The DDR did not denazify either

As the title suggests, the intention of this section is not to suggest that East Germany/the Deutsche Demokratische Republik, DDR, was unique in not denazifying. it was not. West Germany/ the Bundesrepublik Deutschland, BRD, absolutely did not denazify with many "former" Nazis integrated into powerful positions in politics and Business. However, while the DDR declared itself to be an anti-fascist state, there were profound contradictions. There was an official constituent party (one of five) the National-Demokratische Partei Deutschlands (trans. "National Democratic Party of Germany") [NDPD], which was set up for former nazis, the state cracked down on autonomous or alternative anti-fascists, and many "former" Nazis found positions in the state and state-businesses. Additionally there were frequent racist incidents, including murders of foreigners, particularly "guest workers" from Asia, Africa, and Cuba, and Jews, as well as violence against queer people. Despite these realities, sections of the left still believe the state depiction, even the depiction of the Berlin Wall as an Antifaschistischer Schutzwall (trans. "Anti-fascist Barrier").

* "Übersicht ausländerfeindlicher Übergriffe" https://www.mdr.de/investigativ/rueckblick/exakt/die-story/map-eds-angriffe-ddr-vertragsarbeiter-100.html [DE] (trans. "Overview of xenophobic attacks" a map of racist violence in the DDR)
* "Rezension: A. Weinke: Die Verfolgung von NS-Tätern im geteilten Deutschland" (Review A. Weinke: The persecution of Nazi perpetrators in divided Germany) https://www.hsozkult.de/publicationreview/id/reb-3776 [DE] Quote: ("Weitreichende Amnestie- und Integrationsmaßnahmen von NS-Tätern kann Weinke ebenfalls als gesamtdeutsches Phänomen konstatieren, auch wenn sich diese Maßnahmen quantitativ und qualitativ voneinander unterschieden." translation: "Weinke can also state far-reaching amnesty and integration measures by Nazi perpetrators as an all-German phenomenon, even if these measures differ from one another quantitatively and qualitatively.")
* 'Mongolenschwein' und 'schlitzäugige Fratze: 'Rassismus im DDR -Alltag" https://www.bstu.de/informationen-zur-stasi/themen/beitrag/rassismus-im-ddr-alltag/ [DE] (trans. "'Mongolian pig' and 'slit-eyed grimace:' Racism in everyday life in the DDR")
* "Anti-Semitism in Post-War East Germany (GDR)" by Raiko Hannemann http://remembering.today/anti-semitism-in-post-war-east-germany-gdr/?lang=en [EN]

### **Related Pages**

* Red-Brown Alliances in 20th Century
* East German (DDR) Economics (more on racist treatment and exploitation of migrant workers)

### **Research Articles**

* "Vertuschte Gefahr: Die Stasi & Neonazis" (Hushed up danger: the Stasi & neo-Nazis) by Bernd Wagner https://www.bpb.de/geschichte/deutsche-geschichte/stasi/218421/neonazis [DE] (quote: "waren 27 Prozent aller Mitglieder der SED zuvor in der NSDAP und 32,2 Prozent aller Angestellten im Öffentlichen Dienst der DDR ehemalige Mitglieder nationalsozialistischer Organisationen." translation: "27 percent of all members of the SED were previously in the NSDAP and 32.2 percent of all civil servants in the GDR were former members of National Socialist organizations.")
* Jewish Anti-Fascism? “Kristallnacht” Remembrance in the GDR between Propaganda and Jewish Self-Assertion by Alexander Waltherhttps://www.academia.edu/41006804/Jewish\_Anti\_Fascism\_Kristallnacht\_Remembrance\_in\_the\_GDR\_between\_Propaganda\_and\_Jewish\_Self\_Assertion [EN]
* "The Failure of East German Antifascism: Some Ironies of History as Politics" by Konrad H. Jarausch https://sci-hub.se/10.2307/1430155 [EN]
* "Civil Society from the Underground: The Alternative Antifa Network in the GDR" by Peter Ulrich Weiß https://zero.sci-hub.do/4717/3307b611fe18bb45260debcc45dd30b1/weiss2015.pdf [EN]
* "Narratives of fascism in the GDR: Buchenwald and the 'myth of antifascism.'" by Peter Monteath https://sci-hub.se/10.1080/10848779908579948 [EN]

### **News articles**

* "Vertuscht und verdrängt - Warum starben Vertragsarbeiter in der DDR?" (trans. "Covered up and suppressed - why did contract workers die in the DDR?") https://www.mdr.de/investigativ/rueckblick/exakt/die-story/exakt-die-story-vertragsarbeiter-ddr-100.html [DE]
* "In der DDR gab es Neonazis. Sie lynchten Gastarbeiter" (trans. "There were Neonazis in the DDR. They killed guest-workers") https://www.welt.de/geschichte/article157749931/In-der-DDR-gab-es-Neonazis-Sie-lynchten-Gastarbeiter.html [DE]
* "Wir waren die totalen Hippies: Vor 30 Jahren wurde die erste Antifa-Gruppe in der DDR gegründet. Auch in der Nachwendegesellschaft herrscht noch ein Untertanengeist, findet Stephan Martin." (trans. "We were total hippies: The first Antifa group was founded in the GDR 30 years ago. Stephan Martin believes that there is still a spirit of submission in society after the turning point.") https://taz.de/Mitgruender-ueber-erste-DDR-Antifa-Gruppe/!5463657/ [DE]
* "Der Traum vom Umsturz - Neonazis und die Wende" (trans. "The dream of a coup - neo-Nazis and the turning point") https://www.ndr.de/fernsehen/sendungen/panorama\_die\_reporter/Panorama-die-Reporter,sendung1066338.html [DE] (includes mention of a state report which was not released because officially there were no Nazis in the anti-fascist state, which found 200 fascist groups and 15,000 fascists in the DDR. it also mentions that crimes committed by fascists were counted in crime stats but not openly discussed as the racist, antisemitic, and homophobic attacks that they were.)
* "Neustart mit Ladehemmung" (trans. "Restart with the barrel jammed") https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/bundeswehr-nva-wehrmacht-1.4799967 [DE] (covers the similarity in the justifications for rearmament in the DDR and BRD and underlying fascist sentiments among troops)
* "'Ulbricht's helpers': the role of Hitler's army generals in former East Germany" by Hendrik Paul https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2001/04/ss-a25.html [EN] (Trotskyist publication, WARNING!- WSWS was identified as a red-brown vector)
* "Strasser Asked To Join East German Reds" https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=3\_f9JqYsqVQC&dat=19500408&printsec=frontpage&hl=en [EN]
* "Book Claims Stasi Employed Nazis as Spies" https://www.dw.com/en/book-claims-stasi-employed-nazis-as-spies/a-1760980 [EN] (German state-owned media)
* “Strange Ties: The Stasi and the Neo-Fascists” by Martin A. Lee https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-sep-10-op-18655-story.html  [EN]

### **Magazine Articles**

* "The Lost History of Antifa" by Loren Balhorn https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/05/antifascist-movements-hitler-nazis-kpd-spd-germany-cold-war [EN]

### **Encyclopedia**

* "National Democratic Party of Germany (East Germany)" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National\_Democratic\_Party\_of\_Germany\_(East\_Germany) [EN]; "Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands" https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/National-Demokratische\_Partei\_Deutschlands [DE]
* "Vincenz Müller" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincenz\_Müller [EN]; https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincenz\_Müller [DE]
* "Rechtsextremismus in der DDR" https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rechtsextremismus\_in\_der\_DDR [DE] (trans. "Right-wing extremism in the DDR")
* "Karl Schumann (Jurist)" https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt\_Schumann\_(Jurist) [DE]
* "Arno von Lenski" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arno\_von\_Lenski [EN] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arno\_von\_Lenski [DE]
* "Rudolf Bamler" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf\_Bamler [EN] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf\_Bamler [DE]
* "Hans Sommer (SS officer)" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans\_Sommer\_(SS\_officer) [EN]; "Hans Sommer (SS-Mitglied)"
* https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans\_Sommer\_(SS-Mitglied) [DE]
* "Karl Hans Walther" https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl\_Hans\_Walther [DE]
* "National People's Army" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National\_People's\_Army [EN]; "National People's Army: Former Wehrmacht officers as NVA Generals" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National\_People%27s\_Army#Former\_Wehrmacht\_officers\_as\_NVA\_generals [EN] (see also in the history section: "Of the 82 highest command positions, ex-*Wehrmacht* officers held 61")
* "Myth of the clean Wehrmacht" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth\_of\_the\_clean\_Wehrmacht [EN] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saubere\_Wehrmacht [DE]
* "Erich Mielke: Collusion with Nazism" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich\_Mielke#Collusion\_with\_Nazism [EN]
* "Socialist Reich Party" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist\_Reich\_Party [EN]

### **Books**

* "Der antifaschistische Staat entlässt seine Kinder. Jugend und Rechtsextremismus in Ostdeutschland" (The anti-fascist state dismisses its children. Youth and right-wing extremism in East Germany) by Heinemann, Karl-Heinz and Schubarth, Wilfried https://www.abebooks.com/antifaschistische-Staat-entl%C3%A4sst-Kinder-Jugend-Rechtsextremismus/17116503074/bd [DE]
* "Rechtsextremismus in der DDR bis 1989" (Right-wing extremism in the DDR until 1989) by Harry Waibel https://www.worldcat.org/title/rechtsextremismus-in-der-ddr-bis-1989/oclc/722592316&referer=brief\_results [DE]
* "Die Verfolgung von NS-Tätern im geteilten Deutschland. Vergangenheitsbewältigungen 1949-1969. Oder: Eine deutsch-deutsche Beziehungsgeschichte im kalten Krieg" (The persecution of Nazi perpetrators in divided Germany: Coming to terms with the past 1949-1969 or: A German-German relationship history in the Cold War.) by Annette Weinke https://www.researchgate.net/publication/26407285\_Annette\_Weinke\_Die\_Verfolgung\_von\_NS-Tatern\_im\_geteilten\_Deutschland\_Vergangenheitsbewaltigungen\_1949-1969\_Oder\_Eine\_deutsch-deutsche\_Beziehungsgeschichte\_im\_kalten\_Krieg [DE]
* "Auschwitz und Staatssicherheit: Strafverfolgung, Propaganda und Geheimhaltung in der DDR" (Trans. Auschwitz and State Security: Law enforcement, propaganda and secrecy in the DDR) by Henry Leide https://www.bstu.de/informationen-zur-stasi/publikationen/publikation/auschwitz-und-die-staatssicherheit/ [DE]
* "NS-Verbrecher und Staatssicherheit: die geheime Vergangenheitspolitik der DDR" (Trans. Nazi criminals and state security: the secret politics of the past of the DDR) by Henry Leide https://www.bstu.de/informationen-zur-stasi/publikationen/publikation/ns-verbrecher-und-staa/ [DE]
* "Dokumente zur deutschen Militärgeschichte 1945-199: Bundesrepublik und DDR im Ost-West-Konflikt" (Trans. Documents on German military history 1945-1990: Federal Republic and DDR in the East-West conflict) by Christoph Nübel https://www.perlentaucher.de/buch/chrisoph-nuebel/dokumente-zur-deutschen-militaergeschichte-1945-1990.html [DE]
* “The Beast Reawakens: Fascism's Resurgence from Hitler's Spymasters to Today's Neo-Nazi Groups and Right-Wing Extremists” by Martin E. Lee http://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=AE9071A4E2A2C5D0053F59C240DE206A [PDF, 15MB, EN]
* "Stated Memory: East Germany and the Holocaust" by David W. Robinson and Thomas C. Fox https://books.google.de/books/about/Stated\_Memory.html?id=q4EpHWZuUG4C&redir\_esc=y [EN]

### **Videos**

* “East German KGB - Rise of Stasi - COLD WAR DOCUMENTARY” uploaded by The Cold War https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q227qcuyzVc [16:40, EN SUB, EN]
* "Hitler's Red Generals - Creators of the East German Army" uploaded by Mark Felton Productions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3gay6PVMK0 [13:44, EN]
* "Was Every German Soldier Bad?'- A Response" uploaded by Three Arrows https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu-MDEXwV4s [33:04, EN] (Dan is a German social democrat, refutation of the myth of the clean Wehrmacht)

### **Archived**

* https://archive.is/PJlCZ [EN], https://archive.is/RnsMo [EN] - correcting Ben Norton’s misinformation about East Germany’s denazification program

### **Notes**

* Stalin helped set up the neo-Nazi Sozialistische Reichspartei Deutschlands (trans. “Socialist Reich Party”) [SRP] in West Germany (held anti-American and pro-Soviet views) and the Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands (trans. "National-Democratic Party of Germany") [NDPD], a party that represented former Nazis, in East Germany after WWII to reintergrate them back into society. Former Nazi officer Otto Ernst Remer in particular received funding from the Soviet Union
* The first president of the Oberstes Gericht der DDR (trans. "Supreme court of the GDR"), Kurt Schumann, was previously a Nazi party member and judge in the Wehrmacht.
* The NDPD in the DDR received massive amount of funding to circulate far-right extremist ideas in West Germany amongst their former Nazi connections
* NDPD joined the Freie Demokratische Partei (trans. "Freedom Democratic Party") [FDP] after the fall of the wall. FDP is a neoliberal party founded in the BRD after the fall of the Nazis and was commonly known as a home for fascists after the war.
* Many former Nazis became Stasi because Soviet Union saw them as vulnerable, exploitable and easy to control (or blackmail)
* The NVA was founded by a combination of ex-Wehrmacht officers and veterans of the Spanish Civil war who had carried out the purges of anarchists and other anti-Stalinist socialists.
* The myth of the clean Wehrmacht was also present in the DDR. The Wehrmacht served as an example as well as a recruiting ground for the NVA.
* The majority (61 of 82) of command positions in the NVA were held by former Wehrmacht officers
* The first armed forces in the DDR, associated with the Hauptverwaltung Ausbildung (trans. "Central Training Administration") [HVA], used Soviet-style uniforms; but in order to assert the Germanness of the new forces, when the NVA was founded in 1956, it used Wehrmacht-style uniforms and used a helmet designed by the Wehrmacht as well.
* The SED asked the surviving Strasser brother to join their government. He declined
* The 1953 uprising in the DDR, which was sparked by a construction workers strike over work quotas, was blamed on fascists by the state.
* While workers' anti-fascist committees were liquidated for being "ultra-leftist", the DDR set up anti-fascist schools administered by former officers in the Wehrmacht.
* Most ironically, Stalin arguably treated German communists, including ardent Stalinists, worse than he did German Nazis after the end of the war
* Erich Mielke, long time and notorious head of the Stasi, was also involved in purging Moscow-based German communists during the Great Purge of 1937 and the purges of anarchists and other anti-Stalinist socialists in spain.
* The official view of fascism as an elite movement and outgrowth of finance capitalism, while containing an element of truth, did not acknowledge the reality of the nature of Nazi fascism as a mass movement and while it did correctly demonstrate certain complicities (i.e. IG Farben) was used to obscure others.
* Several "former" Nazis, including Arno von Lenski, were officially recognized as "victims of fascism" by the DDR.