Julia, Funder’s landlord, is significant for the strong parallels Funder sees between the two of them; they are the same age, and of similar appearance and disposition. Funder empathises so strongly with Julia partly because she serves as a reminder for Funder’s own luck in her country of birth. She is perhaps the most ‘ordinary’ East German we meet in the text as she committed hardly even the most trivial infractions, rather it would seem that she was at the receiving end of their ire mostly by chance. When she was a teenager, she began a relationship with a much older man from Italy, which although not technically illegal meant she fell under suspicion from the authorities. She was prevented from gaining employment anywhere and eventually was asked to become an informant. She refused, and in a small act of triumph against the regime, gets the Stasi men off her case by threatening to report their behaviour to Honecker. Julia also later tells Anna that she was a victim of a rape, something which has shaken her trust in the outside world and men in particular. This, when coupled with her persecution by the Stasi, has left her drifting through life, unable to commit to people or things.
