The same people? No, probably not. All signs point to this being in America, as you say. And all of this was in the wake of World War II, obviously before the wall came down. Most of the people involved are retired by now.

[So he's not from before the reunification of Germany, and thus a ghost. Probably??]

The East German kinderheims are just why I'm familiar with the idea of holding a group of people long term for that sort of purpose.