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

Opinion

Charlie Chaplin film fest evokes lessons for today
July 19, 2011 By Victor Grossman
Eighty years after his visit to Berlin, Charlie Chaplin's 80 films continue to make audiences laugh and think.
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World

It’s ugly: Germany arms Saudi Arabia
July 12, 2011 By Victor Grossman
Media reports left two aspects unmentioned. The tank manufacturers profiting most from the deal, Krauss-Maffei-Wegmann and Rheinmetall, have always been generous in political donations. The other aspect is historical.
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World

Controversy over Israel and anti-Semitism embroils German left
July 1, 2011 By Victor Grossman
Heated debate that had been tearing at Germany's Left Party seems to have abated after June 28, when its Bundestag members modified a controversial position on Israel.
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World

Winners and losers in Bremen elections
May 25, 2011 By Victor Grossman
Today in Bremen, most shipyards are a thing of the past and it is struggling to climb out of its heavy debt as a container port.
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Opinion

Should Cuba send SEAL team to Florida?
May 16, 2011 By Victor Grossman
Was the killing of Osama bin Laden justified? The questions remain: What is terrorism? Who are terrorists? And how does one best oppose them?
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World

Libya and Japan grab Germany’s attention
March 22, 2011 By Victor Grossman
Elections in an East German state were largely overshadowed by the news from Japan and, far more, from Libya.
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World

German scandal fells a mighty baron
March 2, 2011 By Victor Grossman
German Defense Minister and right-wing rising star Baron Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg had to step down when it turned out he plagiarized a chunk of his dissertation.
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World

Drama in Hamburg: Germans vote amid political turmoil
February 23, 2011 By Victor Grossman
BERLIN - In Hamburg the Christian Democrats (CDU), Angela Merkel's party, just took their worst beating in sixteen years.
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