Manfred Jannot, born in 1933 in Ahlsdorf (Saxony-Anhalt), has lived in Leipzig (Saxony) since 1968. He studied education there and graduated as a teacher. He previously worked as a qualified welder and pipe fitter.

He was later involved in the construction of the Druschba line. Until reunification, he managed a department of the municipal housing administration in Leipzig. He has also been making music as a singer and guitarist for decades.

The Bright Side of the Doom is the prequel to his sons's diary The 18-Year-Old Who Wrote a Note and Disappeared.

The prequel starts with first memories during the Nazi era and ends with the fall of the Berlin Wall. Both stories are based on facts. To be continued…

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Welcome to the English version of a German trilogy about modern history from the perspective of everyday people. It starts with a daring escape from the GDR.

In his real-time diary, the author describes a true crime for which he was sentenced to prison in 1984.

The 18-Year-Old Who Wrote a Note and Disappeared is the sequel to his father's memoirs The Bright Side of the Doom, which were published as a book in 2016.

Both stories are based on facts. The sequel starts on Friday, January 6, 1984.

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Here we go again. Selchow, the drunken clochard, wants to kick me out again. This time he’s going to overdo it and make a big deal of it. This is the opportunity to finally start my final journey.

“I’m coming with you,” says Jens. “It could take two years or more,” I reply. “We agreed,” he adds. “Your decision,” I insist one last time.

To avoid any misunderstandings, I write a note and place it prominently on my bed. Then we get dressed warmly and leave the dormitory.

We walk to Kemnitz. After half an hour, we hear a Trabi coming from our direction. We hide in the ditch.

Three hours later we arrive at Greifswald station. We buy tickets and wait for the night train.

Two Trapos (regional slang for railroad policemen) come and check our IDs. Then the handcuffs click.

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