ANTI-CYCLICAL THINKING - WHEN A DECISION CHANGES EVERYTHING
A true story about freedom, the path into a GDR prison and the power of the Stasi
3. Volume of the trilogy "Don't ask for Sugar"
The darkest chapter of this autobiographical travel story.
No more adventure.
No youthful recklessness.
Only a decision with consequences.
For a year now, Christoph has been living in West Berlin. Early shifts. Late shifts. Overtime at a CNC lathe. And still, it is not enough to see his great love Suzanne again in New Zealand.
While he saves, his brother earns in a single smuggling run in India what others work a year for. The temptation grows – not out of greed, but out of longing.
A casual remark from a colleague sets everything in motion.
Fly from East Berlin.
They don’t check for drugs there.
They want to poison the West.
An absurd idea.
And yet plausible enough.
Christoph rents out his flat, buys a ticket from East Berlin to Delhi and travels with a group of travellers into the Himalayas. In a remote mountain hut, they buy pure hash oil.
A mistake.
On the return to East Berlin, everything ends abruptly.
• Arrest at the airport
• Hours of interrogation
• Pre-trial detention in the Keibelstraße police prison
After sentencing, he is transferred to the GDR prison in Rummelsburg – a labour camp with its own hierarchy, rules and language.
Inside, survival means.
• Hunger
• Violence
• Humiliation
• Constant vigilance
When Christoph refuses to cooperate with the Stasi, the system reacts immediately.
The first punishment.
• Three weeks in the so-called “tiger cage”
• Less food
• Thinner clothing
• Concrete, cold and darkness
After solitary confinement, he is transferred.
A new cell block. New prisoners. New power structures. Only one face is familiar – Abdelhafiz from pre-trial detention.
Then the next measure.
Christoph is assigned to the most dangerous work in the camp.
Fitting asbestos lids.
A dusty workbench.
Air like powder.
The message is clear: those who do not cooperate are sent where it harms the most.
Christoph wants to live – and refuses again.
The consequence.
• Four weeks of solitary confinement
• Basement cell
• Isolation and deprivation
But this time, things turn out differently.
After two weeks, the cell doors suddenly open.
No explanation.
He is locked in a bright cell.
An unfamiliar face. A brief glance.
Then he says it casually.
Amnesty.
In the so-called Grotewohl prisoner transport, he is transferred together with other convicts.
One year after his arrest – of all days, on a Friday the 13th – Christoph is handed over to West German authorities.
Freedom.
But no longer the same man.
Anti-Cyclical Thinking is the third part of this autobiographical travel story about world travel, India, GDR prison, interrogations, forced labour, solitary confinement and the consequences of risky decisions.
An honest account of freedom, loss, guilt, consequences and the question of how much a person is willing to risk.
This book is for readers interested in
• true travel stories and world journeys
• backpacking and risky decisions
• GDR history, prison and the Stasi
• personal crises and extreme experiences
• unconventional lives and real stories
An authentic story from the 1980s – about West Berlin, India, the Himalayas, Rummelsburg prison and the long road back to freedom.
Bernhard Christoph Lichtinger writes books drawn from lived experience, from setbacks, detours, new beginnings and encounters that never needed to be invented. His stories begin where real life leaves its mark.
AT THE END OF THE BOOK, YOU WILL FIND CORRESPONDING PHOTOS
If you are interested in my novels, you can find the links to the titles here.
ALMOST NORMAL – 16 SHORT STORIES
NOTHING REMAINS AS IT IS – VOLUME 2