Posted on 11/06/2014 4:58:05 AM PST by the scotsman
'People who tried to escape from East Germany during the Cold War could be shot, jailed and tortured. But the government was so short of money that some ended up being secretly sold - to West Germany, the country most of them had been trying to reach in the first place.'
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
This was never a secret - hardly news now.
Romania did the same thing. Jews went to Israel, German ethnics to Germany, etc. Usually they kept back one relative to make sure nobody else talked once they got out.
In Soviet Union at one point they demanded emmigres to compensate 15,000 rubles for ‘free’ higher education they got at home (some $27,000 in 1970s dollars).
It was roughly a two year wage of a good engineer.
A family of two educated adults had to pay twice that much.
For liberal artist types it was easier. They were often deprived of citizenship for ‘anti-Soviet activity’ and sent abroad by a court order.
The sale of hostages was only part of East Germany’s trade in human beings.
In the 70s and 80s, the DDR rented slaves from PDR Viet Nam in exchange for cash and other DDR aid.
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