The Federal Government’s East German Commissioner, Carsten Schneider (SPD), welcomes the debate about a new name for the Berlin-based “Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship”. Foundation Director Anna Kaminsky previously had a discussion to use the term “communist dictatorship” in the name of the foundation. Schneider told the Tagesspiegel on Monday: “The proposal is a contribution to a discussion that should be conducted broadly. It is important to look beyond the German experience.”
Since the upheaval, debates have been raging about the right terms for the culture of remembrance of the GDR. Was the German Democratic Republic an unjust state or is the life of all citizens being made unjust as a result? To what extent was the regime a dictatorship and if so, what kind? The books by the historian Katja Hoyer (“This Side of the Wall”) and the literary scholar Dirk Oschmann (“The East: A West German Invention”) recently gave fresh impetus to the debate about remembering and dealing with the reunification and pre-reunification period. On the occasion of its 25th anniversary, one of the most important institutions for coming to terms with the dictatorship is now asking itself this question: does the name reflect history aptly?
Schneider also wants to remember the experience of dictatorship through communism
East German representative Carsten Schneider considers the debate about the term “communist dictatorship” to be important: “In a few weeks it will be the 70th anniversary of the suppression of the popular uprising in the GDR on June 17, 1953. This reminds us that the dictatorship in the GDR, as in other countries under communist rule, could only exist from the start with the protection of Soviet tanks,” Schneider told the Tagesspiegel. Russia is again claiming its own dominion with military force. It is therefore important, especially in Central and Eastern European countries, to remember the “common experience of dictatorship” and solidarity among democracies. Schneider also sits on the institution’s board of trustees.
Anna Kaminsky, director of the foundation, had previously initiated a debate in the Tagesspiegel newsletter Checkpoint. The previous name “Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship” reduces communist rule in East Germany to the SED and separates it from the history of communism. “The GDR was always part of the communist world system and the Soviet sphere of influence,” said Kaminsky. In Poland or the Czech Republic, the term “communist dictatorship” is taken for granted.
In Germany, on the other hand, at the end of the 1990s, when the foundation itself was founded, there was a dispute about the term dictatorship for the GDR. “It was the time of GDR nostalgia, when, against the background of the stress and trauma that the transformation brought with it, the aspect of dictatorship gave way to the pleasant memories of a good life,” Kaminsky recalls.
The director of the foundation, Kaminsky, also takes issue with current debates, such as the bestseller “The East – A West German Invention”: “One sometimes gets the impression that the West has destroyed the East and destroyed the ‘blossoming landscapes’. The fact that the legacy of the communist rulers everywhere was a shattered economy, a destroyed environment and decaying cities – not to mention the mental and spiritual damage – is forgotten.” Could remembering – also by name – the legacy of communism change that?
From Kaminsky’s point of view, renaming the foundation would be important. “Of course that would make sense, but it’s not in our hands,” says the 61-year-old linguist. “For this, the Bundestag, which founded us, would have to pass a corresponding resolution.” Kaminsky is at least certain to have the support of Carsten Schneider, the representative for Eastern Europe, for conducting this debate, even if it is still at the very beginning.
The foundation with the name “Foundation for the processing of the SED dictatorship” is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. It was founded in 1998 on the recommendation of the two Enquête Commissions “Review of the History and Consequences of the SED Dictatorship in Germany”. Since it was founded, it has funded 4000 projects with a total of 32 million euros – in order to better understand the history of the GDR and to make it tangible for younger people.
