There are many established theories concerning political quiescence and dissent in Soviet-era eastern Europe. This book--drawing on newly accessible archival data and over one hundred interviews conducted with communists, dissidents, and by-standers in Poland and East Germany--challenges them. The author grounds her interview material in a solid knowledge of the Soviet systems which evolved in contrasting ways in the two countries. She concludes by placing her research results in a wider context of east European transitions to democracy and post-transition effects and provides new comparative data on repression.