Cold War Conversations

A British Communist Working in East Germany (104)

Jan 11, 2020 Season 4 Episode 104

Ian Hawkins & John Tarver

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.

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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/

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