> This is an elite narrative. What happened to normal people? In the real world?

What a rubbish point you're pushing. Millions and millions died or were exterminated. Countless fled or were forcefully displaced. The country was occupied and then split apart, the effects of the DDR can be felt to this day. The collective shame will outlast any generation alive today.

Many institutions survived, yes, as they often do. But everything else was a nightmare that echoes to this day.