DDR: What was the German Democratic Republic?

October 7 was for four decades the “Republic Day,” the national holiday of the German Democratic Republic (Deutsche Demokratische Republik). The date refers to the official founding moment of the GDR, based on the adoption of its constitution on October 7, 1949. 

 

On the occasion of this day, we present an article by Tibor Zenker, chairman of the Party of Labour of Austria (PdA), who examines the essence of the GDR: 

 

GDR at 75: The German Democratic Republic was a milestone in the world revolutionary process

Declaration of the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Austria (PdA) on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) on 7 October 1949:

The founding of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) 75 years ago was initially a necessary reaction to the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) by the three Western Allies. With the creation of the FRG, the Western occupying powers - the USA, Great Britain and France - had laid the foundations for the resurgence of German imperialism, albeit under US supervision. Before and after the founding of the GDR, German communists in both countries aimed for a united Germany from which war should never again start.

30 years since the death of Erich Honecker

The 29 of May marks the 30th death anniversary of German communist leader, head of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1971 to 1989, Erich Honecker. 

The son of a miner, Honecker was born in Neunkirchen, Germany, in 1912. He joined the German Communist Party and became active in the resistance movement against Adolf Hitler. He was arrested in 1935 and imprisoned until the end of the Second World War.

German communists: “Without the Berlin Wall, there would have been war”

In an article published on “Unsere Zeit” portal, the newspaper of the German Communist Party (DKP), General Secretary Patrik Köbele referred to the conditions under which the Berlin Wall was built on August 13, 1961. 

After mentioning that the decision to build the Wall wasn’t an easy decision, Köbele points out: “The state border between the GDR and the “West” was also the border between NATO and the Warsaw Pact, ie the border the two strongest military alliances at the time. NATO always aimed at destroying socialist construction in the Warsaw Pact’s states by all means – arms race, diversion, sabotage and, if necessary, military aggression. It was prevented from doing so due to the security of the GDR state border”.

"The EU is the flag-bearer of anti-communism and history's distortion" — KKE MEPs

In a statement published in Rizospastis, the Communist Party of Greece group in the European Parliament denounces another anti-communist event organized at the EU Parliament's Plenary for the Berlin Wall fall anniversary, with the major speaker being the President of the German Parliament (Bundestag) Wolfgang Schäuble. 

The statement reads: "The anti-communist fiesta organized for the Berlin Wall fall, with a speech by Schauble at the Plenary of the EU Parliament in Brussels, confirms the role of the EU as a "standard-bearer" of anti-communist and history's distortion. Once again, the imperialists distort history and the truth. The Wall was the result of the intervention and aggression of the imperialists, of the continuous subversion against the German Democratic Republic (GDR). 

The Berlin Wall: Exposing the lies of imperialism

By Nikos Mottas

It was 30 years ago, on 9 November 1989, when the destruction of the Berlin Wall began, marking the overthrow of the socialist power in the German Democratic Republic and the restoration of capitalism. 

Since then, the 9th of November consists a milestone for imperialists who organize various fiestas about the "fall of the wall" and the "reunification of Germany". 

The 30th anniversary of the Berlin Wall fall coincides with the intensification of the European Union's anti-communist campaign which includes the hideous and unhistorical equation of communism with nazism. Last September, the EU Parliament adopted an utterly despicable resolution, full of anti-communist slanders, that violently distorts history. 

German communist leader Herbert Mies died at 87 - Statement by the KKE

A leading figure of the German communist movement, Herbert Mies, died  on 14 January 2017 in his hometown of Mannheim at the age of 87. Mies joined the Communist Party of Germany in 1945. He was elected chairman of the (West) German Communist Party (DKP) in 1973. He was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize in 1985/1986. Mies resigned from his position as party chairman in October 1989.

Responding to the news of Herbert Mies' death, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) issued the following statement:

"With sadness the CC of the KKE was informed about the death of comrade Herbert Mies who was a leading figure of the international and German communist movement, being President of the German CP from 1973 to 1989.

For a whole life, until his 87 years, comrade Mies consistently served the working class of Germany, the people of his country. In his youth, he opposed fascism and faced decisively the difficult circumstances of illegality and persecution of the next period. He excelled in the International Communist Movement and was awarded the Lenin Prize.

The Berlin Wall and the bourgeois lies

By Nikos Mottas*

The 9^th of November consists a milestone for those who have turned anticommunist propaganda into profession. It is the day when, in 1989, the destruction of the so-called “Berlin Wall” began. 

Since then, every year, we observe smaller or larger fiestas about the "fall of the Wall" and the restoration of Capitalism in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). In these fiestas, the winners of the Cold War employ their anticommunist imagination in order to celebrate the “big event”- for example, in 2014, during the 25^th anniversary, among the official guests in Berlin was the miserable puppet of international imperialism called Mikhail Gorbachev.

For more than 26 years, within the framework of slanders against the actual existed Socialism, the bourgeois historiography, the bourgeois media as well as various opportunists engage in a war of distortions regarding the history of the Berlin Wall. They deliberately vilify the German Democratic Republic and the achievements of the socialist construction while they attempt to manipulate the European and international public opinion with the known, anti-scientific and anti-historical equation between Communism and Fascism.

"Life was better under Communism" says the majority of Russians, Romanians and Eastern Germans

SPECIAL TO IN DEFENSE OF COMMUNISM.

First of all, let us say that the proper phrase is "under Socialism". During the 20th century, the Soviet Union and the socialist countries of Eastern Europe were in the process of socialist construction. According to the Marxist-Leninist theory, "Socialism" consist the first stage (phase) of Communism. 

Having said the above, let's go to the core issue. The people who have lived both under Socialism and Capitalism give their answer to the various bourgeois and petty bourgeois unhistorical slanders. Various polls in former Socialist countries prove that the majority of people, in Russia and Eastern Europe, think that life was better before the counter-revolutions and the restoration of Capitalism. Under Socialism their major problems had been solved: Free education, free healthcare for all, social security, jobs, free vacation and holidays for everyone, etc. The restoration of Capitalism brought an unprecedented barbarity in almost every sector of public life: Social inequalities, unemployment, privatization of major public sectors from healthcare to education, etc. 

On March 2016, a survey conducted by the All-Russia Public Opinion Center (VTsIOM) showed that: 

Margot Honecker (1927-2016)

"I not only consider myself one — I am a communist. Loyalty is probably not the appropriate term.  Marxism-Leninism is an ideology, a method of investigation to understand the world, the laws according to which it moves, so you can orient yourself in the world. Some believe in a divine will, others in a predetermined fate. We communists are materialists. We follow a scientific outlook, which assumes that the society and everything that arises in it are the work of human beings. Exploitation and oppression are neither divinely ordained, nor are these evils acceptable. We have to fight for a humane, fair, peaceful world, and today that is more urgent than ever. We must refuse to allow that people perish from war, hunger and disease, and that natural resources and the livelihood of the people be depleted or destroyed by ruthless capitalist exploitation, solely for profit. If humanity is to have a future, the power of the banks and corporations must be broken. They will not give up their power voluntarily".

- Interview to the Athenian and Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA), 5 November 2015.

Margot Honecker,
German Democratic Republic (GDR) politician, wife of Erich Honecker, died on Friday 6 May 2016 at 89.