Victor Grossman

Victor Grossman is a journalist from the U.S. now living in Berlin. He fled his U.S. Army post in the 1950s in danger of reprisals for his left-wing activities at Harvard and in Buffalo, New York. He landed in the former German Democratic Republic (Socialist East Germany), studied journalism, founded a Paul Robeson Archive, and became a freelance journalist and author. His latest book, A Socialist Defector: From Harvard to Karl-Marx-Allee, is about his life in the German Democratic Republic from 1949 – 1990, the tremendous improvements for the people under socialism, the reasons for the fall of socialism, and the importance of today's struggles.

LATEST ARTICLES BY Victor Grossman

World

Many in Germany see through NATO designs on Ukraine
March 31, 2014 By Victor Grossman
The crisis in the Ukraine continues to be big news here in Germany, on front pages and screens.
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World

Germany: Scandal, pornography, and naked truths
February 20, 2014 By Victor Grossman
Gossip and scandal are part of politics; the German media is currently overflowing with these commodities.
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Opinion

Memories of Pete Seeger in East Berlin
February 3, 2014 By Victor Grossman
In 1945, every Saturday night, we sang his songs, with those of Woody, Leadbelly, Paul Robeson and Ernst Busch, at the Folksay square dance and song sessions in the Furriers' Hall.
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World

“GroKo” Politics – No real change for Germany
January 15, 2014 By Victor Grossman
Some have suggested the German "Word of the Year" should be "whistleblower" - in the escalating Denglish language here breezily called "Neu-Deutsch" ("New German").
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World

Germany: Fireworks past, present and future
January 3, 2014 By Victor Grossman
BERLIN - New Year's Eve in Germany means fireworks!
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World

Low wage workers on the move in Germany too
December 9, 2013 By Victor Grossman
This is Burger King - it could be in Augusta, Maine, or Anaheim, California, and the fatty Whoppers taste the same. But it's not; most customers here speak German.
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Labor

Today in labor history: Germans ponder “All Quiet on the Western Front”
December 5, 2013 By Victor Grossman
On December 5, 2010, hundreds left a movie theater in Berlin, mostly silent and deeply moved, though the film they had seen was first released in 1930.
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World

Forming a German government: Bumper cars for the Bundestag?
November 26, 2013 By Victor Grossman
The noise is terrific and everyone zooms back and forth, round and round, clashing with everybody else. And there may be no real winner -- except perhaps the man at the cash register.
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