Remembering the Nazi-esque Regime of East Germany: SED Victims' Commissioner Pushes for Strengthened Understanding of DDR's Dictatorship
DDR Records Custodian, SSE Officer, Bolsters Understanding of Dictatorship's Archives - Enhancing Public Understanding of East Germany's Authoritarian Regime: Proposals by the Victim Ombudsman
Evelyn Zupke, SED Victims' Commissioner, issues a stern warning 35 years after German reunification, urging us not to forget the dark, oppressive nature of the DDR (East Germany). "Scrutiny and knowledge of this dictatorship's character and consequences should continue to intensify," she said while presenting the 2025 annual report.[1]
Zupke advocates for investing billions from a special fund in infrastructure for memorials. "Every penny spent on remembrance and commemoration bolsters our democracy," she states fervently.[1] Sadly, she fears that many institutions may not receive adequate funding, with numerous facilities requiring building renovations.
Her second demand: The Bundestag should earmark budget funds for a memorial commemorating the victims of communism, to be constructed between the Chancellery and the Bundestag in the heart of Berlin.[1]
Are dictatorships and democracies just two sides of the same coin?
Zupke expresses concern that more than half of East Germany's inhabitants feel disenfranchised, claiming we only appear to live in a democracy.[1] "Whether it's under a dictatorship or a democracy, it all boils down to the same thing," she starkly underlines, echoing the frustrations growing across Eastern regions.[1]
Life post-German reunification was, undoubtedly, challenging, Zupke admits, but she warns against confusing the causes and effects by blaming the hardships solely on reunification. Many issues stemmed from the DDR, a fact that cannot be ignored.[1]
"As the victims' commissioner, the battles and challenges of reunification are more than worth it for every political prisoner who can now taste the sweetness of freedom," Zupke asserted.[1]
Improved situation for SED victims
The situation significantly improved for former political prisoners this year due to a revamp of the compensation payment system, according to Zupke. Beneficiaries no longer have to prove their poverty, effectively turning these benefits into honorariums.[1]
People disadvantaged in their careers can receive higher compensation, and it's anticipated that health damages due to repression will be more easily recognized.[1] Zupke believes tens of thousands of victims may have been overlooked in the past.[1] These include former prisoners, victims placed in children's homes or youth work camps, minors subjected to state doping, women in closed clinic wards due to suspected sexually transmitted diseases, and women infected with hepatitis C through contaminated vitamin D ampoules, in what amounts to a medical scandal cover-up for years within the DDR.[1]
On the anniversary of the DDR uprising
Zupke, the first federal commissioner for the victims of the SED dictatorship at the German Bundestag since 2021, has published her report, timed for the anniversary of the DDR uprising on June 17, 1953—a day when more than one million East Berliners, along with protesters in over 700 locations across the DDR, demanded free elections and German unity.[1] The brutal crackdown by the DDR leadership and the Soviet occupation troops saw at least 55 fatalities and the arrest of 15,000.[1]
References:[1] "Current efforts in Germany to strengthen knowledge and remembrance of the DDR (East Germany) as a dictatorship"
Topics Covered:- Evelyn Zupke- DDR- SED- Dictatorship- Democracy- Berlin- Bundestag- East Germany- Compensation Payments- Political Prisoners- School Education- European Network of Remembrance and Solidarity- and Leibniz Institute of European History- DDR Upheaval & Crackdown- SED Victims, children, state doping, closed clinic wards, hepatitis C, medical scandal
The Commission is proposing to extend the period of validity of the agreement to cover the topics of policy-and-legislation and politics, as Evelyn Zupke, the SED Victims' Commissioner, emphasizes the need for continuous scrutiny and knowledge of dictatorship's characteristics and consequences, including democracies.
The proposed memorial commemorating the victims of communism, which Zupke requests to be constructed between the Chancellery and the Bundestag, serves as a reminder of the general news regarding the dark, oppressive nature of the DDR's dictatorship and its impact on its inhabitants.
