Socialism in the GDR: Work

A look into how the workplace, workers' rights and democracy functioned in the GDR

Sources:
Books:
Bruni De la Motte and John Green, 'Stasi State or Socialist Paradise', (London, 2015)

Mary Fulbrook, 'The People's State, East German Society from Hitler to Honecker', (New Haven, 2005)

Austin Murphy, 'The Trumph of Evil: The Reality of the USA's Cold War Victory', (Fucecchio, 2000)

Articles:

Dorothee Wierling, ʻWork, Workers, and Politics in the German Democratic Republicʼ, International Labor and Working-Class History, 50 (1996)

Tilmann Siebeneichner, ‘‘Socialist achievements’ and their protection. The Kampfgruppen der Arbeiterklasse and socialist statehood’ Social History, 39:4 p.463

Videos:

[adrenalinevan]

The DDR is a personal fascination of mine - I love learning all about it and looking at footage of it, and just trying to imagine this important part of history that's really being laid to the side, forgotten about. Germany, after all, spent more time communist than it did fascist. There is, unfortunately, so much misinformation and propaganda about the DDR, where it is portrayed as a literal hell on earth, and anyone nostalgic about a time when they didn't have to worry about work or death, as either brainwashed or forgetful

[fun_ghoul]

I feel that point about having the "freedom" to go places, but no prospect of ever affording it. The only foreign travel I've done was to the US -- from Canada -- for my dad's funeral, after he died of a cocaine overdose. Even that was only because my mom called in a favour from her employer's travel agent, to get cheap flights to and from Salt Lake City.

[SoaCrow]

As someone living in the ex. DDR, I can definitely say that a lot of people I have talked about how life was back then could almost always agree to the fact, that while Life in the DDR was not as luxurious as in the BRD, people actually cared for each other and the feeling of being together was way more present! Some liked it, some don't but those were the same people who prefer the BRD over the DDR. The only thing I don't like about the DDR is the Stasi and its methods, which would be a very interesting topic for a Video!

[MAM-pdmx]

I’m from South America. Socialist efforts here were hampered by severe US interventions... I hope one day socialism flourishes once again, we already saw it with the Pink Tide at the beginning of the century with remarkable leaders such as Chávez or Rafael Correa... they were then revoked and cancelled by the economic elites

[colibri]

These achievements are especially amazing when you consider that East Germany was so much smaller in geographic area than West Germany and had fewer resources to draw on, something explained by East German resident and US exile Victor Grossman.

[coreyoldknow]

Look at pictures of streets and buildings in 1980's they were still bombed out from WW2 . A car was a 2 stroke engine that took 12 years for delivery after it was bought. 1/8 of the population were in the secret police . This was totally awesome place to live

[chrishumphrey]

Thanks so much for this, I'm really enjoying this series. GDR really was a shining example of AES. Kudos comrade.

[Liberty-rnwy]

I worked with a woman in western Germany and she told me that in the GDR she worked and once got to work a bit late. From that point on her co-workers shunned her and would not talk with her.

[freespeechisneverwrong]

I’m amazed so many people tried to escape this socialist/communist paradise. It’s almost as if it wasn’t true.

[TryThinkingAboutIt]

I worked - for a West German company - most days in East Berlin for many years. - the 1980s. This video puts forward an interesting narrative, but it is naïve in the extreme. There was much that was excellent about East Germany, but at its heart lay the mistaken expectation that the state could - and should - organise life. It couldn't and didn't do all that well when it did. It was not Hell on earth to be there: just different.

[waspwrap]

9:59 that outro was so fucking inspirational, amazing thanks for the creator of this video

[marcuscornelius]

As someone with family from both sides of the wall, this reads like what how the SED publicly aspired to build the system, rather than the system's actual material conditions. Yes, workers were technically free, but in practice, workers groups had little actual power over their workplace, as everything was organized by the party, over which individuals had little power-the voting structure meant that leadership was more or less decided by internal squabbles between SED bigwigs, rather than leadership from below (a good example being when Ulbricht was replaced by Honecker, the latter more or less banished him from the party and from the public, being so petty as to even remove his name from streets). The army was actually conscripted, which makes sense given the proximity to the West, and while the SED claimed descendence from the KPD of the 30s, the practical reality was that half of all KPD members were in fact slaughtered under Stalin (the other half by Hitler, of course) and the Antifa groups that sprouted up in both East and West Germany to remove former Nazis from political office after the war were quickly squashed by their respective sides. I apologize if any of this critique was mentioned in other videos, this is the first I have seen in my feed.

[Blackpilld]

If people loved it so much, why weren’t they allowed to leave if they wanted to?

Seriously asking. If it was so great, why did they refuse people from leaving, especially after the wall went up.

[humanoblivion]

As an Anarcho Communist, I do see the Marxist Leninist way not going far enough, but I can appreciate how well they did with the state. I’ll take Marxist Leninist over Capitalism any day

[alicesenz]

i like how you went into detail on how the workplace democracy actually functioned, i've found it difficult to find analysis of how socialist governments actually worked and this really helped me!

[briandelaney]

This is an extremely romantic view of the DDR

[rootin]

The funny thing is when the GDR was forcibly Diaband. The combat group of the working class was the first group that they disarmed and demobilized

[swampyankee]

What about breadlines? Not being allowed to travel? Restrictions of press and religion? What about the people shot trying to cross to West Berlin? Why is East Germany to this day far poorer with a far lower standard of living then the west? Why was the Berlin Wall built?

[SkyFoxCode]

I would love to see this series become a full length documentary. It's so difficult to find this stuff that's actually pro-socialist

[vrthmas]

Just discovered you through comrade Marron. Tankie Tube needs more short-form bits like this; easy to recommend or digest in between tasks on a busy day. Solidarity and thanks, Swann!