Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk is a German historian and writer who focuses primarily on the GDR, its reappraisal and the aftermath of German reunification. He grew up in Friedrichshagen and was not allowed to attend secondary school for political reasons. He therefore first trained as a construction worker and later completed his Abitur (A-levels) through adult education. After the German reunification, he studied at Humboldt University in Berlin and received his doctorate from the University of Potsdam in 2002. Since then, he has worked as a historian, including as Walter Ulbricht's biographer. In 2024, his highly acclaimed book "Freiheitsschock. Eine Geschichte Ostdeutschlands von 1989 bis heute" (Freedom Shock: A History of East Germany from 1989 to Today) was published. In early 2025, he became a scientific advisor to the management of the DDR Museum (GDR Museum) in Berlin, and in June 2025, he received the Karl Wilhelm Fricke Prize from the Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship. In September 2025, he published the book "Die neue Mauer. Ein Gespräch über den Osten" (The New Wall: A Conversation about the East) together with Bodo Ramelow.