Sue Boyd - Deputy Head of Mission at the Australian Embassy in East Berlin (151)

Sue Boyd has been the head of Australian diplomatic missions in Fiji, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Bangladesh. She also had postings at the United Nations in New York and in the former East Germany.

Sue was posted to East Germany in 1976 and tells of her work, friendships, and life as a single woman in the diplomatic community of 1970s East Berlin. She reveals the fascinating contents of her Stasi file, detailing the intense surveillance she was under as well as confirmation of some of her suspicions, but also there are some surprising revelations too. 

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I am delighted to welcome Sue Boyd to our Cold War conversation…

There’s further information on this episode in our show notes which can also be found as a link in your podcast app here. https://coldwarconversations.com/episode151/

If you can’t wait for next week’s episode do visit our Facebook discussion group where guests and listeners continue the Cold War Conversation. Just search Cold War Conversations in Facebook.

Thank you very much for listening. It is really appreciated – goodbye.

Radio GDR

If you are interested in East Germany we can highly recommend our friends over at Radio GDR.

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0:00 Introduction of Sue Boyd and her diplomatic career

1:17 Sue Boyd's postings at the United Nations and East Germany

3:19 Sue Boyd's early career in the Australian foreign service

6:01 Sue Boyd's unexpected posting to East Germany and role as 1st secretary

9:07 Sue Boyd's travel experiences and surveillance by Stasi

15:13 Sue Boyd's observations on East Bloc countries' relationships with the Soviet Union

22:31 Building relationships and friendships in the GDR

34:49 Comments on Sue Boyd's journalist contacts in East Germany

47:12 Sue Boyd's surveillance stories and the impact of Stasi

1:00:02 Gough Whitlam's visit to the GDR in 1976 and Sue Boyd's role

1:03:32 Sue Boyd's book about her life as a diplomat

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