7 My Impression of the German Democratic Republic [Life Itself Exposes Lies]

Abstract

J. A. Osei’s report of his sojourn in the GDR,which is fully reproduced below, is to be found in J. A. Osei to Heinz Deutschland, Accra, July 22, 1964, SAPMO-BArch, DY 79/615. The original title Osei had chosen for his report – “My impression of the German Democratic Republic” – was crossed out by one (anonymous) member of the editorial board of the journal Correspondence and changed to “Life itself exposes lies”. Ultimately, Osei’s contribution was printed in Correspondence under the title “Reality exposes lies” without, to my knowledge, any further queries by the editorial board.3 Correspondence was the quarterly bulletin of the Faculty for Foreign Students4 at the Bernau college. From 1964 to 1966 it was edited and published in both English and French by the staff of the faculty, with the editorial team usually consisting of six to eight members. It was sent to all alumni of the trade union college and was “meant to report on your and our