I agree with you. I was actually inside of East Germany during the cold war. I got a visa to go on a tour of the historical sites connected to the birth of Martin Luther. The commies needed hard currency, so they were pleading with people from the West to go on their tours. I enjoyed the tour in spite of the fact that they sent an East German spy with us as our "guide" during the whole trip.  I saw first hand what it was like living in a socialist country. Believe me, you would not have wanted to live there. It was really bad and what many people don't know is that the economy of East Germany was the BEST of all the Soviet block countries. Things were so screwed up that you had to get on a waiting list to buy a car. The normal wait time was 7-11 years.