East Germany's surprising political parties!
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- Опубліковано 16 вер 2024
- East Germany's parliament was made up of 5 different political parties and 5 different "mass organizations." All but one survived East Germany's transition to democracy, and continues until today...in one form or another.
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Oh this was fantastic! You definetly earned a subscriber here ;) You know, I've visited the famous East German political prison "Hohenschönhausen" a bunch of times and the tour guides are usually former inmates. You can imagine how interesting their stories were...
(If you are easily disturbed by descriptions of violence, don't read on.)
So, the most striking story was told by one guide, who got shoved into prison for being a bit of a punk. He admitted to stealing a few things from drug stores, but his real crime was speaking out against the party. He led us through the complex and when we came to a little cellar, he became pale and said: "I won't join you but you can go down there and look around for yourself. I just can't go down there." If I recall correctly, he told us that these little basement rooms were built by the Soviets to drown people in. Entire families were shoved into them and the rooms were filled with water to the very top. As a German I'm used to knowing these cruel contraptions that humans have come up with - I've stood inside the gas "showers" at concentration camps before - but you can imagine the horror you're experiencing inside these chambers. The practice of drowning people was stopped by the time the East Germans took over the prison, but our guide didn't wanna tell us what happened to him down there, so...
The most interesting parts about his story were his own memories. I won't repeat them all here, but just a glimpse: When he arrived at the prison, some top level official told him: "You're gonna go to the West" He was naturally excited. But why would they send him to the West? "You're gonna go there, but we'll send you over there as a drooling washcloth, so these Westerners have to take care for your disabled ass." And he meant it. There was this practice called "Zersetzung", essentially "decomposition/ degredation", which aimed at destroying the mental wellbeing, the soul of inmates and political dissidents. For him that meant, regular beatings, not being allowed to sleep, calling him into interrogation again and again, confusing him with 1984 style fake truths, where they told him one thing is true on the one day, and another thing on the other. In the end he told us, he was just sitting in his cell, repeatedly banging his head against the wall until it bled, and using his blood to draw a buddhist symbol. Naturally this all sounded absolutely wild and unbelievable to us, so someone in the group asked: "Why did you do that?" You could really see the deepest sadness in his eyes when he said "It was the only thing that made sense anymore." ... (oh he was very into buddhism btw, that symbol didn't just come out of nowhere)
Apparently he's still unable to sleep properly and is obviously haunted by it all. I think because of the intense horrors of the Nazi regime, people sometimes forget that we actually had a second ~~not equally as bad but still very evil, so who cares~~ dictatorship on German soil.
In fact, some of his final words to us were: "You're young. Don't let the idiots rise again. Cause if we let idiots run things again... well the third dictatorship on German soil aint that far. And all the Shanties [in the former concentration camps] as well as this museum here... they can all be returned to their original purpose overnight."
That's just one of those things that returns to my mind constantly.
... so good on ya for covering a bit of East Germany haha
Wow, thank you! I have been to Eastern Germany a few times but not had the chance to visit that prison. Sounds like something I need to do! Thanks so much for your sub. I hope you like other videos as much.
@@FredoRockwell I'd definetly recommend it! Trips to those sites of horror aren't exactly a great trip for a relaxing holiday, but they're very interesting in a very different way :)
I only just now realized there was more to your comment. I only saw the first paragraph, sorry! What an interesting experience! Not one for kids but a really valuable thing to get passed on. As I was writing this I didn't want to in any way underplay the crimes of the old regime, which I why I sort of dwelled on it at the start. After seeing your comment I'm really glad I did. Thank you!
Correction: Günter Schabowski, not Krenz, was the one that accidentally allowed travel into West Berlin a day earlier than expected.
Very sorry I got that wrong. I'll put a correction in a pinned comment. Thank you, and thanks for watching!
@@FredoRockwell No worries man. It’s all good!
Nothing less but an excellent video. Thank you!
Thank you!
Such a good concept! You should do similar vids on the similar systems in the rest of the former communist world
Thank you! I've done one on North Korea - more to come!
The FDGB was actually an umbrella organisation for 15 single unions. The single unions wanted to merge with their western counterparts, so it did made little sense to keep it. One could say that like some of the bloc parties merged with western counterparts, so did the unions. Only the umbrella organisation does not exist anymore.
That makes sense! Thank you for explaining that.
You earned yourself a sub!
Thank you! Much appreciated!
3:00 good one, made me laugh!
I also laughed at that one!
It's sad to me that these videos don't get more views than they deserve
Thank you!
+1 sub, awesome video
Thank you!
There's also another party that around the time of the Berlin Wall mess caused by someone "misspeaking". That was a party that you probably are all too fimiliar with, as it's the mother of all political parties in Germany, their equivalent of America's Democratic Party, the SPD. Two people dissatisfied with the GDR regime, Markus and Martin, decided to reform the SPD after it was disbanded at the beginning of the decade, this threatened the SED's tight control, but it used the name SDP to avoid confusion with the one the merged with the KPD to form the SED, but, after the wall fell, and the SED rebranded itself as the PDS, the SDP changed its name to the SPD, and associated it with its western counterpart as election season began, though they hoped to win, the ended getting second place, but, it was enough to displace the PDS (And by extention the "SED".) as the dominant party of the left in East Germany, but, that wouldn't last, the Germany would soon reunify, and the two SPDs would merge again, and they've been a powerful force in German politics since. So a tenth party/organization sort of made it afterall, one for German workers too, just not the same one that had existed prior to the fall of the wall.
Crikey! I wish I'd known about this for the video, but I have no idea how I would have explained it all. What a story, though - thank you!
Everyone here just seems to be a Stasi agent 😂
That's definitely the feeling I had when I was researching this! I'd look some party leader up, read a bit, and then... whoops!
13:55
Where you get those flag animations from? :O
2005 called and asked for them back. 😀 No, seriously, I just googled flag animation generator I think. This was one of my first videos - I would have done it differently today.
I have heard of the block parties and mass associations, but I learned a bit more about them! I didn't know, for instance, that the Democratic Women's League _and_ the _Kulturbund_ still exist! I also found it hilarious that _Kulturbund,_ _e.V._ is involved in guppy breeding, and that it "currently has no management". Thanks for the information!
Thanks so much for your comment - and I'm sorry I didn't see it. I had a lot of comments from another video come at the same time as yours. I'm really glad you found this video and enjoyed it, and yes - isn't it amazing these organizations have survived!
Ahem, the PDS came third in the free 1990 election. You mistook it with the SPD.
You're right! Sorry - although the election was in March 1990, not 1989. 🙂
@@FredoRockwell
Yes, corrected this.
Germany didn't deserve reunification
It did.
Why?
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@@FredoRockwell Just E
@@danske613 F
This video is so biased
Tell me about it! 🤣