The German Democratic Republic

1. The German Democratic Republic

11. Hester Vaizey : Born in the GDR • “Never did I see or perceive a shortage of important things - like clothes or food. That was always available. However, certain fruits or foods where only available certain times of the year - such as bananas or oranges (winter time). • In general also superstores didn't have many "exotic" products, and often only products of one or two different brands. In contrast to today where there are 10+ brands of soaps, milk, clothes or whatever a store is selling”.

12. Hester Vaizey : Born in the GDR • As a kid you also did not notice things that later became obvious: the car the family had was not a very good car (a Trabant, really awful car, but everyone had the same one more or less, so nothing to complain about).

13. Hester Vaizey : Born in the GDR • “I asked my parents later what they thought about the time in east Germany, and they said it was a different society - there was less stress and less focus on careers and especially less focus on money. But then again there was less progress, and because of the close connection to west germany they where aware of the "luxuries" that were common there.”

14. Totalitarianist interpretations • No political , social and economical identity due to its formation in 1949 • Popular in 1950s West German interpretations; revival post-1989 • Comparisons drawn with brown dictatorship of NS • Stress illegitimacy of Soviet occupation & East German ‘puppets’ • State ideology of ‘socialist personality’ within collective • ‘Leading role’ of ruling party enshrined in constitution • Stasi secret police • State control of economy • Control of media • Control of economy

15. Berlin Wall as epitome of state control of individual • Breached UN human rights on freedom of travel • Also popular with many former GDR citizens; but is this because it denies personal responsibility?

16. Here are significant differences between the dialects spoken in West and East Berlin • Colloquial language developed in different ways on both sides of the Wall. Dialect was far more common in East Berlin, where it was spoken across all social classes and even in public settings. • East Berlin idioms include Asphaltblase (“asphalt bubble”) for the Trabant car and Nuttenbrosche (“hooker’s brooch”) for the fountain on Alexanderplatz. • Fried chicken was known as Broilers, while plastic was commonly referred to as Plaste.

17. Modernising dictatorship? • Complex industrial economy required ‘rational’ not ‘ideological’ elite • More university graduates enter party apparatus from 1960s • Economic reforms of 1960s (New Economic System) as a result of the Berlin Wall • Attempt at decentralisation and incentivisation of economy • Technological revolution • Special role of intelligentsia in GDR (see dividers on state emblem) • Precision engineering from Dresden & Leipzig • 1980s gamble on microchip technology (too high investment costs)

18. Social • Welfare dictatorship (Konrad Jarausch) • Indirect use of ‘social power’ to predispose groups to choose socialism • Full employment, hospitals, education system > fond memories • Educational dictatorship (Erziehungsdiktatur)? Learning Russian vs English in the West • Party ‘in loco parentis’, knowing what was good for the people

19. Berlin, Checkpoint Charlie. October 1961

20. Many people tried to escape

23. 300 Watch Tower • Electrical Barbed wire • 30 Bunkers

26. Ways to Escapes • Climbing the wall • August 17,1962 Peter Fechter, 18 Was shot as he tried to escape. • 5000 People tried to escape by climbing the wall • 100 to 200 were killed.

28. Creative Ways • Hot Air Balloons • Ultra lights

30. Young Pioneer Movement • The East German Pioneers were influenced by both Scouting and the Hitler Youth, but like the Pioneer movements in other countries, it was a school-based program. • Had to join the Pioneers (and when older the FDJ) to have any chance of a higher education like college which essentially meant a decent job. Very few East German children sid not join the Pioneers.

31. The Achievements of Socialism Katarina Witt, Olympic ice-skating champion & GDR ‘ice princess’: the GDR measured its success against the FRG in gold medals Charité hospital, Berlin: GDR polyclinics are one of the few legacies adopted by united Germany First GDR cosmonaut in 1976; from the 1960s astronomy was on all GDR school curriculums East Germany’s ‘honours system’: the state was adept at rewarding participation with a mania for badges

32. Doping for Gold – Drugs and East German sport State Plan 14.25 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvKQ2kVBwTU

37. East/West Differences • The abject economic failure of the Communist countries during the Cold War was a great disappointment to the Soviets and East European Communists. • Marxist doctrine predicted that Socialism would be the wave of the future and create worker paradises. • Economic failure was thus very difficult to explain. • Ironically East Germany was the most economically successful of all the Soviet satellite states. The problem for the East Germans was that their successes paled in comparison to the West German economic miracle. • And despite the Wall and attempts to keep out publications and broadcasts, the East Germans could receive West German TV and radio broadcasts knew about the differences. • The East Germans thus sought to score public relations victories. The most notable effort was in sports.

38. Sports as a Propaganda of Success • The communist government in the DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik) saw the sporting prowess of its citizens as a powerful propaganda tool and they were determined to achieve success by any means. • Anabolic steroids produced at the state run pharmaceutical company . • VEB Jenapharm were given to athletes without their knowledge.  This systematic doping coupled with very intensive training regimes produced spectacular results.

39. It was intended that competitors would cease using the steroids weeks before an event but the pay of coaches was determined by the success of their athletes so the temptation to continue the drug use was often too great. • Rather than abandon the program, the athletics authorities in the DDR simply introduced pre-screening tests ahead of competitions – those who failed these tests did not compete.

40. State Plan 14.25 • A secret program (B14-25) was conducted by East Germany’s sports federation, headed by Manfred Ewald. • The program was monitored and the security maintained by the Ministry of State Security (Stasi). • It was not as one might expect from a Communist country, an effort to bring the joy of sports to all children. • Rather it was an effort to identify gifted children and to prepare them in elite schools, including boarding schools where they would not have to deal with parental interference. • And then the East German authorities took it on step further--the administration of drugs including steroids to young athletics, many children just entering into puberty. • Some were only 12-years old. This was done without the knowledge of the children (who thought they were receiving vitamins) or their parents

41. Any one who objected or asked questions was disciplined or kicked out of the program. A state pharmaceutical company developed the drugs and scientists and coaches developed the training protocols and drug dosages to achieve maximum results. The Stasi required the scientists, doctors, and coaches working in the program to sign confidentiality agreements.

42. Most of the children affected were girls because they competed at a younger age and the drugs had a greater enhancement impact on girls than boys. • Over 10,000 East German athletes over the years were subjected to the drugs. East Germany was not the only Communist country to engage in doping, but they had the largest and most sophisticated program. • Individual athletes in the West took drugs but not on the scale of the plan 14. 25

43. Pseudo Science • The East Germans not only administered drugs as a matter of state policy, but they also had a sophisticated research program enabling them to elude the drug tests administered in international competitions. • The results were spectacular. • Easter German athletes beginning at the Montreal Olympics (1976) amazed the world. • Tiny East Germany ranked second in gold medals behind the Soviet Union.

44. Outcomes • Their success was especially notable with their young girl swimmers. • Since the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989), some details on the East German program have become public. • And many former athletes have reported serious health problems, especially the younger girls who received the drugs. • This is an issue which the German Government today has little desire to pursue. The Government has financially compensated a handful of the athletes involved through Germany's Olympic Committee. • After the Berlin Wall fell, some East German sports doctors moved to China whose athletes have

45. Results • At the 1976 summer Olympics in Montreal East Germany won a total of 90 medals, including 40 golds, remarkable for such a small nation.   • The medal haul of the women’s swim team was particularly outstanding, winning 11 of 13 events. • State Plan 14.25 suffered a set back at the 1977 European Cup meeting in Helsinki when shot putter Ilona Slupianek failed a drug test.

46. Impact on Women • Young women as you would expect showed the greatest improvements as a result of steroids and testosterone supplements but also suffered the most worrying changes to their bodies. • The athletes involved in the doping program were closely monitored and doctors became aware of serious side affects – as well as the obvious lowering of the voice and abnormal hair growth, risks of heart and liver disease were greatly increased.

47. Hoheneck • https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/544634/broken-womens-prison-hoheneck/ • From 1950 to 1990, Communist East Germany imprisoned thousands of women for committing political crimes against the state. (Among the punishable offenses: demonstrating the desire to travel, criticism of state politics, and participating in public demonstrations.) Hoheneck, a 700-year-old castle, was the most notorious women’s prison in the GDR. Many inmates did not survive their sentences, during which they endured torture and forced labor under harsh, unrelenting conditions.

48. Walter Ulbricht, SED leader 1946-71 • Reliable but uncharismatic functionary • Weimar KPD leader in Berlin in 1930s • Nazi exile spent mainly in Moscow, avoiding purges of later 30s; viewed as Stalinist even after Stalin’s death • Favoured ‘hard line’ of constructing socialism in half a country rather than pursuing reunification; in 1953 under heavy fire from Politburo colleagues, but ‘saved’ by 17 June uprising • Activist role in pushing Khrushchev into aggressive stance over Berlin Crisis; WU devoted most of later time to foreign pol. • 1960s attempted to play the moderniser, with focus on technology • 1971 ousted by ‘palace coup’ by Honecker, with Soviet backing of Brezhnev; died in 1973

49. Erich Honecker, SED leader, 1971-89 • Spent most of Third Reich in prison • 1946 leader of Free German Youth • From late 1950s responsible for internal affairs in GDR • 1971 acquired Moscow’s backing to remove Ulbricht • EH formed an unwritten ‘social pact’ (the Unity of Economic and Social policy) which subsidised popular standard of living (at height in mid-70s); increasingly paid for by loans from West, turning GDR into loan junkie by 1980s • Gorbachev’s arrival as a Soviet reform communist leader in 1985 caused SED a succession crisis as ‘gerontocracy’ hung on to power; EH was hospitalised at crucial points of the 1989 crisis • Famous in GDR for panama hat & natty pale suits; died 1994 in exile in Chile

50. 15 Facts about GDR • http://www.centralberlin.de/blog/who-knew-15-surprising-facts-about-the-gdr/