Renate Werwigk-Schneider fights for democracy and freedom. The 85-year-old experienced firsthand what it means to live in a dictatorship, to be patronized, shadowed, persecuted, and arrested. She was imprisoned twice in East Germany – because she wanted to leave the country that offered her no freedom. Her escape through a tunnel was betrayed, and her attempt to flee via Bulgaria and Istanbul failed. Only after being ransomed in 1968 was she able to lead the life she had always dreamed of in West Germany. With her book, she fights against romanticized nostalgia for the East and for the strengthening of our democracy. New product