anna wolff-powĘska: the german democratic republic’s attitude towards the nazi past

7/28/2019 ANNA WOLFF-POWSKA: The German Democratic Republics Attitude Towards the Nazi Past

1/30

PRZEGLD ZACHODNI

2011, No 1

ANNA WOLff-POWskAPozna

The German DemocraTic republics aTTiTuDe

TowarDs The nazi pasT

Period o change connected with a tranition rom dictatorhip to democracyare characterized by intenive earch or a new binder o national unity and identity.Communitie which have been aected by totalitarianim in order to build a neworder have to dene their attitude toward the old one. A it ha been demontrated

by the two German tate in their proce o abandoning the Third Reich policyand ytem o value, actor uch a the deence o one own hitory, and eeingan anwer to the quetion o what hould be retained in the memory and what hould

be eradicated, have haped the political identity o German ociety o the politicalturn era in a ignicant way. The reunication o Germany in 1990 conrmed thetruth that the proce o democratization i accompanied by a ocial crii which i

alo a crii o the criteria determining what i remembered and what i orgotten, theintegral element o every hitory.

The way o perceiving National socialim and poitioning it in German hitoryha played a undamental role in the development o political culture, rt o twodierent German tate, and then o a reunied Germany*. National conciouneand community pirit i haped by reerence to hitory, which can be gloried, ac-ralied, or puhed to the margin o public lie. Etablihing two eparate Germantate with dierent ideological oundation brought ar reaching conequence orthe cultural memory o the divided community. In pot-war Germany the dicrep-ancy between the negative dicredited pat and the need to have it acceptable imagein order to build a poitive identity or the new tate wa a contradiction inherentrom the very beginning in the contruction o the new order .

The Nazi pat wa a burden or Germany. Contrary to the majority who hopedthat with time the preent will eradicate the pat, the victim o the Third Reich

policy guarded the nation memory and preure rom an international public didnot allow to orget the pat. for that reaon both German tate had to relate to the

*for a wider account ee: A. Wol-Powa,Pami brzemi i uwolnienie. Niemcy wobec na-

zistowskiej przeszoci (1945-2010) [Memory burden and liberation. German toward the Nazi pat(1945 2010)], Pozna 2010, 583 page.


2/30

74 Anna Wol-Powa

national-ocialit pat, reject all o the legacie o the Hitler tate, and at the ametime try to integrate the ociety on rm ideological principle and acceptable politi-cal value.

They had to combine dierent trategie and tactic o reconing with the pat,which were all meant to erve two baic unction: to legitimize the tate and to builda new ene o community pirit. The challenge Germany had to ace ater WorldWar II were variou in nature. The partition o Europe and o Germany meant that

both German tate were in victoriou camp. Initially, under preure and with helpo other victoriou power pot-totalitarian culture were eeing their own way otacling the incriminating tetimony o the nation pat. A ignicant impact on howthe hitory o the Third Reich wa perceived wa exerted by the cold war. The ideo-logical conrontation between the Eat and the Wet made it eaier to ecape romacnowledging the criminal nature o the war.

An additional problem appeared when two German tate were etablihed.Namely, the nation hitory wa alo divided and without a common hitory it inot poible to dene national el-identication. Thu, intead it prothee, orragmented identitie baed on two ideological homeland came into being. The onlydierence wa that Wet German elt victim o National socialim wherea EatGerman elt victim o acim. Member o the Central Committee o the social-it Unity Party o Germany (sozialitiche Einheitpartei Deutchland sED) de-clared themelve to be German patriot who regarded the Americanization andwetern integration o the federal Republic o Germany a the gravet betrayal othe national interet. The German Democratic Republic (GDR) wa to unction aa bation o the national truggle or liberation. However, the attempt to createa ocialit verion o the German nation between the Elbe and the Oder did not uc-ceed depite maing reerence to the revolutionary tradition, the labour movementand claiming property right to the anti-acit reitance movement.

The reunication o Germany brought a new wave o literature reconing withthe pat. An intenied interet in the evaluation o the o ar reconing with thenational-ocialit pat reulted in numerou tudie. The end o the cold war and thecollape o the GDR created new condition which allowed to how the true ace othe Eat German truggle with hitory and their trategie o breaing ree rom guilt

without the veil o cenorhip.

IN THE sHADOW Of ANTI-fAsCIsM

social democracy, that i the new political ytem introduced by the victoriousoviet power, being at the ame time a new dictatorhip decided about the way GDRcitizen handled their recent pat. In the GDR the aement o war had it origin ina traight line rom Marxim and Leninim. According to the principle ormulated

by Lenin in hi wor, War and revolution, every war i connected with the politi-

cal order o the tate created by a given ocial cla. War ha a cla character anddemontrate the contradiction o the era: between imperialim and ocialim. so-


3/30

75The German Democratic Republic Attitude Toward the Nazi Pat

cialim i a ynonym o peace. Contrary to bourgeoi pacim the woring cladoe not condemn every war. A jut war i, among other a war in deence o theocialit homeland wherea the war o the imperialit bourgeoiie were regarded by

Lenin a unjut war. He, on the other hand excluded the poibility o a war betweenocialit countrie1.War a an intrument o the Nazi tate policy occupied a prominent poition in

Eat German oreign policy and their internal political ritual. It tted well into therame o sED binding doctrine and the conrontational cold war policy towardthe cloet enemy, Wet Germany and the other countrie o the wetern bloc. Theattitude o the party rule and executive elite o Eat Germany toward the ThirdReich wa ounded on the denition o acim taen over rom Georgi Dimitrov,according to which the Nazi regime wa dened a the open, terrorit dictatorhipo the mot reactionary, mot imperialit and mot chauvinitic element o nancecapital2. Thi approach allowed only or a cla interpretation o the criminal re-gime and by the ame toen excluded any individual guilt and reponibility. Hence,the agricultural reorm and deprivation o private property wa in the GDR treated aan important tep toward overcoming the pat. The complementary tool wa theemployment policy which allowed to remove the old elite and employ the new onein line with the criteria o the ocial bacground and the repreented ideology. In the

proce the property wa alo taen away rom the bourgeoi repreentative othe anti-Hitler reitance movement and ocial democrat, who did not expre theirwillingne to blend into one party together with the Communit Party o Germany

(kommunitiche Partei Deutchland - kPD) and sED3

. In thi way they were be-ing degraded to the role o acit collaborator. Depite the act that denazicationwa much more radical in the soviet occupation zone than in the wetern zone, theituation in which many ormer Nazi could continue their career in the new tatewere not avoided.

Jrgen Danyel, who devoted a ubtantial part o hi reearch to analyzing theanatomy o the Eat German hitorical and political identity, ditinguihe everalundamental eature o the political prole o the ruling party in the GDR in thecontext o it attitude to acim4. They include among other:

1 B. Blane, Kriegs- und Feindbild der Nationalen Volksarmee, in: H.-A. Jacoben, G. Leptin,U. scheuner, E. schulz (ed.),Drei Jahrzehnte Auenpolitik der DDR, Oldenburg 1979, p. 325-332.

2Protokoll des VII. Weltkongresses der Kommunistischen Internationale, Moau 25. Juli 20.Augut 1935, vol. II, stuttgart 1976, p. 985.

3 see, among other, W. Mller,Die DDR in der deutschen Geschichte, Au Politi und Zeitge-chichte 28, 2001, p. 43-53; for a comprehenive analyi o literature on the topic ee,Die Nacht hatzwlf Stunden, dann kommt schon der Tag. Antifaschismus. Geschichte und Neubewertung, ed. C. kellerund der literatur WERktatt Berlin, Berlin 1996.

4 J. Danyel,Die Opfer- und Verfolgtenperspektive als Grndungskonsens? Zum Umgang mit derWiderstandstradition und der Schuldfrage in der DDR, in: J. Danyel (ed.), Die geteilte Vergangen-

heit. Zum Umgang mit Nationalsozialismus und Widerstand in beiden deutschen Staaten, Berlin 1995,p. 31-46.


4/30

76 Anna Wol-Powa

thining in the ramewor o enemy-riend categorie and the enuing ir-rational ene o being encircled and endangered. The anti-acit ideologyeemed to have been determined by the experience and mentality o a pe-

cic political generation in the German communit movement. The sEDexecutive were an amalgam o people with experience o the Weimar Re-public, perecution by the Nazi and rom stalin gulag.being doubly obtructed by the experience o the perecution rom Nation-al socialim and by being entangled in stalin policy o purge within thecommunit circle on emigration in the soviet Union. On the one hand, thecommunit elite elt endangered and thi wa reected in the way they per-ceived their ideal and organization above the lie o an individual. On theother hand, the ituation brought about a mixture o ear, opportunim, theneed to deend oneel, to reort to denunciation and cynical pragmatim.

Thi i well atteted by numerou pychographic record o the Mocowimmigrant in their autobiographic literature5.the concioune o the elite and their ene o moral uperiority retingon the conviction that they not only uered perecution rom the Nazi

but that they rom the very beginning were alo actively involved in ghtingNazim. The Politburo o the Communit Party o Germany even declaredto be a part o the UssR victoriou military rule. Thi conequently led to

building hierarchie o variou categorie o victim and to excluding omeo them rom the GDR concioune.ditrut toward majority o the German people, who between 1933 and1945 lived a happy and content lie and allowed themelve to be cor-rupted by the right to acquire a Volkswagen and buy ome public hare.In thi way the dictatorhip o upbringing came into being, which by u-ing political trategie o pedagogical and propaganda practice, erved the

purpoe o permanent mobilization o the mae.a ymbioi between the proletariat and lower-middle cla view o theworld which allowed to combine in the communit ideology typical reent-ment toward particular ocial group and anti-semitic attitude.

Anti-acim a the ideology which legitimized Eat Germany provided a pe-

cic platorm or reconing with the pat. Mainly it erved a an element o integrat-ing ociety and a an intrument o excluding ideological enemie. On 26 february1948, together with the denaziaction commiion being diolved in the soviet oc-cupied zone, the taeover o power wa conidered an accomplihed act. severalmonth beore that Walter Ulbricht explained the ene o denazication and madeit clear that it i not about judging what a peron wa doing in the time o Nationalsocialim but about where the individual i tanding at the moment and how inten-ively the peron i engaged in the democratic contruction o the sED tate6.

5 R. Mller (ed.), Georg Lukcs/Johannes R. Becher/Friedrich Wolf i inni. Die Suberung - Mos-

kau 1936: Stenogramm einer geschlossenen Parteiversammlung, Reinbe b. Hamburg 1991.6 W. Ulbricht,Zur Ausung der Entnazizierungskommissionen.Neue Deutchland 28. 2. 1948.


5/30


Antiacim tted into the doctrine o ocialit progre and ignied the in-tention to level the pat with the preent. The aim wa to highlight the role o theCommunit Party in the anti-Nazi reitance movement and to ue it or the current

propaganda o the GDR a the ucceor o the movement. Thi tretching o the ex-perience o the pre-war communit a an ideological contruction over the wholeo Eat German ociety wa the greatet windle, and at the ame time the mot ta-

ble ounding myth behind the etablihment o the Eat German tate. The principle,according to which the uture belonged to Eat Germany while the pat belonged toWet Germany unctioned a a moe creen or the activity o party executive. Theterm acim and acit wa reerved or political enemie. Hence, the con-truction o the Berlin Wall in 1961 wa regarded a an act o erecting an anti-acitrampart. Any internal unret, riot, any protet were interpreted a acit coupattempt. The term anti-acim and anti-capitalim were treated a ynonymo loyalty toward the GDR.

Anti-acim a the mot import component legitimizing the new order attachedpecial meaning to the victim and the communit reitance toward Nazim. Wein Eat Germany learnt our leon rom the incurable pat. The legacy o the dead() and the great ideal o the anti-acit truggle or reedom have become herea reality. The nationalized anti-acim had a it attribute a wide range o politicalritual or the victim o acim, which were repeated according to the ame criptevery year in the Eat Berlin Babelplatz, and which contituted an element o theanti-acit ocialization7.

The anti-acit ideology wa promoted to the moral ran o the GDR only in-terpretation not jut by the wide circle o Eat German intellectual. Contrary to thecommon belie in Wet Germany that anti-acim wa only a manipulative intru-ment o power or the sED tate, it provided a repreentative cotume or many EatGerman citizen. The anti-acit concioune wa an important element whichtabilized loyalty toward the tate and which wa a ource o a programme or thelater civil movement. Yet, the communit theory aided by anti-acim wa tillunable to interpret all the problem o National socialim. The churn o ideology owor and capital could not wallow anti-semitim and racim and it oon contrib-uted to univeralizing National socialim.

Antiacim ullled primarily a political unction. It alo led to the ocial in-tegration o the ormer member o NsDAP, Wehrmacht oldier and the majorityo the Eat German citizen who had upported Hitler Third Reich. In the proceo implementing variou trategie to overcome the pat, the particular memory oindividual wa replaced by antiacim a an ideological credo in the early tageo GDR. The preence o the other German tate orced a quic integration o Eat

7 M. Maron, Ich war ein antifaschistisches Kind, in: M. Maron, Nach Magabe meiner Befrei-ungskraft. Artikel und Essays, franurt a. M. 1993, p. 9-29; B. Wittich,Initiationen zum Antifaschisten.

FolgenreicherAntifaschismus, in: B. Rauchenbach (ed.), Erinnern, Wiederholen, Durcharbeiten. ZurPsycho-Analyse deutscher Wenden, Berlin 1992, p. 180-188.


6/30

78 Anna Wol-Powa

German ociety. Epecially during the cold war, the sED propaganda by decreeing

that Wet Germany wa only an extenion and a ucceor of the Third Reich, cre-

ated a favourable climate for exonerating their own rank. The lat barrier on the

way to the full integration of the perpetrator and victim within the Eat Germantate wa removed in November 1949, right after the etablihment of the GDR, by

adopting a Reolution lifting punihment for the former member and upporter

of NsDAP and for Wehrmacht ofcer. Three year later thi wa upplemented

by the Regulation about civil right for former ofcer of the facit Wehrma-

cht and former member and upporter of NsDAP. Thi trategy of condoning

trepae in return for collaboration in the creation of the ocialit Eat Germany

wa meant to trengthen loyalty toward the new political rule and bring internal

political tability.

Although the programme o the Aociation o Perecuted by the Nazi Regime

(Vereinigung der Verolgten de Naziregime VVN), etablihed in 1947 and latertranormed into the Aociation o female and Male Anti-acit (Bund der An-tiachitinnen und Antiachiten - VVN BdA) made room or ome elemento individual orm o activitie or the ae o commemorating the pat, with theetablihment o the GDR commemoration wa ully monopolized by the intituteo Marxim and Leninim. The nationalization o memory and anti-acit ociali-zation led to the omnipreent ritualization o commemoration in the orm o mataged mobilization carried out by Committee o Anti-acit Reitance, which in1953 replaced the diolved organization VVN. They had their local branche allover the country.

On 1 April 1951 franz Dahlem, a member o the Politburo o the Central Com-mittee o sED, who wa later perecuted a a Zionit, poe in thi pirit at a meet-ing o the central executive o VVN and pointed out the need to re-orientate the wordone by the organization o the perecuted and direct it againt the ormer advocateo the Nazi regime. A the central ta o Eat German policy he regarded hamper-ing the remilitarization o Wet Germany and halting American military plan. Nowthe main aim i to attract people who, or whatever reaon, are or peace8.

Together with diolving VVN the tage o tranormation o individual memoryinto a commemorative policy baed on the ideological oundation o the party end-

ed. Commemorative practice became an empty ormula tripped o any act, di-verity and individuality and then replaced by ocial ymbol. Thi let the averagecitizen to get rid o the conict o concience, and by being granted a new politicalmentality to join in the contruction o the new ocialit tate. In act, not only theworing cla wa included into the anti-acit reitance orce but all the citi-zen o Eat Germany. In thi way the anti-capitalit continuity wa implied and it al-lowed to regard Eat German citizen a victim o Nazim and to ahion them intovictor o hitory. The peronal hare people had in the Nazi crime remained until

8 Ater J. Danyel, op. cit., p. 43.


7/30


the end o the GDR a taboo ubject9. The auto portrait painted in thi way aeedHitler Third Reich a a temporary tage o oreign rule. The tatu o the victimgave meaurable privilege; it at leat allowed to reject demand or reparation.

The policy toward the pat adopted in the soviet zone led to univeralizing Na-tional socialim a acim10. The soviet occupation created premie or a electiveperception o the recent pat. Thi wa urther acilitated by the act that many o theparty executive were communit who had been perecuted a early a beore 1933.The act allowed to create a myth o hitorical continuity and to relate it to the demo-cratic tradition o 1848 a well a the revolutionary experience o 1918. followingthi approach the GDR could ree itel in two way rom the Nazi pat; throughmaing reerence to the renewed tate authoritie and through demontrating di-tance toward Wet Germany a a bourgeoi imperialit or pot-acit ociety. Theexiting ituation meant that Wet Germany, which made endeavour to be regarded

a the only repreentative o Germany on the international arena, wa in a way orcedto integrate the heritage o the recent pat, and that became one o the main topicor their internal dipute.

from the very beginning a conict o commemorating the pat and prioritietoward the pat accompanied the ideological conrontation rt in the wetern oc-cupied zone and in the eatern zone, and later in both German tate. The reit-ance movement came to the oreground. While in Eat Germany the legacy o thecommunit heroe and the anti-Hitler reitance movement were cherihed, in WetGermany the ocu wa on individual and military reitance. still, neither the Eat

German policy toward the Third Reich baed on dual morality, nor the theory ototalitarianim created later in Wet Germany, which equated the Nazi dictatorhipwith that o sED, erved well a rational reconing with Hitler policy11.

Peter Reichel, an experienced reearcher whoe tudie ocu on the collectivememory o German evaluate thi ituation a a gain in the cae o Eat Germany,

but a a burden in the cae o Wet Germany12. The tate authoritie o Eat Ger-many, retreated into hitory and ued it in a elective way or their internal political

9 see, among other, k. stephan, Erinnerungen an den Zweiten Weltkrieg. Zum Zusammenhangvon kollektiver Identitt und kollektiver Erinnerung, Gieen 2006; A. Blndor, Die Einordnung derNS-Zeit in das Bild der eigenen Geschichte: sterreich, die DDR und die Bundesrepublik Deutsch-land im Vergleich, in: W. Bergmann, R. Erb, A. Lichtblau (ed.), Schwieriges Erbe. Der Umgang mitNationalsozialismus und Antisemitismus in sterreich, der DDR und der Bundesrepublik Deutschland,franurt a. M., New Yor 1995, p. 18-45.

10 H. Weber, Geschichte der DDR, Mnchen 1985.11 L. Niethammer (ed.),Der gesuberte Antifaschismus. Die SED und die roten Kapos von Buchen-

wald. Dokumente, Berlin 1994; Ch. klemann, Das Problem der doppelten Vergangenheitsbewlti-gung in der frheren DDR, in: R. Ecert, W. kttler, G. seeber (ed.),Krise Umbruch Neubeginn.Eine kritische und selbstkritische Dokumentation der DDR-Geschichtswissenschaft 1989/1990, ater-word by J. koc, stuttgart 1992.

12 P. Reichel, Politik mit der Erinnerung. Gedchtnisorte im Streit um die nationalsozialistischeVergangenheit, Mnchen, Wien 1995, p. 37, 40.


8/30


9/30


aggreive part o the German nance capital, the view which had to lead to a pe-cic interpretation o hitory. Academic and chool textboo carried inormationwhich wa meant to convince people that Hitler regime wa directed againt the

woring-cla movement, proletarian revolution and the soviet Union. The victimo the Dreden bombing could then in thi context be ued a a political argumentin the cold war. In 1953 Lothar Bolz, the head o the National Democratic Party oGermany (National-Demoratiche Partei Deutchland - NDPD) aid, We owe theruin o our citie and corpe buried beneath them to America and England. Whatha utained our nation () and gave trength to rebuild the country we owe to thesoviet Union15.

The German nation, and in particular the woring cla, became victim o Na-zim and the perpetration wa attributed to the elite o great indutry. In uch a con-text the extermination o the Jew wa entirely puhed to the margin and regarded aa reult o German imperialim. Thi view reed Eat German citizen rom the re-ponibility or the conequence o the Holocaut. The attractivene o uch a viewo hitory meant that a group o perpetrator wa pointed out and the other werecleared o guilt. The advocate o uch an interpretation were immediately placedon the right ide o hitory. Thu, National socialim wa becoming in the eye oEat German people a hitory o Wet Germany. The Wet German dipute arounddenazication, proecution o the war criminal and reparation were treated by EatGerman propaganda a evidence or the exitence o the nationalit tradition carriedon by the revanchit and neo-Nazi ollower.

The cold war trengthened the belie that Eat Germany belonged to the motprogreive, oriented toward the uture nation which cherih peace. In thi wayGermany came out o the hadow o a nation o perpetrator. In 1949 Walter Ulbrichtaid in hi peech:

At preent the criteria o who i a peace loving citizen and want the unity o Germany donot include the quetion o what party memberhip omebody acribed to earlier on, or whetheromebody belonged to Hitler party but the quetion o: Whether or not you are or the peacetreaty and againt the Atlantic Pact which want to mae Wet Germany into a war bae?16.

Having accepted anti-acim a the repreentative reaon o the tate in theGDR had determined the conequence or the hitoriographic account o the Holo-caut. subordinating the reearch into the Holocaut to communit ideology muthave led to ale concluion which, among other were a product o accepting aleaumption. In act communit hitory education treated acit anti-semitim a o

15 Ater J. Danyel, Die Erinnerung an die Wehrmacht in beiden deutschen Staaten. Vergangen-heitspolitik und Gedenkrituale, in: R.-D. Mller, H.-E. Volmann (ed.), Die Wehrmacht. Mythos undRealitt, Mnchen 1999, p. 1144.

16 W. Ulbricht, Warum nationale Front des demokratischen Deutschlands? Au dem Reerat au der

Parteionerenz der sED Gro-Berlin, 17 Mai 1949, in: idem,Zur Geschichte der Deutschen Arbeiterbe-

wegung. Au Reden und Autzen, vol. 3: 1946-1950, Ot-Berlin 1954, p. 491.


10/30

82 Anna Wol-Powa

econdary importance to anti-communim. The tatu o a victim wa rt o all re-erved or the communit who had been reed rom camp. Alo, the Jew who were

connected with communim and located in the eatern occupation zone, including

among other Alexander Abuch, Albert Norden, Hann Eiler, Walther felentein,Anna segher and Arnold Zweig, did not play a ignicant part in the dicuion o the

Nazi genocide. The communit rhetoric rom the 1930 wa till binding in the later

Eat Germany. Oar ficher, Eat Germany oreign miniter a late a in 1988 aid:

The GDR i a German anti-acit tate in which racim, anti-semitim and acim havebeen eradicated with their root. The Eat German government and the nation pay repect to thememory o the victim o Nazi barbarity including the ix million murdered Jewih citizen. Theyoung generation in our country ha been conitently educated in the anti-acit pirit, and every-thing in our capacity i being done o that the young generation will never orget the evil o Hitler

acim, a well a the immeaurable uering o Jewih citizen and the heroic deed o the anti-acit reitance movement17.

However, the declaration o the memberhip in the victoriou camp, and epe-

cially o the raternity with the soviet power, required a mythology. Even the German

catatrophic deeat at stalingrad wa ued to create a legend. That i to ay stalingrad

became or Eat Germany a tarting point toward a better new uture or Germany.

In the ocial rhetoric the catatrophe wa perceived a the ource o the Eat Ger-

man and soviet riendhip. stalingrad wa unctioning a a triumph o the jut war

againt the acit invader, and a great leon or the nation18.

With the beginning o the 1950 hitory education in the GDR wa made uniorm.On 5 July 1952 the Mueum o German Hitory wa opened in Berlin and it wa

meant to unction a a centre or coordinating Eat German hitoriography. The open-

ing date o the Mueum almot coincided with the 2nd party conerence o sED (9-12

July 1952) during which Aufbau des Sozialismus wa etablihed. The party devoted

a lot o time and pace to hitory education. Thi conidered not only the intitution

but the ideological and political dimenion o the tudie.

The hitory o Germany ha hown to the entire nation the perniciou route o imperialimand the neceity o peaceul coexitence with other nation in Europe, and in particular the needor riendhip between the German nation and the nation o the powerul soviet Union. Hitoryalo prove how neceary it i to grant the woring cla a leading role in the truggle o the Ger-man nation to reintate the unity o Germany19.

17 Ater P. Reichel, op. cit., p. 39. see alo, among other: H. schmid,Antifaschismus und Judenver-folgung. Die Reichskristallnacht als politischer Gedenktag in der DDR, Dreden 2004.

18 M. kumpmller, Die Schlacht von Stalingrad. Metamorphosen eines deutschen Mythos, Mn-chen 1996, p. 175. C. alo J. Her,Zweierlei Erinnerung. Die NS-Vergangenheit im geteilten Deutsch-

land, Berlin 1998.19Dokumente der Sozialistischen Einheitspartei Deutschlands (SED), vol. III, p. 581.


11/30


12/30


13/30


The reconing with the pat in the ene o individual divere invetigation othe nature and conequence o Hitler regime wa made impoible by the ideologywhich deprived people o civil right in the undertanding o wetern democracie.

The Eat German tatehood wa built on collective cla overeignty with a limitedright or interaction. The GDR peculiarity wa manieted by the act that contraryto other countrie o the communit bloc it could not reer to the nation ideal andue national overeignty to compenate or the decit inherent in legitimating claovereignty.

The Eat German ymbol and ritual did not have much in common with thereal victim o Nazim and the war. They all erved the truggle or peace. Everyyear in september an International Remembrance Day o the Victim o facimwa celebrated. In the VVN Manieto rom 1951 the remembrance day wa an-nounced a a day o ghting againt war and acim. The remembrance did notocu on the victim who were led into the ga chamber, hot and tranported towor a orced labourer in the Third Reich but on thoe who were decribed a 11million men and women rom all European countrie who were ghting againtHitler acim or the peace o manind. () All thoe who then oppoed acimand reited the regime () were above other ghter or peace27. In uch rhetoricthere wa no room or German blame and reponibility ince the term victim wa

jutly acribed only to martyr and heroe murdered or political belie. The e-ence o the commemorative policy ormulated by the communit dictatorhip wacontained in the text o a telegram ent by stalin on the occaion o etablihing the

German Democratic Republic which aid that the greatet acrice in the war weremade by the German nation and the soviet nation, and that both nation have thegreatet potential in Europe to carry out great action o international ignicance 28. In thi context the year between 1933 and 1945 were perceived a the time ooreign rule by a dierent cla. The ituation wa made wore by the act that EatGerman hitoriography tarted to invetigate the Nazi pat more thoroughly onlya late a in the 1960. Ater 1945 middle-cla hitorian did not have their ay.There wa no objective dicipline dealing with hitory ince hitorian were replaced

by interpreter o hitory rom communit executive circle.The centrally controlled cultural policy in the GDR wa ubject to their own

viion o hitory. While in wetern zone the term Wet wa ynonymou withvalue, and at the ame time conidered a bulwar againt communim, in Eat Ger-many the dicued iue included cherihing the great patriotic tradition and na-tional cultural heritage. The Cultural federation or the Democratic Revival oGermany (kulturbund zur demoratichen Erneuerung Deutchland) created in1945 by the Ruian adminitration rom the very beginning aimed at awaeningthe great German culture, the pride o our homeland, and jutiying the new piritual

27 Ater J. Her, op. cit., p. 204.28 Ater H. Weber,Kleine Geschichte der DDR, kln 1980, p. 53.


14/30

86 Anna Wol-Powa

lie. In 1949 the ame organization regarded itel a a movement o piritual reto-ration and made reerence to the liberating, humanitic and truly national traditiono our culture. The Cultural federation i in all piritual capacitie a ghter or an

objective truth, humanitic meaure and value, and an unalied view o hitoryor the ideal o progre and reedom29. The Eat German authoritie throughoutall the decade o their exitence cared or extending the inratructure o carrier omemory. The directive iued in september 1970 which dened the anti-acitand humanitic oundation o cultural policy poe with pride about the achieve-ment in a number o mueum; The German Democratic Republic ha 553 mue-um and place o commemoration which are annually viited by 18 million people.With repect to the denity o the networ o mueum, the large number o viitorand the intenity o wor, Eat Germany occupie the rt place in Europe 30.

sED alo wanted to be a party or the revival o German culture and it i howit called itel in their 1946 manieto. The intention wa to aociate ocialim withhumanim. The hitory o the cla truggle o the woring mae became yn-onymou with the hitory and the development o humanim. Thi contituted thereal Germany, not the one ignied by the watia. The Eat German writer and

politician, Werner Eggerath wa aing about the German nature in the time o con-tempt, Wa it Germany which in hobnailed boot bahed the treet and digracedhumanity? Wa it Germany which cattered our nation blood acro the battleeldo hal o the world and let it rot? Wa it Germany?. At the ame time he providedan anwer, No, that wa not Germany. The real Germany i a country o peace and

human progre and cooperation o raternal nation. Humanim mut be won andnot awaen31.The dominance o anti-acim and the ocu on the communit reitance move-

ment meant that memory became an abtract amalgam, detached rom particular peo-ple, place and event. The monumental nature o the commemorative topographyin the place o torment led to the lo o hitorical concioune. Martin schneldin hi tudy invetigating the plaque commemorating the Nazi dictatorhip in EatBerlin pointed to the tendency to etablih uch a orm o commemoration in whichthe individual and their biographie un in the normalized meh in which theirindividuality wa levelled and degraded to the ole repreentation o the reitancemovement32.

The Eat German commemorative place had their blade pointed in two direc-tion: rt againt the culprit o the criminal war, and alo againt the Wet Ger-man tate. The centre o the Eat German hitorical policy wa dominated by the

29 kulturbund 1949: Grundaugaben de kulturbunde, in: E. schubbe (ed.),Dokumente zur Kunst-,Literatur-, und Kulturpolitik der SED, stuttgart 1972, p.121.

30 Ater E. Wolrum, Geschichtspolitik in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Der Weg zur bundesre-publikanischen Erinnerung 1948-1990, Darmtadt 1999, p. 298.

31 W. Eggerath,Nur ein Mensch, Weimar 1947, p. 187.32 M. schneld, Gedenktafeln in Ost-Berlin, schritenreihe Ative Mueum, vol. 4, Berlin 1991, p. 22.


15/30


command to uproot militarim and acim in all area o lie. Each expoitioncommemorating the Nazi terror alo needed to remind who i the continuator anducceor o the militarit doctrine. Thi conrontational character o the Eat Ger-

man memory toward their compatriot acro the Elbe deprived it o credibility.The divided memory wa expreed in the competition o victim which wa motclearly exhibited in the ormer concentration camp. The camp in Buchenwald waa commemorative place which wa the mot uitable or uch a conrontation. Thenearby Weimar, the birthplace o the Republic and the heir o the humanitic tradi-tion o Goethe and schiller, and Buchenwald with the ma grave expreed the

brilliance and miery o German hitory. Thu, the ocial propaganda intituted theBuchenwald concentration camp a a national memorial o liberation rom acim,a the red Olympu, eential or the contruction o the GDR ounding myth. Oth-er Eat German camp, in sachenhauen and Ravenbrc hared the ame ate.

In the early German Democratic Republic a ew type o political memorialcould be ditinguihed: to the anti-acit reitance movement, to victim o a-cim, and the monument erving a ocialit model or the woring-cla move-ment and or the development o the GDR. The initial commemorative characterwith time gave way to the imperative unction. The tatue which dominated thememorial in the ormer concentration camp did not portray the uering victim

but the earle victoriou revolutionary activit33. While the beaten Wet Germancommemorated their allen oldier, victim o air raid and o the reitance move-ment, Eat German exhibited ymbol o the international victory over acim.

Their aim wa alo to demontrate the dominance o the ocialit community overimperialim and olidarity o the anti-acit orce. The memorial in Buchenwald,the wor o fritz Cremer i ditinguihed by it huge expreivene; a child andten men create not a group o people entenced to death but a group et in a combat

poe with gun and a ag. It i not the overwrought victim but the victor with theirclenched t who contitute the dominant tructure34. Maoz Azaryahu, a hitorianrom Tel Aviv brought it to attention how an artitic mode o expreion can aliyhitory. The clenched t raied in protet in the repreentative memorial in Buchen-wald loe it ubjectivity. The victim remain anonymou35.

The area o the concentration camp became the place commemorating the anti-acit reitance movement and liberation. In 1985, on the 40 th anniverary o lib-erating the camp, a mueum wa opened which wa uppoed to ulll primarily theeducational unction with a clearly mared ideological opponent in the bacground.The verbal and viual meage were directed toward the Red Army, the Commu-

33 H. Adam,Erinnerungsrituale Erinnerungsdiskurse Erinnerungstabus. Politische Denkmlerder DDR zwischen Verhinderung, Vernderung und Realisierung, ritiche berichte 3, 1992.

34 P. Reichel, op.cit, p.131.35 M. Azaryahu, Vom Wilhelmplatz zum Thlmannplatz. Politische Symbole im ffentlichen Leben

der DDR, schritenreihe de Intitut r Deutche Gechichte der Univeritt Tel-Aviv, vol. 13, Gerlin-gen 1991, p. 189.


16/30

88 Anna Wol-Powa

nit Party and the woring cla. Yet, the problematic quetion which remained wahow to agree thi image with the ma grave dicovered in 1984 rom the time othe pecial soviet camp which exited between 1945 and 1950, which according to

expert etimate contained the remain o 6,000 to 13,000 victim36

.The dual hitory o the camp-mueum expreed the dual memory; o the victimo Nazim and stalinim. The reunication o Germany brought new eature intothe commemorative culture. starting in 1991 a committee o expert headed by thehitorian, Eberhard Jcel and etablihed by the government o Thuringia preparedrecommendation. The exhibition preenting the hitory o the concentration camphould account or the current reearch and ree itel rom the o ar propaganda oEat German hitoriography. A lot ha been done to ecure the documentation o theearly commemorative place in Eat Germany a well a to weaen the monumentaldimenion o the political ymbol.

The conrontation o memory on the level o pure propaganda aumed variouorm. When in early 1965 the federal Republic o Germany wa acing a deciionwhether or not to extend the period o expiration o validity concerning war crime,the Eat German parliament iued in february 1965 a statement to the Parliamento the World which aid, According to the will o the Wet German governmentand a enacted by the reolution o the federal Cabinet rom 5 November 1964, thedate 8 May 1965 () i uppoed to be the day o general amnety or the thouando Nazi and war criminal. Thi hideou plan i a blow to the ene o jutice amongnation. It alo contitute a eriou threat to peace and ecurity. () It i a contitu-

ent o the revanchit policy o the Wet German government37

.The dual heritage o Nazim and communim, that wa revealed ater the re-unication, brought complex conequence. In the 1990 the media got interetedin a particular cae. In 1994 a ormer camp warden rom Ravenbrc, Germanyreceived 65,000 German mar in damage becaue he had pent 10 year in campand prion in Eat Germany. The soviet war tribunal had entenced her to 25 yearin a penal labour camp. A one o the journalit commented the ss camp wardenreceived 550 German mar or each month in prion, wherea the ormer camp

prioner rom Ravenbrc can according to the ederal law be awarded only 150German mar or each month pent in the camp38.

On the brea o the 1960 and 1970 Eat Germany introduced ome correc-tion in their view o hitory. In 1967, ater the 7th party congre a lot o eort wamade to poition hitory cloer to the nation executive authoritie. In repone tothe change o government in Wet Germany and the eatern policy o the sPD/fDPcoalition the Eat German authoritie made an unucceul attempt to contructa viion o a ocialit nation. The conception o a nation and the portrayal o hi-

36 Among other, M. klonovy, J. von flocen, Stalins Lager in Deutschland, 1945-1950, Mn-chen 1993.

37 Neue Deutchland 4. 02. 1965.38 A. schneider,Alles Opfer, oder was?, taz 1. 12. 1994.


17/30


tory contitute two categorie which were continuouly mutually dependant in EatGermany. The primary aim o teaching hitory wa the ormation o the ocialitconcioune, which in dometic policy wa to reult in developing ocialit patriot-

im and abroad to be expreed a a cla truggle.When in May 1971 Erich Honecer came to power a new era began. The centralreearch plan or hitorian or the year rom 1972 to 1975 dictated the credo orhitory a a dicipline which wa determined by the concluion that the interna-tional ocialit ytem ocued around the soviet Union had developed a a reulto the coure o world hitory, and that The Democratic Republic o Germany ia legitimate ucceor o the revolutionary, progreive and humanitic tradition oGerman hitory, and rt o all o the German woring-cla movement39. The newEat German conception aumed that the two German tate repreent two nation,wherea in 1968 the contitution o Eat Germany till admitted to national unity,The German Democratic Republic i the ocialit tate o the German nation. Theelement o national unity were eraed rom the 1974 contitution. since then theGDR unctioned a a ocialit tate o worer and peaant. The adjective Ger-man wa removed rom the ocial language. The radio tation which in theirname included the word German became thu the voice o GDR, the GermanAcademy o science wa renamed a the The GDR science Academy. The na-tional anthem becaue o the word, Germany - one homeland could no longer beang but only played a muic.

However, it wa not poible to mould the conception o the nation and it hi-

tory completely according to the party directive. The tate could not be entirelyeparated rom the nation. The wave o the renaiance o interet in hitory in WetGermany could not remain without an impact on hitorical concioune in EatGermany. The 30 year anniverary o GDR provided an occaion to open a newhitorical perpective under the heading, Heritage and Tradition. Pruia becamethe centre o attention but the hitorian had to mae acrobatic eort to elect onlythee apect rom the Pruian heritage which were in line with cla ideology. The

public in both German tate were overcome by a wave o notalgia. The dicuionaround the Pruian legacy raied new quetion about the national unity o Ger-man and their interpretation o hitory. The Pruian legacy had or Eat Germanydual ignicance. The negative image o Pruia a the homeland o militarim wain the 1980 complemented by the partially rehabilitated image o ome Pruian

peronalitie lie, or example karl von Clauewitz, Gerhard von Blcher and Ger-hard von scharnhort, who were raied to the ran o ervant o progre a theytimulated the activity o the mae. The great reormer, freiherr vom und zumstein, karl Augut von Hardenberg, and the general Ludwig Gra Yorc von Warten-

burg, who in 1812 igned the neutralityConvention o Tauroggen and provided argu-ment or the camaraderie o arm with Ruia, could be ued to extend the hitorical

39 Ibidem, p. 299.


18/30

90 Anna Wol-Powa

argumentation or the preent riendhip with the soviet Union. Both German tate

needed ounding myth, poitive element together with maintaining a bond with their

own hitory. They both corrected and veried the pat in variou way. In 1948 when

the anti-acit ideology became the bai or the hitorical narrative o the GermanDemocratic Republic, the claical tatue o the reormer, Gerhard von scharnhort, the

wor o Chritian Daniel Rauch, wa removed a a ymbol o Pruian militarim only

or it to return 15 year later. The general wa needed a a reormer, who had modern-

ized the Pruian army, to legitimize the people army in Eat Germany40.

In a way the commonly hared German hitory returned to Eat Germany through

the bactair. Together with the ene o belonging to a nation with a hared culture

came the awarene o hitory, which the tate managed to divide only on the aade.

The rehabilitation o the Pruian-Protetant tradition and the huge interet in Martin

Luther, epecially in 1983, the Year o Luther, howed the hared German emotion

which were running underground and which paved the way or the reunication o

Germany. Although or all the 40 year both German tate competed with one another

in all area o lie, alo in the domain o hitory which had to ulll the external a well

a internal political unction, the collape o the Berlin Wall expoed the ale glitz o

ideology. Eat German hitoriography became overnight a mueum exhibit demontrat-

ing the role o political doctrine in haping the viion o the pat.

In the nal tage o the GDR, that i in the hort hitory o the democratic Eat

Germany together with the declaration o independence came the delayed admiion o

guilt. On 12 April 1990 the democratically elected Eat German parliament announced

a reolution which aid, among other, In the time o National socialim the Germancaued immeaurable uering to the nation o the world. Nationalim and racial mad-

ne led to genocide, epecially on the Jew rom all European countrie, on the nation

o the soviet Union, the Polih nation, sinti and Roma. The reolution expreed on

behal o German men and women their hared reponibility or humiliation, expul-

ion and the murder o Jewih, women, men and children. () We a all the Jew

in the world or orgivene. We a the nation o Irael to orgive the hypocriy and

hotility toward Irael in Eat German policy a well a to orgive the perecution and

deprivation o dignity that Jewih citizen uered alo ater 1945 in our country41.

REMEMBRANCE DAYs

The Eat and Wet German in variou way tried to handle hitorical annivera-rie. They all rom the very beginning had a problem with how to call the 8 /9 May.should it be the end o war, May 1945, catatrophe, capitulation, collape,

40 G. Wol-Bonemper, Schinkels Neue Wache Unter den Linden. Ein Denkmal in Deutschland,in: Aademie der knte (Hg.), Streit um die Neue Wache. Zur Gestaltung einer zentralen Gedenksttte,

Berlin 1993, p. 35.41 Ater Der Tagepiegel 14. 4. 1990.


19/30


the zero hour, or the new beginning? None o the term wa atiying and eachwa evoing divergent aociation, dierent viion o hitory, dierent memorie,contruction o identity and a dierent ideology. The term catatrophe ugget

that the outcome o war wa in a way a troe o ate, and that perpective weaenhuman reponibility. The word capitulation need to be pecied a capitulationor whom? Beore whom? What emotion come with the term? On the other hand,the term the zero hour and the new beginning are intended to dene the caeurao an era. Declaring the zero hour ignie an attempt to erae time and thu meanconcealing the truth. The unconditional capitulation a the new beginning i anaburd ince the idea o the thouand-year-old Reich cannot diappear overnight,it i till alive. such a manietation i equivalent with an attempt to put the act adacta, or example the German annihilation trategy. Then the perpetrator and theonlooer would have to recognize how much they had been ubmitted to a madleaderhip42. In the recent pat the quetion, who wa reed in 1945? ha becomean object o reection. freed rom what and what or? How many German inter-

preted capitulation a liberation? And then wa it liberation only rom the inhumanewar, or rom Hitler, who everal year earlier had been worhipped a a providentialpirit? Or wa it liberation rom one pang o concience?

What did the end o war mean? Thi quetion ha remained diputable or manydecade and a a reult a peculiar mythology o the war ending emerged. It wa notonly that the two tate diered in their interpretation but alo internal German di-erence occurred. They concerned the communit reitance movement, the el-

liberation o the concentration camp in Buchenwald and the role o the Red Armyundertood a an armed organ o the communit orce. In the early year ater thewar Wet Germany did not wor out a commemorative tradition reerring to the warending. The date 8 May wa not treated a an occaion or collective learning. Politi-cian ignored thi day and the public did not ee any reaon why remembering aboutthe deeat hould be promoted to the ran o a celebration. Time wa needed to maethi anniverary the ubject o a deeper and more proound reection. for a long timethi anniverary wa treated in the Bonn Republic a a demontration o political di-erence rom Eat Germany, which treated thi day a liberation day

from the very beginning in Eat Germany thi day wa an element o the anti-acit reaon o the tate a enured by the communit in the soviet zone. Themonumental memorial in Treptower Par wa the mot prominent ymbol o lib-eration and the place o annual ceremonie in Eat Berlin. It wa alo the centralcommemorative ite which mared the appropriation o the soviet victory. A earlya in 1946 the soviet authoritie announced a competition or the mot importantcommemorative ite in Berlin. On 8 May 1949 maring the 4 th anniverary o thewar ending a memorial to the soviet oldier wa ocially unveiled. The triumphal

42 A. Ectaedt,Nationalsozialismus in der zweiten Generation. Psychoanalyse von Hrigkeits-

verhltnissen, franurt a. M. 1989, p. 496.


20/30

92 Anna Wol-Powa

arch at the entrance to the par honour the oldier who according to the incriptiondied or the reedom and independence o our homeland. The route to the majormemorial i lined with 16 white marble arcophague ornamented with relie rom

the civil war o the soviet nation and with incription o citation rom Joephstalin. The main memorial placed on an elevation how a thirty-metre tall tatueo the Liberator, a oldier with a word in one hand, a an archetype o the angelo vengeance, and a child in the other arm, who with hi boot quahe the watia.The viiting route i imilar to the Way o the Cro43.

On 8 May 1945 a memorial o The Camp Prioner and Liberator wa unveiledin the sachenhauen concentration camp. The memorial how a relie o a RedArmy oldier with a camp prioner in hi arm. The dominant meage i a remindero to whom the German owe their liberation. On 8 May 1960 the recontructedrom the war debri building oNeue Wache (The New Guard Houe) at Unter den

Linden, wor o k. friedrich schinel, wa rededicated a a memorial to the victimo acim and militarim. On the 20th anniverary o the GDR the ymbolim o

Neue Wache wa changed, namely a grand tone national emblem o Eat Germanywa added and urn with oil rom concentration camp and battleeld were placed

beore the eternal ame.The 8 May erved the purpoe o monumentalizing and canonizing the heroic

o the soviet oldier. The commemorative ite in Eat Germany were created onthe soviet initiative and according to their pattern. It wa the repreentative o theRed Army who in November 1967 opened the Mueum o the Unconditional Ca-

pitulation o Nazi Germany in the War o Independence 1941-1945. In 1972 a com-memoration ite wa opened on the seelow Hill (seelower Hhen). It wa uppoedto remind about the The Victor fighting Route, that i o The Red Army, whichin early 1944 lot 30,000 oldier, a well a it wa meant to conrm the camarade-rie o arm between the Eat German and soviet oldier. The celebration on the8 May created avourable condition to trengthen the Eat German interpretationo hitory; highlighting that the major glory o victory and the burden o loe areaccredited to the soviet Union while the role o the wetern allie wa marginalized.The year 1945 wa acribed a role o a caeura o an era jut a it wa with the year1917. socialim nally overcame the acit tyranny and the German guilt oblige toeternal gratitude and riendhip with the liberator. Thu, the 8 May a a celebrationo victory wa imultaneouly a celebration o ocialim44. The Nazi racit policyand it victim did not contitute a point o reerence. The centre o attention wa onthe uering o the civilian in the lat month o the war and the bombed Dreden.Thee act were ued a political argument. A in 1953 Lothar Bolz, the head o theEat German National Democratic Party o Germany (NDPD) aured, We owe the

43 for a wider account ee, H. Adam, op.cit., p. 10-35.44 B.-A. Ruine,Ende des Zweiten Weltkriegs lokal, regional, international. Forschungsstand und

Perspektiven, in: idem (ed.), Kriegsende 1945. Verbrechen, Katastrophen, Befreiungen in nationaler undinternationaler Perspektive, Gttingen 2004, p. 7-26.


21/30


ruin o our citie and corpe buried beneath them to America and England. Whatha utained our nation () and gave trength to rebuild the country we owe to thesoviet Union45. When in 1965 Gnter Paulu, a German hitorian too the courage

to ay that liberty came to u German not a a riendly godde with a palm twigin her hand but it drove in tan into our treet, it noced on our door with thebutt-end o gun, the text wa rejected by tate cenorhip a hitorically inap-propriately ormulated and politically unacceptable46.

In April 1950 the interim houe o parliament etablihed the 8 May and the 7October to be ocial national holiday in Eat Germany. The May celebration inEat Germany, imilar to the entire hitorical policy o the sED tate, were a mani-etation o riendhip with the soviet Union, and at the ame time a perormancecondemning the political reality o Wet Germany. To illutrate, or example, on 8May 1955 a demontration too place in which 200,000 people participated andwhoe aim wa to condemn Wet Germany which became a NATO member on the5 May. The celebration o Liberation Day were alway an occaion or a politicalupdate o the pat. When in 1970 on the occaion o the anniverary o the war end-ing Willy Brandt poe in the Bundetag, Neue Deutchland aw pure revanchitideology in all ragment o hi peech47. several year later, on the 28 th anniveraryo the German capitulation, it wa yet again treed that Eat German citizen arethe victor o 1945. That i to ay the wheel o hitory ha been turning orward onEat German territory and it will eep turning orward48. In 1965 on the occaiono the 8 May the American war in Vietnam wa condemned. Hitorically thu, anni-

verarie were an occaion to mobilize the mae and gain upport or the sED, itpeace miion in the world, a well a to expre oppoition to the wetern power,which were a threat to peace.

Ritualized celebration enriched with the current element o political conictbetween the Eat and the Wet were becoming a ceremony in which National social-im wa a marginal attachment devoid o content. Anti-acim olved everythingwithout explaining anything. It wa an ideology o compenating, legitimating andeparating rom the pat. shame, guilt, orrow were not uitable or the eeling othe victor. The 8 May had a trong poition in the political calendar o the GDR andit contained the whole o Eat German mythology. In both German tate metaphorwere ued to obcure the real meaning o the pat. While on 8 May 1965 Walter Ul-

bricht poe o the wampy growth o German imperialim, Gutav Heinemann in1970 poe o the dar hour o the gloomy era.

45 Ater M. sabrow,Den zweiten Weltkrieg erinnern, Au Politi und Zeitgechichte 36-37, 2009,

p. 15.46 Ater M. sabrow, Geschichte als Herrschaftsdiskurs. Der Fall Gnter Paulus, Initial 4/5, 1995, p. 60.47 Ater J.-H. kirch, Wir haben aus der Geschichte gelernt.Der 8. Mai als politischer Gedenk-

tag in Deutschland, kln, Weimer, Wien 1999, p. 66.48 Ibidem.


22/30

94 Anna Wol-Powa

It wa a late a on the 40th anniverary o the war ending that a change o climatecould be elt in Eat Germany49. Again the memorie o the allied air raid on Dre-den, orgotten or ome time, came to the ore. The anniverarie were celebrated

apart rom the tate alo in Chritian churche, depite the act that the ermon andpublic appearance o the more important church ocial were cenored. The publiccould watch documentarie which in a more realitic way howed the end o the war.There wa alo a new international perpective and the celebration were accompa-nied by appeal or peace. In Torgau on the River Elbe a coalition o reaon andrealim wa preented in which ixty Us war veteran met with one hundred ormerRed Army oldier to exchange their war memorie orty year later.

In the whole hitory o Eat Germany eort made to maintain the progreivetone and victoriou atmophere remained in harp contrat with the authentic tenoro the day o German capitulation. The celebration did not call up or grieving overthe victim o National socialim. They impoed an atmophere o pompou triumphwhich wa not cononant with the authentic eeling o the older generation whichremembered the burden o the deeat and it conequence.

The real credibility tet or the memory o the recent pat wa or Eat Germancitizen the anniverary o the Kristallnacht (Crital Night). Today, rememberingabout the Holocaut i an important element o German identity but the route to in-tegrate the memory o the Holocaut in German concioune, rt in a divided andthen in a reunied tate, wa long and lled with dicultie. A it wa put by frie-drich Nietzche, I did it o ay my memory. I could not have done it ay my

pride an remain relentle. Eventually memory give in50

. Chritian von krocowwrite about a double peron and the plit concience in the Third Reich. Ater thewar the ituation wa imilar. In Germany there wa deep ilence.

Initially, thoe Jew who had urvived the Holocaut could not imagine returningto German oil. It eemed that ater Auchwitz the Jewih communitie in Germanywould be omething unnatural. Robert Weltch poe on behal o many when in1946 ater hi viit to the deeated Germany he wrote, We cannot expect that therewill be ome Jewih people who would want to live in Germany. Here it mell ohuman bodie, ga chamber and torture room. Yet, there are till a ew thouando them living in Germany. () Thee remaining Jewih quarter need to be liqui-dated a oon a poible. () Germany i not the land or Jew 51. similar wordull o reignation were poen by Rabbi Leo Bec ater he wa liberated rom the

49 for an analyi o the pre coverage on the 8 May celebration ee, M. Mederace, W. scha,Der Tag der Befreiung in der DDR 1985. Die Berichterstattung des Neuen Deutschlands, deutchetudien annual XXIV, March 1986, p. 88-94.

50 f. Nietzche,Beyond good and evil, tranlated into Polih, edited and upplied with aterword byP. Pienie, kraw 2005, p. 71.

51 Ater M. Richarz,Juden in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und in der Deutschen Demokrati-

schen Republik seit 1945, in: M. Brumli, D. kieel, C. kugelmann, J. schoep (ed.),Jdisches Lebenin Deutschland seit 1945, franurt a. M. 1986, p. 14.


23/30


Thereientadt concentration camp in 1945, for u, Jew rom Germany a certainepoch in hitory came to an end. such epoch end when hope, aith and trut need to

be buried or good () The epoch o Jew in Germany ha ended or good52.

November in Eat Germany wa reerved a a month o commemorating the Oc-tober reolution (1917) and the November revolution (1918). Jew did not t into

any o the ocial denition o victim o acim. However, the conecutive an-

niverarie o the Kristallnachtwhich ollowed were ued a an occaion to launch

attac on wetern imperialim and the reviionit Wet Germany. The political inter-

dependencie in Eat Germany and lac o contact with the ecumenical circle abroad

limited the neceary change o reaoning and reconing with the pat. The very

ew Jewih communitie which till unctioned in Eat Germany were acribed the

role o Zionit agencie. The Iraeli-Paletinian conict had a negative impact on

the attitude toward Jewih people. The commemorative culture wa determined by

the propaganda o the sED tate. for example, on the anniverary o the Jewih po-

grom there wa more inormation about anti-semitic incident and acit element

in the neighbouring Wet Germany. The celebration were limited to local ceremo-

nie organized by the Jewih communitie and participated by the local authoritie.

They were accompanied by aurance that racim, militarim, imperialim and anti-

semitim were eradicated with their root in the tate o worer and peaant.

When in 1955 the Mueum o German Hitory wa opened in Berlin the sED Polit-

buro entered the Jewih pogrom in the ocial calendar o tate commemoration.

The GDR authoritie emphaized that their attitude to Irael decribed a an ag-

greive tate had nothing in common with their attitude toward Jew. The EatGerman media requently treed that they would not allow to be blacmailed by

reerence to Auchwitz53. The reponibility or Auchwitz and Majdane wa ac-

credited to the ruling cla o Wet Germany. Thu, the report rom the opening o

Eichmann trial in Jerualem were conidered a reerring to the other German tate.

The collaborator and henchmen o Eichmann enjoy today in the Bonn tate even

higher poition than they did once in the Nazi tate54.

from the beginning the GDR authoritie ignored the religiou and racit nature o

the Jewih perecution. The directive laid out, among other in a circular o the Berlin

Municipality ocial department rom 25 June 1945 tated, Jew, cro-breed, Bible

cholar, the majority o thoe who compromie the deenive capability o our country

and critic cannot be enlited in the narrowly dened rame a victim o acim 55.

52 Ater T. Gidal, Die Juden in Deutschland von der Rmerzeit bis zur Weimarer Republik, G-terloh 1988, p. 426.

53 Thi opinion o Albert Reiz rom september 1975 i quoted by P. Dietmar, DDR und Israel (I)Ambivalenz einer Nicht-Beziehung, Deutchland Archiv 7, 1977, p. 738.

54Der Henkersknecht des deutschen Imperialismus, Neue Deutchland 2. 6. 1962.55 Ater A. Timm,Der politische und propagandistische Umgang mit der Reichskristallnacht in

der DDR, in: J. Danyel (ed.), op.cit., p. 214-215.


24/30


25/30


Depite the dicultie and contraint impoed on the Jewih communitie, the

Eat German Evangelic Church managed to gradually earn a narrow margin o ree-

dom or commemorating the anniverary o the November pogrom and or reconcili-

ation with the Jewih community. The synod o the National Church in Greiwaldmade appeal to the media or moderation and retraint in inorming about the current

problem concerning Irael and Jew.

An opportunity or a wider debate on dicult topic wa provided by the regional

Kirchentagin Leipzig in 1978, on the 40th anniverary o the Crital Night, and in

1983, the Year o Luther. The topic Luther and Jew became a ubject o a tatement

iued by the Eat German Evangelical churche, in which it wa tated, among other

that, there i no reaon to worhip Luther a a hero. () Hi critique o the Jewih

religion amplied, againt hi intention, contempt or Jew, which ha had calamitou

conequence or our nation60. In the lat decade beore reunication there wa room

or a wider dialogue o the churche with Judaim and it repreentative.When ater stalin death the political climate improved in Eat Germany people

o Jewih origin, among other Alexander Abuch, Albert Norden, Gerhard Eiler,

Hilda Benjamin, Hermann Axen and friedrich karl kaul aumed high poition in

the party and in the tate. since that time a victim o acim they received up-

port in maintaining their religiou practice and caring or their cemeterie61. The Eat

Berlin Jewih community received annually 150,000 German mar to maintain the

Berlin-Weienee cemetery, the larget cemetery in Europe. for example, in 1980

when 800 Jew lived in Eat Germany and about 27,000 in Wet Germany, there were

115,000 grave in the cemetery. The Jew in Eat Germany expreed upport or

the ocial policy o the tate. The Eat German attitude toward Irael dened the

poition o the modet Eat German Jewih community toward Jew in the world.

A repreentative o the Jewih community explained the lac o contact with the in-

ternational Jewih Diapora and Irael aying, Obviouly, it i a painul iue or u.

Mot o u have riend and relative there. But we alo have relative and riend in

the UsA, and the relation between Eat Germany and the UsA are diheartening or

u. Ater all, we are a ocialit tate and Irael i capitalit and thi mae harmoniou

relation dicult. We have to be realitic and upport the policy o our tate62.

INTEGRATION Of MEMORY?

Becaue o reunication Germany or the econd time in the 20th century acedthe challenge o overcoming the pat. However, the circumtance and the ideo-logical climate by the end o the 20th century were undamentally dierent rom the

60 H.-D. Peter, O. schrder (ed.), Vertrauen wagen. Kirchentage in der DDR im Lutherjahr 1983,Berlin (Ot) 1984, p. 65.

61 L. Merten,Juden in der DDR. Eine schwindende Minderheit, Deutchland Archiv 11, 1986,

p.1192.62 Herbert singer quoted by L. Merten, op. cit., p. 1196-1197.


26/30

98 Anna Wol-Powa

ituation ater 1945. The new condition timulated parallel between the attitudeo Wet German toward National socialim and the attitude o Eat Germantoward communim. A quetion about the conequence o the ideological interpre-

tation o the pat had to appear. Yet, the sED tate diered rom the NsDAP tatein a comparable degree to the aby which lie between the Stasi (Minitry o statesecurity o German Democratic Republic) record and the Auchwitz crematoria.The Third Reich lated 12 year, it claimed an invaive war and genocide. The Ger-man Democratic Republic lated or 40 year. It i not burdened with the concioulyimplemented policy o extermination againt other nation. The Third Reich waa permanent tate o emergency, while Eat Germany wa a homeland or the normalliving o million o it citizen. While Hitler could count on the upport o the na-tion becaue National socialim wa a native product, in Eat Germany communimwa an imported article.

The way the pat wa treated by the general public in both German tate watrongly inuenced by the nature o the collape o the Third Reich and o the EatGerman real ocialim. The ate o pot-war Germany wa decided by the victori-ou power and thereore the end o the war wa not treated by German a libera-tion. In contrat the all o the GDR wa intigated by it citizen themelve. Alo,the aim o National socialim and the party etablihment in Eat Germany weredierent. The ormer had the nationalit-racit programme, the latter, at leat in theocial verion, the internationalit-raternal-egalitarian one. The moti or the ac-ceptance o the ytem were dierent. While ater 1945 both German tate were

acing the ta o handling the Nazi pat, ater 1989 the reconing with communimwa a neceity only or the ormer Eat Germany. The reproach or adopting thevictor mentality doe no longer reer to the oreign occupying power, a it wathe cae ater World War II, but it i Wessis. Contrary to the ituation ater 1945,when the old Third Reich elite out o lie neceity were included quicly into thelieblood o the new ocial and economic reality, ater 1989 the poition o GDR o-cial dimied rom public lie becaue o the communit pat were lled by eliteimported rom the wetern part o Germany63.

The reaction to acim in Wet Germany and to communim in Eat Germanyalo had many tangent point. Both ideologie, o Nazim and communim althougho dierent in their intention, were directed againt democracy and wetern val-ue, and had an authoritarian character. Both ind o dictatorhip rejected plural-im, promied ecurity intead o reedom, ull harmony and community o interetintead o accommodation o conicting interet. Their practice o authority wa

baed on a peculiar eduction o ociety, repreion and terror. They both owed

63 for a wider account ee among other, P. Eienmann, G. Hircher (ed.),Bilanz der zweiten Dik-tatur, Mnchen 1993; B. faulenbach, M. Mecel, H. Weber (ed.), Die Partei hatte immer recht Auf-arbeitung von Geschichte und Folgen der SED-Diktatur, Een 1994, A. von Plato, J. schtrump (ed.),

Wendezeiten Zeitwende. Zur Entnazizierung und Entstalinisierung, Hamburg 1991; H. Orowi,M. Tomcza (ed.),Elity w jednoczcych si Niemczech [Elite in reuinying Germany], Pozna 1999.


27/30


28/30

100 Anna Wol-Powa

Ater the reunication in 1990 Wet German, enriched by orty year o wre-tling with the pat, did not want again in the ame century to weep the hitory underthe carpet. Thereore, legal redre or the victim o stalinit and communit repre-

ion in Eat Germany became one o the prioritie o the unied Germany. How-ever, it proved extremely dicult to bring to jutice thoe reponible or the sEDdictatorhip. Jut a it wa in Nuremberg where none o the war criminal pleadedguilty beore the Tribunal, the attempt to ettle the core with the people reponibleor the crime and deviation o the communit ytem in the ormer Eat Germanydiappointed all thoe who were awaiting long prion entence or the political andeconomic elite.

To illutrate, a trial which too place between 1996 and 1999 againt ix mem-ber o the Politburo o the sED concerning reponibility or death during theattempt o citizen at ecaping rom Eat Berlin on the Eat German-Wet German

border and the Berlin Wall howed dicultie encountered by a democratic tatewhen ettling account with an undemocratic ytem. similar to the ituation ater1945 the part o ociety which wa put on trial aeed the eort o the proecutora Siegerjustiz, and revenge o thoe who won the cold war over the deeated one.All thoe who were charged pleaded not guilty and aw the court trial a illegal. kurtHager, the main ideologit o sED turned deence into proecution aying, Youraim i to mae me into a criminal64. Erich Mcenberger, a trained metal worerclaimed that Mocow i reponible or everything that wa bad in the GDR. Egonkrenz, a teacher by occupation and the ucceor o Honecer, aw himel a a vic-

tim, I have been accued becaue I opted or an anti-capitalit alternative on Germanoil. When he wa oppoing people eeing Eat Germany he wa only deend-ing the territorial integrity o the GDR tate. In hi opinion in Eat Germany noorder wa given to hoot people () I have never ordered a oldier to ill () I amnot a murderer (). It wa Wet Germany that had an interet in caualtie on the

border, they organized uch cae65. Hi deence lawyer claimed that the act thatE. krenz handed over hi power in a peaceul manner, preventing in thi way largernumber o victim, wa to hi advantage. With reerence to that he compared him tothe national heroe o the anti-Hitler reitance movement rom 20 July 1944. karinschmidt, the auxiliary proecutor, whoe huband wa illed during hi attempt toee the country in 1987, wa o a dierent opinion66. Hort Dohlu, a hair dreer byoccupation, explained that hi activity wa alway ta oriented and alway in theinteret o our ociety. Gnther kleiber, an electrician undertood the grie o the

64 R. Grae, Die Politbro-Beschlsse waren Bedingungen der tdlichen SchsseDer Prozessgegen sechs Mitglieder des SED-Politbros (1996-1999), Deutchland Archiv 1, 2000, p. 19.

65 Ibidem, p. 20.66 Ibidem, p. 22. see alo P. J. Winter,Das Urteil gegen Krenz und andere, Deutchland Archiv

5, 1997, p. 693-696; Auszge aus dem Pldoyer der Staatsanwaltschaft, dem Schlusswort von Egon

Krenz und der Urteilsbegrndung, Deutchland Archiv 5, 1997, p. 697-699. P. J. Winter, Der letztePolitbro-Prozess, Deutchland Archiv 5, 2004, p. 752-757.


29/30


victim amilie but He had nothing to do with it all. Only Gnter schabowy,the head o Neue Deutchland between 1978-1985 admitted to moral guilt andaed or orgivene. The trial made an impreion o party meeting and no en-

tence would atiy the victim. In 1993 Erich Miele, the head o the much hatedMinitry o state security (The Stasi) received a 6-year prion entence only orcomplicity in the murder o two police ocer in Berlin in 1931. Becaue o hi oldage (85) he wa releaed in 1995. In mot trail the entence were ymbolic, andmot oten upended.

In the reunied Germany the lutration ervour wa maintained within the rame-wor o law. The rt ederal commiioner, Joachim Gauc who wa implementingthe reolution rom 1991 concerning Stasi record, had at hi dipoal a ta oqualied pecialit (3, 400 job were planned) and a budget o over 200 millionGerman mar to veriy the le meauring 178 m in length. The major aim wathe deence o reedom and democracy. Depite the attac launched mainly by theDemocratic socialit Party (PDs), the wor o Gauc commiion ran moothly,and it too into account primarily the perpective o the victim and the need to nowthe ull truth about the GDR67. Yet, in many cae the victim o the ecret policeand repreion rom the ormer GDR communit tate were diappointed. Theyoon ound out that the legal guarantee in a democratic tate reer not only to thevictim but alo to the perpetrator. Brbel Bohley, the initiator o a civil movement,

New forum, and one o the rt people to demand having the le opened expreeda view held by many when he aid, We expected jutice and we received the tate

o law.The turn o 1989/1990 changed the perpective o evaluating National social-im. The collape o the dictatorhip in Eatern and Central Europe and the reunica-tion o Germany did not bring the end o hitory68. Quite on the contrary, the patreminded about itel with double orce. Wet German expected that their compa-triot rom the eat, who had not been involved in public debate concerning their

part in the policy o Nazi Germany and their reponibility or the pat, will maeup or the hitory leon they have mied with interet. However, the former GDRcitizen did not agree with the ituation that their compatriot rom acro the Elbehould have the right to dictate the rule or reconing with the pat. Yet, interna-tional circle expected that the reunication o Germany would conequently bringa reunication o guilt and reponibility.

The new caeura opened a new chapter in the wor on the pat. The generationo witnee and participant o the National socialit tate wa bid arewell to. TheChildren o war came to have their ay. The memory croed all border. Thecope and the coure o overcoming the pat i determined by uch actor a, among

67 see among other, Stasi-Unterlagen-Gesetz auf dem Prfstein. Urteil des Bundesverwaltungsge-richtes vom 23. Juni2004, Deutchland Archiv 5, 2004, p. 770-775.

68 for a wider account o the ignicance o turn in German hitory ee among other, D. Papenu,W. schieder (ed.),Deutsche Umbrche im 20. Jahrhundert, kln, Weimar, Wien 2000.


30/30

102 Anna Wol-Powa

other: the way in which the ytem i changed (whether one deal with the continu-ation o elite or a udden revolutionary turn), the length o dictatorhip and the man-ner o diverging rom dictatorhip. Democracy impoe certain practice and give

voice to all citizen. Ater 1989 in the pot-communit countrie the truggle with thepat wa upplemented with a new element. It wa no longer the problem o politicalculture and hitorical enlightenment but o a concrete deciion: open the record ornot? It i a battle or one own image. Contrary to ome worrie, the reunication oGermany did not weaen the reearch into the Nazi pat. Quite the oppoite, dealingwith the pat itel became an object o tudie. finally, it wa dicovered that the

problem o reconing with the pat ater the end o tyranny, civil war and any armedconict i a topic with a long tradition.

A comparative analyi o the truggle with the pat in both German tate howthat one memory can be won againt another69. The time ditance intenie the

proce o building hitorical record o the Nazi pat, wherea the GDR pat inow a current political problem. The debate concerning the el-determination andel-identication o German with reerence to German hitory i open and in

progre. Both pat are lowly becoming an integral element o the political cultureo Germany.

69 see among other, B. faulenbach, Probleme des Umgangs mit der Vergangenheit im vereintenDeutschland: Zur Gegenwartsbedeutung der jngsten Geschichte, in: W. Weideneld (ed.), Deutsch-land. Eine Nation - doppelte Geschichte. Materialien zum deutschen Selbstverstndnis, kln 1993,p. 175-190; idem, Probleme einer Neuinterpretation der Vergangenheit angesichts des Umbruchs

1989/91, in: W. Weideneld, M. stadelmaier (ed.), Diktatur und Emanzipation. Zur russischen unddeutschen Entwicklung 1917-1991, Een 1993, p. 9-18.

anna wolff-powĘska: the german democratic republic’s attitude towards the nazi past

Documents