Berlin Photographer Dan Kane and That Time the Stasi Made it Weird on the Way to Rostock

American photographer Dan Kane has a vivid memory. He got to Berlin in 1983 and experienced some of the major events like the Nicholson shooting of 1985, the LaBelle bombing in 1986, the Wall coming down in 1989 - and he has some stories to share.

Dan was a civilian, fluent in German, and an ex-pat with a variety of jobs in the American sector. He taught English, narrated ads for AFN Berlin (88FM,) and taught photography for the US Army – worth noting that his students were involved in surveillance operations with Detachment A, USMLM, and others. 

We postulate about one fairly relentless recruitment approach by the Stasi on a road trip to Rostock, East Germany, and Dan shares the realities of living in the spy capital of Europe in the mid 80s. This conversation was recorded in 2018 in Dan’s apartment in NeuKölln, and unfortunately, the audio sounds like listening in on a real Live Drop - with the ashtray bugged on a coffee table. 

Dan's made Berlin his home and studio to an extensive body of work. His exhibits, links and publications can be found at:  Dan-Kane.com 

Episode image is from Dan's 'Kulisse' collection of photographs (scenery and nudes) from a former Soviet Military Hospital at Beelitz, Heilstätten.

The 1962 spy novel Dan read and summarized to his Stasi driver/captor: FAIL-SAFE, by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler

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