Ralph - DJing and Kung Fu in East Germany (177)

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

Ian Sanders

History, Documentary, Society & Culture

4.8 • 865 Ratings

🗓️ 14 May 2021

⏱️ 87 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Ralph Hänel tells some unique, strange and funny short stories about childhood and youth in East Germany. We talk about the experiences of his parents in the closing stages of World War 2, his schooling, and how he became a DJ, winning a trip to the Soviet Union. Ralph is a great raconteur with virtually endless stories about his life in East Germany. Hear how he saw Fidel Castro, met the first German astronaut in space and had a girlfriend, whose father was in the people’s police or was it the Stasi...? Ralph had a passion for martial arts, but in East Germany that wasn’t easy to pursue. Listen as Ralph tells how he found secret clubs and smuggled books into the country. However, his interest in martial arts brought him under suspicion and don’t miss subsequent episodes where Ralph’s life takes a turn for the worst when he is arrested by the Stasi and sentenced to 3 and half years in prison. I could really use your support to continue the podcast. A small monthly donation via Patreon is ideal, plus you will get the sought after CWC coaster as a thank you and bask in the warm glow of knowing you are helping to preserve Cold War history. Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ If a financial contribution is not your cup of tea, then you can still help us by leaving written reviews wherever you listen to us as well as sharing us on social media. It really helps us get new guests on the show. I am delighted to welcome Ralph to our Cold War conversation… There’s further information on this episode in our episode notes which can also be found here. https://coldwarconversations.com/episode177/ If you can’t wait for next week’s episode do visit our Facebook discussion group where guests and listeners continue the Cold War Conversation. Just search Cold War Conversations in Facebook. Thank you very much for listening. 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 0:00 Introduction and Ralph Hänel's childhood in East Germany 7:01 Ralph's experiences as a DJ and trip to the Soviet Union 15:18 Life in East Germany: Dichotomy and the black market for Western records 22:56 Encounters with famous people in East Germany 27:33 Ralph's journey into martial arts and a secret judo club 35:14 Communication with the West: Pen pals and smuggling books 46:53 Living in East Berlin: Observations and encounters 1:00:26 Ralph Hänel's life in East Berlin during the Cold War 1:15:29 Challenges of East-West communication under Secret Service surveillance Chapters powered by PodcastAI✨ 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	And the father from my girlfriend, he just pulled this idea out of his jacket, said,
0:10.0	I'm on the job and this guy was saluting, yes, sir, go on.
0:14.7	And then with screeching tires, we drove up to the train station if you're 16.
0:19.2	How cool is that?
0:23.2	This is Cold War Conversations.
0:29.9	If you're new here, you've come to the right place to listen to first-hand Cold War
0:35.0	History accounts. Do make sure you subscribe in your podcast
0:38.7	app so that you don't miss out on future episodes. Ralph Hainel tells some unique, strange
0:44.7	and funny short stories about childhood and youth in East Germany. We talk about the experiences
0:51.3	of his parents in the closing stages of World War II,
0:55.0	his schooling and how he became a DJ winning a trip to the Soviet Union.
1:00.6	Ralph is a great raconteur with virtually endless stories about his life in East Germany.
1:07.2	Hear how he saw Fidel Castro, met the first German astronaut in space and had a girlfriend whose father was in the people's police, or was it the Starzy?
1:18.2	Ralph had a passion for martial arts, but in East Germany that wasn't easy to pursue.
1:24.7	Listen as Ralph tells us how he found secret clubs and smuggled books into the country.
1:30.9	However, his interest in martial arts brought him under suspicion and don't miss subsequent episodes
1:36.7	where Ralph's life takes a turn for the worst when he's arrested by the Starzy and sentenced to three and a half years in prison.
1:46.8	Now, I could really use your support to help me to continue producing these episodes.
1:53.1	A simple monthly donation via Patreon and you will get the sort after Cold War Conversations
1:59.6	drinks coaster as a thank you and bask in the warm
2:02.7	glow of knowing you are helping to preserve Cold War history. Still not sure? Listen to one of our
	...

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