined the British Communist Party on his 18th birthday in 1948
0:46.4	because he felt the Soviet Union had made the most effective resistance to fascism.
0:52.5	His 18 years' work as a Communist Party organiser set him apart from other Britons in the GDR,
0:59.3	and he became an informer for the Stasi.
1:02.3	Now, if this podcast was a magazine, you wouldn't mind paying a few quid or dollars a week,
1:07.8	so I'm asking you to support us for the bargain price of three dollars a month
1:15.0	you will be helping to cover the show's increasing costs and keep us on the air plus
1:21.3	you get that sought after Cold War Conversations drinks coaster too just Just go to coldwarconversations.com slash donate.
1:31.9	Now, special thanks to Ian Hawkins,
1:35.0	who has allowed me to use these audio files from his excellent documentary,
1:40.0	which I do feature in,
1:41.6	called My DDR T-shirt,
1:44.3	which will feature in the show notes.
1:47.5	John Tarva talks openly about his personal, political and professional life in Britain and East Germany.
1:54.6	We welcome John Tarva to our Cold War conversation.
2:04.1	All right. to our Cold War conversation. Right, so first of all, could you just tell me who you are and just a little bit about yourself as an introduction?
	...

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