The door opens, and two uniformed men enter the room. They sit down next to each other at the desk in the middle of the room, their faces stern. One of them – the one whose uniform looks somehow more important, even though I don’t know what rank is what – gives a head gesture to the guard, who withdraws, closing the door behind him.

‘Good morning Frau Rolf,’ says this man in a serious tone, opening a file which he’s pulled from his briefcase. ‘I’m Oberst Rainer Specht and my Comrade here is Major Rüdiger Bahlow. We want to see if we can help you.’

‘Help me?’ I cry. ‘Your goons pulled me in off the street, put a hood over my head, and brought me here against my will. How is that helping me? And what the hell is this place?’

The other man speaks now, in a friendlier tone. ‘Yes, we’re sorry this meeting had to be arranged in such an underhand way. But we assure you, we do want to help you. As for where we are, we’re in Dresden, as you’ve probably guessed. This is the regional headquarters of the Ministry for State Security in Bautzner Straße.’

So, the Stasi, not the police. It confirms what I suspected. ‘And exactly how are you, the Stasi, proposing to help me?’ My voice sounds strong, challenging, even though I’m sitting like a little girl on this stupid, uncomfortable stool in the corner of the room.

Serious one answers this time, turning his file and lifting it slightly to show me something familiar. ‘It’s about your Eingaben here – your petitions about working conditions at SDAG Wismut in Königstein. You make some pretty damning allegations, and of course we’re concerned about your health.’

‘Exactly,’ says the friendlier, younger one. ‘We want to make sure you get the best medical treatment for your cancer. And it sounds as though, for your own good, you should no longer work at the mine.’

The feeling of foreboding that’s been increasing ever since I was pulled in off the street now becomes all-out panic. ‘I never said I wanted to leave the job. I enjoy the job. I just want it to be made safer, that’s all. For everyone, not just myself.’

The colonel nods. ‘Of course. A very comradely sentiment. And we will look closely at your allegations about working conditions. But you have to understand the importance of SDAG Wismut’s operations to both the Republic and our Soviet friends. Nothing can be allowed to get in the way of that.’