GDR's Fervent Supporter: Margot Honecker remained devoted to the German Democratic Republic until the end
In the years 2012 and 2013, during my tenure as British Ambassador to Chile, I had extensive conversations three times with Margot Honecker, the last prominent representative of the defunct Eastern Bloc and the ex-wife of the long-standing DDR state leader Erich Honecker. Her central role was to shape an ideologically conforming, communist generation. At the time, Margot was in her mid-80s, living reclusively in Santiago de Chile.
As a student in the 1980s, I briefly visited the DDR as part of a rare university exchange. Despite the collapse of this joyless, gloomy Marxist experiment, the fascination with the country and its system didn't leave me. By 2017, the Berlin Wall had been gone as long as it existed, and by 2030, the DDR itself will have been history for more years than it existed.
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A Look at the Past: Ghosts of the DDR
The DDR was a failed experiment, an attempt to replace Nazism with another tyranny, Soviet Marxism. Both German forms of totalitarianism eventually ceased to exist - one because it lost an aggressive, genocidal war, the other because it was overthrown by its own people, who were tired of the fear, oppression, and daily harassment.
Flight and Exile: Life in Chile After the Fall
Margot Honecker lived and breathed the socialist ideology. Shaped by her youth in the emerging DDR state, she remained true to her beliefs long after the hated Stasi prisons became macabre tourist attractions.
In 1992, she made her way to Chile, and a year later, her husband joined her there for the last year of his life [4]. The Chilean government showed gratitude for the DDR's acceptance of around 2,000 supporters of the Marxist president Salvador Allende, many of whom became bitter opponents of his military successor, Augusto Pinochet. Among the refugees was Michelle Bachelet, who later became president of Chile twice and has ruled out a renewed candidacy in the upcoming elections this year [5]**.
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Margot Honecker's connections to Chile ran deeper - her daughter Sonja married one of the Chilean exiles, thus establishing a direct family line* [4]. Politically unwelcome in Berlin and shunned in Europe, they found no acceptance there either [6].
Finding Margo: Chilean Encounters
Our first meeting at the British Embassy left Margot suspicious. Despite my attempts to explain diplomatically that our conversation was out of personal interest, I doubt she believed me. She stubbornly held onto her political beliefs, which she had championed her entire adult life [4]. Karl Marx and the inherent contradictions of capitalism were her fixed mantra. She saw no need for an apology for her actions [4]**.
The Iron Wall: Defending the DDR against Enemies and Bleak Realities
Margot saw the East German experiment as worthy and successful [4]. The ongoing interference by Western powers necessitated the construction of the Wall to protect against external threats [4]. West Germans fleeing in the opposite direction for a socialist paradise was an absurd claim to her [4]. She compared the fall of the DDR to electing a Pope who tolerates abortion and homosexuality, effectively dismantling the entire purpose of the Catholic Church [4]**.
When asked if it wasn't clear in Chile that free markets, democracy, and an open society offered more prosperity than the Marxist experiment under Salvador Allende, she disagreed [4]. She cited social inequality, economic crime, and corruption as rampant in capitalist countries, especially the USA [4]. Ironically, a leading Chilean daily newspaper lay on the table during our conversation [4].
Mrs. Honecker showed no self-doubt or remorse for the consequences of her repressive application of socialism in East Germany [4]. She simply believed the errors of the system were merely in implementation, not in theory.
The Quiet Banality of Evil
Margot Honecker may have seemed kind and unassuming on our sofa, but her impact on the lives of millions of people was far-reaching [4]. As the Lady Macbeth of the GDR, she contributed to the violation of numerous human rights and played a significant role in shaping the political landscape of East Germany [4]. Despite her legacy of oppression, she continued to unwaveringly defend her beliefs [4].
The Iron Lady in Chile
My meeting with Margot remains one of the most peculiar experiences of my 38-year diplomatic career [4]. Even today, the political debate in Chile remains polarized between supporters of rigid political dogmas, much like Margot's own beliefs [4]. The fall of both the GDR and the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet in the same year, 1990, seems to symbolize the end of an era in both countries [4].**
Jon Benjamin is the CEO of Free Speech International (fsu.world) and was the British ambassador to Chile, Ghana, and Mexico. He can be reached at [email protected]. Have feedback? Write to us! letters@our website
Enrichment Data:
- Margot Honecker's Role: Margot Honecker, née Feist, was the wife of Erich Honecker and served as Minister for Education of the German Democratic Republic from 1963 to 1989. Her central role was to shape an ideologically conforming, communist generation in East Germany.
- Flight and Exile: In 1992, Margot and her husband moved to Chile. The Chilean government initially showed gratitude for the DDR's acceptance of around 2,000 supporters of the Marxist president Salvador Allende, many of whom became bitter opponents of his military successor, Augusto Pinochet.
- Margot's Ideological Stance: Margot was a staunch supporter of the socialist system in East Germany and believed in its superiority over capitalism. Her convictions were shaped by her political background and upbringing.
- Views on the Berlin Wall and the DDR's enemies: Margot saw the construction of the Berlin Wall as necessary to protect the DDR from external threats, such as Western powers and West Germans seeking a socialist paradise. She was critical of Western capitalist systems and believed they ultimately undermined the principles of equality and social justice that socialism aimed to achieve.
- Personal connections to Chile: Margot's daughter Sonja married one of the Chilean exiles, thus establishing a direct family line between the Honeckers and Chilean politicians. Despite initially finding no acceptance in Europe, she eventually found a home in Chile after being unwelcome in unified Berlin.
- Criticism of Western media: Margot was critical of Western media and believed they actively suppressed information that revealed shortcomings in capitalist countries. Her views on this subject seemed ironic, given the publication of numerous articles about social inequality, economic crime, corruption, unemployment, and violence in Chilean newspapers.
- Empty rhetoric versus reality: Margot's attitude toward the SED's mistakes in implementing its Marxist course was ambivalent at best. While she claimed that errors were merely in the implementation, she never acknowledge the inevitable mistakes the SED had to make, only in theory.
- Margot's reputation: Margot's reputation was that of the "Purple Witch" due to her dyed hair that looked like that of Mrs. Slocombe. She was said to have ordered the forced adoption of the children of imprisoned dissidents and oversaw about 150 strict, prison-like children's homes where "politically difficult" teenagers were reformed into good socialist citizens.
- Postscript: At my farewell party as ambassador in January 2014, many guests, including a frail Margot Honecker, were visibly surprised to see her. It is unclear what transpired between her and Pinochet's daughter, who was also in attendance, as their interactions were not documented.
- Margot's legacy: Despite her controversial legacy, Margot remains a significant figure in the history of the DDR and East Germany's political landscape. Her ideological convictions and efforts to shape the next generation of East Germans have had lasting effects on the region.
The politics of Chile have been influenced by German immigrants, some of whom have held prominent positions in recent elections.
Given her involvement in shaping the communist generation in East Germany, Margot Honecker's connections to Chile ran deeper - her daughter Sonja married one of the Chilean exiles, thus establishing a direct family line.
