East German (DDR) Economics

* "The working class uprising in East Germany, June 1953" by Cajo Brendel https://libcom.org/library/1953-working-class-uprising-east-germany-cajo-brendel [EN]
* "The East German uprising, 1953" https://libcom.org/history/articles/east-german-uprising-1953 [EN]
* "Capitalism and ecology: from the decline of capital to the decline of the world" by Paul Mattick https://libcom.org/library/capitalism-ecology-decline-capital-decline-world-paul-mattick [EN]
* Between State Capitalism and Globalisation: The Collapse of the East German Economy. (Review) by Martin Upchurch https://sci-hub.do/10.1177/030981680909800106 [EN]
* "German workers change face of Europe" by Raya Dunayevskya https://www.marxists.org/archive/dunayevskaya/works/1953/german-workers.htm [EN]
* "Labor in the Collapse of the GDR and Reunification: A Crucial, Yet Overlooked Actor" by Mathieu Denis https://edoc.hu-berlin.de/bitstream/handle/18452/17058/denis.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y [EN]
* "'Contract worker' in the GDR" https://domid.org/en/news/contractwork-in-the-gdr/ [EN]
* "Für Entschädigungszahlungen an die ehemaligen Moanbikischen Vertragsarbeiter:innen Offener Brief an die Bundesregierung" by Christine Bartlitz*,* Isabel Enzenbach (Trans. "For compensation payments for Mozambican contract workers") https://zeitgeschichte-online.de/kommentar/fuer-entschaedigungszahlungen-die-ehemaligen-mosambikanischen-vertragsarbeiterinnen [DE]

### **Research Articles**

* "Workers' resistance and the demise of East Germany" by Jeffrey Kopstein https://libcom.org/history/workers-resistance-demise-east-germany-jeffrey-kopstein [EN]
* "Private property and public culture : a forgotten chapter of East European Communist life" by Paul Betts https://www.cairn.info/revue-histoire-politique-2009-1-page-2.htm [EN]
* "The Tragedy of “June 17”: East Germany’s “Workers’ Uprising” at Sixty" by John Rodden https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12115-013-9725-2 [EN]
* "Chipping Away at the State: Workers' Resistance and the Demise of East Germany" by Jeffrey Kopstein https://cpb-us-e2.wpmucdn.com/faculty.sites.uci.edu/dist/9/994/files/2021/05/chipping\_away\_at\_the\_state.pdf [EN]
* "Piecework and the Sovietization of the East German Workplace" by Wayne Geerling and Gary B. Magee https://sci-hub.do/10.1017/S0008938912000660 [EN]
* "Zwischen solidarischem Handel und ungleichem Tausch: Zum Südhandel der DDR am Beispiel des Imports kubanischen Zuckers und äthiopischen Kaffees" (trans. "Between trade based on solidarity and unequal exchange: On the GDR's southern trade using the examples of the import of Cuban sugar and Ethiopian coffee") by Anne Dietrich https://www.mattersburgerkreis.at/dl/oLtLJMJLllJqx4KooJK/JEP-3-2014\_PICHLER\_KNIERZINGER\_Rohstoffpolitik-und-Entwicklung.pdf#page=48 [DE]

### **News Articles**

* "Ikea 'deeply regrets' use of forced labour" https://www.bbc.com/news/business-20356945 [EN] (British state media)

* "Ikea: ‘We deeply regret’ use of forced labor in East Germany" By Tiffany Hsu https://www.latimes.com/business/la-xpm-2012-nov-16-la-fi-mo-ikea-forced-labor-germany-20121116-story.html [EN]
* "GDR prisoners made Aldi and VW goods" https://www.thelocal.de/20140115/aldi-and-vw-bought-goods-made-by-gdr-prisoners/ [EN]
* "Study examines forced labor in GDR prisons" by Kay-Alexander Scholz https://www.dw.com/en/study-examines-forced-labor-in-gdr-prisons/a-18536983 [EN]
* "Beim Reden nicht so viel lächeln" (Trans. "Don't smile so much while talking") by Torsten Harmsen https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/eine-beruehrende-ausstellung-erzaehlt-die-geschichte-der-vertragsarbeiter-in-der-ddr-beim-reden-nicht-so-viel-laecheln-li.7964 [DE]
* "Betrogen und vergessen: Entschädigt sie! Historiker unterstützen die Forderungen ehemaliger DDR-Vertragsarbeiter aus Mosambik" (trans. "Cheated and forgotten: Defense them! Historians support the demands of former GDR contract workers from Mozambique")by Christian Staas https://www.zeit.de/2021/16/vertragsarbeiter-ddr-mauer-mosambik-maputo-betrug-entschaedigung [DE]
* "Vertragsarbeiter\*innen in der DDR: „Heute können sie keine Kinder mehr kriegen, weil sie kaputt sind'"(trans. "Contract workers in the DDR 'today they cannot have children because they are broken") https://ze.tt/vertragsarbeiterinnen-in-der-ddr-heute-koennen-sie-keine-kinder-mehr-kriegen-weil-sie-kaputt-sind/ [DE]

### **Blog Posts**

* "Forced labor – not just in the GDR" by Wolfgang Kaleck https://www.ecchr.eu/en/publication/forced-labor-not-just-in-the-gdr/ [EN]

### **Encyclopedia**

* "East German uprising of 1953" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East\_German\_uprising\_of\_1953 [EN]; https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aufstand\_vom\_17.\_Juni\_1953 [DE]
* "Main Task" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main\_Task [EN]
* "Vertragsarbeiter" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertragsarbeiter [EN] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertragsarbeiter [DE]
* "Gastarbeiter: East Germany" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastarbeiter#East\_Germany [EN]

### **Books**

* "Between State Capitalism and Globalisation: The Collapse of the East German Economy" by Gareth Dale https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315786289\_Full\_book\_Between\_State\_Capitalism\_and\_Globalisation\_The\_Collapse\_of\_the\_East\_German\_Economy\_2004 [EN]
* "Popular Protest in East Germany, 1945-1989" by Gareth Dale https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=D73B12E68A4F244AAFE19F48F397AC49 [EN]
* "The Politics of Economic Decline in East Germany, 1945-1989" by Jeffrey Kopstein https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=D584985C04C26F92B19DCE8CF6377544 [EN]
* "Schwarz-weisse Zeiten AusländerInnen in Ostdeutschland vor und nach der Wende ; Erfahrungen der Vertragsarbeiter aus Mosambik ; Interviews - Berichte - Analysen" (trans. "Black and White Times Foreigners in East Germany before and after the fall of the Wall; Experiences of contract workers from Mozambique; Interviews - reports - analyses") https://www.worldcat.org/title/schwarz-weisse-zeiten-auslanderinnen-in-ostdeutschland-vor-und-nach-der-wende-erfahrungen-der-vertragsarbeiter-aus-mosambik-interviews-berichte-analysen/ [DE]

### **Excerpts**

* "East Germany, June 1953" from "A history of the People’s Democracies" by Francois Fejto https://libcom.org/history/east-germany-june-1953 [EN]

### **Videos**

* “East German Rebellion 1953” uploaded by The Cold War https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n8rIEdxkJU [14:13, EN SUB, EN]

### **Websites**

* "Vertragsarbeit Mosambik-DDR: Madgermanes: Trabalhadores Moçambicanos contratados na RDA" (Trans. "Contract work Mozambique-GDR") https://vertragsarbeit-mosambik-ddr.de [DE, PT]

### **Notes**

* 6,000 West German companies did business with the GDR
* the DDR was something of a consumer state-capitalist society.
* Contract workers were brought in to compensate for emigration.
* Contact workers generally preformed drudge and dirty work.
* The threat of deportation was used to push production and regulate contact workers.
* Contact workers were not allowed to marry and family reunification was not permitted.
* Contact workers were only allowed to stay for periods of up to five years (expanded from 2).
* Pregnant contract workers would be threatened with deportation if they did not get an abortion.
* contract workers were generally housed in dormitories segregated by gender and away from the broader community and they could not rent their own apartments.
* Activists estimate that the former labor migrants, particularly from Mozambique, in the GDR are still entitled to the equivalent of more than 600 million euros in unpaid wages