CHAPTER FIFTEEN
You sip your second glass of sweet Russian Champagne and stare out of the concert hall’s tinted windows at the Neptune Fountain, which has been turned off to save water. Snowflakes drift down on to the people trudging across Karl Marx Platz. Where are they going? What are they thinking? What will they do when they get home? Do they sometimes scream with frustration, as you do, or is everything okay for them? Or are they happy simply to eat sausages, drink beer and watch West TV? Millions are Party members if official statistics are to be believed, one in four a Stasi informer if the rumours are true. Ninety-eight per cent voted ‘Yes!’ to the Socialist Unity Party candidates at the last elections, according to the newspapers.
The foyer of the famous Gewandhaus concert hall
