Weinen in der Dunkelheit

Winter 1953 in East Berlin. Two-year-old Ursula and her siblings narrowly escape death. Abandoned by their mother, who has fled to the West, the children are found starving by their grandfather. Ursula is placed, separated from her sisters, in the children's home "Königsheide," a showcase facility of the GDR, where the children are to be developed into exemplary "socialist personalities." This marks the beginning of years of suffering for the girl. Ursula Burkowski poignantly and simply describes her time in the children's home. She recounts her first experiences as a parentless little girl, leading up to the everyday struggles of a young woman who slowly begins to rebel internally against the unfreedom she is subjected to. The author succeeds with admirable ease in bringing her past to life and touching the readers. "Weeping in the Dark," first published in 1992 and widely noted by the media and politics, is considered a central book on the topic of institutional care. The new edition includes a current foreword by the author, a greeting from the Thuringian Commissioner for Stasi Documents Hildigund Neubert, as well as selected press reviews.