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

Amidst despair of war, biggest Berlin peace rally in many years
March 1, 2023 By Victor Grossman
Daily pictures of suffering in Ukraine are the cause of despair but the struggle for peace goes on and gives hope.
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Culture

Bertolt Brecht (and me)
February 13, 2023 By Victor Grossman
Regardless of his sometimes sharp but always constructive criticism, Brecht supported the GDR attempt to build a socialist state in Germany with all his heart.
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World

Lula rejects German Chancellor’s plea for Brazilian weapons for Ukraine
February 6, 2023 By Victor Grossman
Scholz fails to bring the world’s fifth-largest country on board with NATO policy.
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Politics

Why were there no mass shootings in the now-defunct (East) German Democratic Republic?
January 25, 2023 By Victor Grossman
People who loved hunting did it as often as they could but never feared being gunned down on the streets.
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World

Despite differences on war in Ukraine, ceasefire and negotiations a must
January 17, 2023 By Victor Grossman
Complicated domestic and foreign policy politics in Berlin and Germany cannot obscure the need to line up behind a movement to end the war.
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Opinion

Season’s Greetings from People’s World Berlin correspondent
December 23, 2022 By Victor Grossman
A Jewish non-believer tells us what he loves about this season celebrated by so many.
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Politics

Germany faces stark choices as it celebrates its ‘unity’
October 11, 2022 By Victor Grossman
Expectations, after the GDR was absorbed into West Germany, have not been met.
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News

The war in Ukraine is behind much of the distress in Germany
September 21, 2022 By Victor Grossman
Only peace can tame a soaring cost of living including the surging prices of energy, food, and housing prices.
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