Erika Riemann

Erika Riemann was born in 1930 in Mühlhausen, Thuringia. From 1946 to 1954, she was held in prisons and camps including Bautzen, Sachsenhausen, and Hoheneck after decorating a portrait of Stalin with a ribbon. Following her imprisonment, she worked in various occupations and had three children. She published her memoir, The Ribbon on Stalin’s Beard, in 2002. In 2009, she received the Federal Cross of Merit for her commitment to freedom and democracy and to documenting the injustices of the former East German SED regime.