People & Politics | Ostalgia Many Eastern Germans Still Mourn the Demise of Communist East Germany
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ส.ค. 2024
- 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall,many eastern Germans still look back nostalgically on the old communist system. About half the eastern Germans asked in a survey said the dictatorship had more good sides than bad.The survey shows that even 20 years after the end of the division of Germany,integrating the two sides remains difficult. We visit the town of Artern in the eastern state of Thuringia to capture the mood on the street. Unemployment remains high here. The local mayor is from Germany's Left Party - the successor to East Germanys communists.
The East Germans are the only Germans who lived in both systems, and therefore have the opportunity to compare the features of both German post-war systems. And I am sure it is not only nostalgia, but there are more substantial reasons for their opinions.
Yes and the people sampled in this survey apparently come from a town of 6,000 people; but DW means to tell us that *half of Eastern Germans* think the dictatorship had more good than bad. 2009, post world economic crisis saw many countries in the world having unemployment issues.
@Al Fern What mafia henchmen ? There were official border guards. About one hundred seventy thousand people moved to Western Germany officially via checkpoints. Everybody knew the regulations he had to respect.
@Al Fern That's right, the crossing of the border was only possible by official admission according to law.
About hundred thirty people died there in the thirty years of the Berlin wall. How many do you think were killed in the US in the same period of time for violating orders ? I am afraid they were not even counted.
@Al Fern What is 'freedom' ? There are lots of definitions for that. Does it mean toiling in some treadmill for a handful of pennies being threatened by unemployment all the time ? So I was much more free under East German conditions for my family's existence was never at risk, education and healthcare was provided for, and there was the costitutional right of housing, work and education. Although the surface of life was less colourful. As I said those who experienced both systems will always compare their individual features.
@Al Fern What is a criminal ? Is it a coloured American who is simply shot by the police during a car check in front of his children ?
In 1989 when the Wall came a Cuban in Miami who lived in the GDR 1974-1977 told me within one year the celebrations will be over and everyone will be at each other's throats. The cost of bringing living standards in the East to West German levels would break the West German economy and most OSSIs had unrealistic expectations about what their lives would like once the GDR was gone
GDR gave them the freedom to live, but not to move. Reunified Germany gave them neither unless they became a slave to capitalism, and that isn’t even a promise.
Why did millions tried to leave?
@TheNikolatesla34 brainwashed millions
@@kittycatwithinternetaccess2356 Now they are feeling regret for 1989 berlin wall fall
@@arindambanerjee3326 why?
how come? can't they move anywhere they like?
"Why not travel to North Korea or Cuba" - typical mark of someone who is a coward, and would rather run away than fight for the society they wish for
communism is for lazy weak wussies with no creativity, no work ethic. Do what great leader says to do..They are also against God and are heartless criminals with no morals
@@michaelcraig9449☝🏽🤓
Why will not cappies move to Honduras or Kongo if capitalism is so fantastic?
i don't want the wall back, i want all of Germany to be the GDR
Go to North Korea now, it is exactly the same! Little Kimmy will Love you long time!
Trust me, most people do
Good point! The wall was built to prevent brain drain ant to keep the west out! Right wingers will claim only the first option but we will now se that the GDR goverment was right! As soon as the wall fell W. Ger. swallowed it!
Just like the USSR, the people thought that capitalism would be good, but when they saw what capitalism truly is they wanted back the Union and still 72% have nostalgia and prefer the soviet times, always the west destroying lives
And that percent is growing again
@@theplanetmercury3313 What the persentage now?
east joke:
First Oldtimer: "Why do you miss East Germany so much?"
Second Oldtimer: "Because the women were younger then!"
Prefer outright prefer not to think for themselves. This is the normal human condition this is why dictatorship has almost always been at least in part the norm.
I took part in sport competitions in Russia at an amateur level. Stayed there for about ten days, and I asked lots of people if they preferred the Soviet Union or today's Russia. I got only one type of answer.
People are saying they don't want to be totally abandoned and enslaved, as capitalism does.
This is what communism does 100 times more.
hahaha, don't make me laugh
North Korea is nothing like how the GDR was.
Yea north korea was doomed after kim jong il shunned religion
north korea was actually wealthier than south korea in the initial decades after the korean war
@@capitancuba8962 Religious fairy tales don't make a country good or bad.
Exactly the same beliefs and ways
@@UCLAfilm01 I would rather believe in science. I don't see how my comment relating to religitards is in any way related to belief in politics. I never stated anything about North Korea I never said I support them either.
Its not just communism, the "free-market" has been an inhuman disaster in the USA and Britain. You can hear the exact same thing from Americans and British about what life was like in their countries before Reagan or Thatcher.
Wobbo certainly in Britain.
Capitalism was a complete nightmare in the 19th centuary, who can deny that?
Not only in US and Britain. Even here in Sweden we are looking back to the 80's and Olof Palme's version of socialism!
No it's not. STFU. Capitalism is better than Communism. And besides all those problems the West outside the USA and maybe Canada, generously I'll add Australia and New Zealand and South Africa has, mostly in the Old World, is due to socialist big government in one way or the other. It's not that they're Communist, but they do incorporate socialist policies.
Denmark and Sweden and Spain, the UK are the exception and yes Rasmussen said that Denmark is purely a free-market economy more akin to the USA and Canada
The United States has a two party regime where both parties work towards the same outcome that the people don’t want.
So how is the DDR more of a “dictatorship” than the United States?
The majority of US citizens are against the wars and military interventions. Do citizens have a say in that Policy alone? No.
But East German citizens at least had political influence in regards to domestic policy such as the price of food and rent, and what to build next.
East germany was a puppet state of soviet union you dumb
This!
They ruled the work places in practise! They could get a boss removed and working safety was a priority!
I think the Stasi could be major contributor to the use of the term dictatorship for the GDR.
In the FRG, you have freedom of opinion (not the same as freedom of speech), and you only have to take responsibility for your opinions to other people. With artistic freedom you can do even more.
@@FlubberFrosch GDR had freedom of speech in most fields exept for critizism towards the party or the system. The workers ruled the work places.
As Parenti once wrote “they didn’t know what they had”
It's convenient they murdered everyone who didn't like communism so all that was left was subuntermensche.
Telling people to move to North korea or Cuba if they want socialism, is like saying people can move to Nigeria or Bolivia if they want capitalism and democracy
Also to move imperialist US- GEORGE FLOYD
GDR socialism was much more prosperous than cuba or north korea and so the comparison isn't apt.
Or Pinochet’s “libertarian” Chile.
Or brazilian's Geisel dictatorship
north Korea is not marxist-communist at all.she follows an idea called juche
north Korea's system is similar to the former east Europe in many ways. Communism only produces jealousy, fake camaraderie and authoritarian harassment. people should get that through their head if we don't want the history to repeat itself.
@@flowerchild8450
Yeah except fascism claims your race to be superior and is driven by capitalism and imperialism. And those core defining features of fascism are absent in NK. So fascism is not the word at all. What did you mean by fascist then? Nation state? As in planned economy? As in militaristic anti-imperialist? That's like any other socialist nation ever... Why fascism then?
Wrong. Fascism is an authoritarian system where private property is allowed but the government dictates what you may or may not do with it.
@@georgesteele2157
Nope fascism is corporatism. The repression of the working class and non-economic ways to remain "popular" while being economically anti popular. Like nationalism, some forms of planned economy, protectionism, xenophobia etc...
NO, you just, being a Marxist cling to your ideology. "Fascism (/ˈfæʃɪzəm/) is a form of radical authoritarian ultranationalism,[1][2][3][4] characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition and strong regimentation of society and of the economy,[5] which came to prominence in early 20th-century Europe.[6] The first fascist movements emerged in Italy during World War I before it spread to other European countries.[6] Opposed to liberalism, Marxism and anarchism, fascism is placed on the far-right within the traditional left-right spectrum.[6][7][8][9][10][11] Fascists saw World War I as a revolution that brought massive changes to the nature of war, society, the state and technology. The advent of total war and the total mass mobilization of society had broken down the distinction between civilians and combatants. A "military citizenship" arose in which all citizens were involved with the military in some manner during the war.[12][13] The war had resulted in the rise of a powerful state capable of mobilizing millions of people to serve on the front lines and providing economic production and logistics to support them, as well as having unprecedented authority to intervene in the lives of citizens.[12][13] Fascists believe that liberal democracy is obsolete and they regard the complete mobilization of society under a totalitarian one-party state as necessary to prepare a nation for armed conflict and to respond effectively to economic difficulties.[14] Such a state is led by a strong leader-such as a dictator and a martial government composed of the members of the governing fascist party-to forge national unity and maintain a stable and orderly society.[14] Fascism rejects assertions that violence is automatically negative in nature and views political violence, war and imperialism as means that can achieve national rejuvenation.[15][16][17][18] Fascists advocate a mixed economy, with the principal goal of achieving autarky (national economic self-sufficiency) through protectionist and interventionist economic policies."Nations that have freedom, free markets, private ownership of the means of production, and the freedom to use the means of production as the owner desires, is not fascist. Your real issue, as a good Marxist, is you view everything in class struggle and want a socialistic economy. That is why you probably are one of those who regret the passing of the GDR.
I'm not a Communist, I'm not even German, but I think comparing Communist East Germany to North Korea or Cuba is very VERY VERY hypocritical and wrong.
It is neither the same people, nor the same mentality, nor the same culture, nor even the same structures.
Communist East Germany was one of the wealthiest communist nations. And that undoubtedly comes from the hard-working and supportive spirit of the German.
Nothing to do with the dynastic clown Kim Jung Un. (who also looks more like a greedy tyrant than a real communist).
That was a fascinating report. Makes me want to see a full-scale documentary of the social, economic, and political changes since the wall came down.
that would be very interesting
'Freedom to choose what exactly?'
And perhaps some people wouldn't mind living in Cuba but their family and friends happen to be in East Germany, what a disingenous solution that guy at the end came out with.
You've always got to read between the lines with this stuff cos the reporting is almost always biased and disingenous.
Flying from Germany to Cuba and permanently immigrating there is famously a thing that a poor person struggling with finances can do
140 people died crossing the Berlin Wall throughout its 30 year existence in contrast 7,216 people have died in just the past 17 years fleeing the effectsof US imperialism at the US-Mexico border. Yet which one i known as the stereotype for evil borders?
This is one of those "who you want to date vs who you want to marry" type comparisons. "Freedom" (aka life in a plutocratic capitalistic state like the USA) is like a shiny thing one can lust for, but having a steady job and guaranteed healthcare / education / retirement / vacation / maternity leave is the unexciting stuff that makes life a lot easier. So 140 people died crossing the Berlin Wall in the 30 years of its existence? In the USA, upwards of 20K people per year die from not having health coverage. But "mah mah mah freedumbs!" :(
Difficult to feel sorry for them since they wanted the wall to come down. They got their capitalism and now they must live with it. Now they have the freedom to choose from several capitalist parties each supporting big business and capital markets. But it is sad just what it is doing to their human nature. No more sense of comradeship. Just competitiveness.
Laziness is our evil. Competitiveness is promoted by those who are lazy. Patrick Colquohoun cited Poverty is a Source of wealth for the few. Freedom is for those who have capital. But conditioning is abuse. People abuse the abused and pontificate about their doing so.
what?
Not true!
Actually all those people should be enthusiastic about freedom and democracy.
Why do they not jump for joy ?
Obviously today's political propaganda clichés do not go with real life.
There are some that are well fed by privileges, and there are some others that suffer from unemployment, misery and homelessness.
East Germany has become a resevoir of cheap labourers who live in a deindustrialized region. To many of them life in old East Germany was much better - in spite of some bumpy roads.
Former problems were in the old houses and grey facades. Today's problems are in the heads of the people and in psychiatric hospitals.
'Freedom and democracy' is such a propaganda trope...
bAck to the Ussrr, now the proletarians figure out their mistake, what a shame
@Al Fern why not Vietnam which is doing really well or China which is a superpower.
@Al Fern yes... China is the 2nd superpower on earth and Vietnam is 27th in economic growth, for such a tiny country that's a lot.
ddr system had its fails amd needed to be improved and renewed, together with the whole socialist block (one country can't survive alone without foreign relations). Socialism as a system is not to blame for poor guidance by the party, if socialist states were being well guided, improved their plans, the top officials stopped to accept lies from lower officials and aknowledge when there was a problem without pretending everything was ok and listening to the masses needs, maybe today socialism would be still alive providing even the west an example of a free, advanced and lively society, this had started to be done, until 1953 ussr was a state running fast toward modernization and everyday life improvement, but later on a gang of bastards only thinking about their privileges and their points of view let those countries fall into immobility, paranoid thinking, etc. for example when people started being attracted from western apparent wellness they should have asked themselves sincerely what was they were doing wrong and how could they revive peoples enthusiasm in everyday life, instead they focused on the military question only and let propaganda do everything else...maybe they could provide a western lifestyle for everyone from night to day, but they could make new plans together with the people, explain sincerely what they were about to do for the people to improve their lifes and what people had to do in order to achieve those results and reach a better lifestyle. they should also focus on people aspirations and how those aspirations could forge new excellences for the community, maybe the older officials should have left their chairs to a new generation commited to improve socialism without killing it with capitalist elements...I can't believe we lost a treasure for humanity advancement as socialism, it's similar to what the church has done to the roman empire and the whole classic culture, without the church today we could have reached the outer space decades, if not centuries, ago, while without capitalism we could have a life worth living for everyone in the whole world....capitalism is the sand in the history cogwheels...
Jarvis Piazza Yes, the soviet reformism didn't happen in a vacuum. The cold war was fought by both sides but of course the west could better afford it. It was really a stagnation war to try and stop the soviet progress. Also foreign powers corrupt politicians like Gorbatschev.
I hate it when i can give only one like to an awesome comment :(
Stay safe and healtyh comrade in these corona days!
Capitalism was necessary in order to counteract feudalism, at first it was small but later it managed to overcome the feudal model, now in order for socialism to overcome capitalism it has to be more efficient than capitalism, the previous century there were attempts and it was achieved Something, today China and the rest of the Asian countries that consider themselves socialists learned from the mistakes of the past and seek to bring the model to work this time, and China for the moment is getting it, while the United States worsens its living standards, China improve, that's already progress
Such a good comment with si nany less upvote
1:15 Shows that people don't forget what they had.
They sure forgot about what they didn't have, food and privacy (due to stasi spying). Capitalism, like socialism, isn't a magic potion. Perhaps these folks should've educated themselves about capitalism before choosing it. Seems like they got what they chose and voted for. Economic accountability is highly individualized in the current system. Freedom means freedom to succeed or fail by your own hook, not the state's whims and 5 year plans.
Bakunin: "Freedom without socialism is privilege and injustice; socialism without freedom is slavery and brutality."
The true freedom in capitalism is financial freedom.
i wouldn't mind living in a marxist state. just saying. i come from the lower class and i see in my hometown that capitalism doesn't make everybody happy.
The Stasi protected the people, despite what they say.
Bryan Holden bullshit get lost
It can be said about the FBI and CIA too
Any form of secret police like the KGB CIA Stasi MI5 etc all have dirty secrets.
It is just that now people talk more about the Stasi and KGB about their horrible stuff they did more
@@UCLAfilm01 How do you know this?
Build the wall!
Patrick Ellis. and make west german pay for it
From Central Asia moving for jobs Moscow.
From Eastern European moving for jobs to London.
From East Germany to West this will be geft of capitalism.
Excellent piece DW
East Germany could have adopted the Chinese economic reforms. This could save the jobs. Moreover limited private entrepreneurship could have been allowed. But the Politburo was head strong and illogical. You can revert back to refurbished Communism in East Germany.
Freedom with responsibility and accountability is what they did not have till 1989.
The Chinese economic reforms would not have worked in a nation like the GDR which had industrialized decades prior. Chinese economic reforms was meant to develop industry via foreign capital investment, which will be a losing strategy in the coming years when China sees a demographic reversal and loses its working age population which is sustaining this growth.
Freedom security
Unfreedom unsecurity.
"Now it´s a competetive struggle and every man for himself, but we have to live with that"
No, we dont. Just accept socialism and work...
Imagine put that middle aged women with a middle aged trump supporter to argue about good old socialism and good old capitalism
I serve Popcorn.
they thought the grass was greener , instead of moving to cuba they could allways move to detroit.
But their friends and family are in East Germany. That was a simplistic disingenous 'solution' that old git at the end offered.
half german half slavic ethnically what a wild place
Like I love how the dude at the end says well visit North Korea and Cuba. North Korea is generic example of bad place. The other was a puppet state ruled by a brutal dictator that let the poor starve to death. After Castro standard of life went up and today is a some-what common vacation destination. Like I question if this dude knows anything about Cuba, cuz Cuba does not have the same reputation as North Korea, so he sounds dogmatic in context.
not to mention the sanctions set on both of them globally
Now capitalist countries are begging for medical aid from Cuba to avoid death of thier common people Coronaaaaa
Exactly. He also completely neglected that China, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos are all Communist countries, and some of these have the world's fastest economic growth rates. Then there is Nepal, which openly elected Communists to power, or states like Kerala and West Bengal in India that also routinely elects Communists, and Kerala, in particular have the best socioeconomic stats (life expectancy, literacy rate, child mortality rate, etc) in India.
@@ggrey3155 Fast economic growth rates because they play the game of capitalism.
@@thayyil69 lol Cuba has actually been doing pretty good with corona. Look at every other country near it.
We stan the ddr
Yep, it was a dictatorship... of the proletariat
The guy who talks about North Korea and Cuba has it. He has not remembered Zimbabwe though.
The fact is, no one was killed trying to escape from the west to the east. Only the other way around. The East Germans were poor, the place was an environmental disaster, and people persecuted.
So if that is, why many people missed the Ole East Germany and why Eastern part of Germany is shittier than ever now?
Why you call Nostalgia as Ostalgia you silly wessie
Basically people upset that they have find a useful job now.
Very interesting to hear.
Was anyone ever shot trying to get in to East Germany?
No, why would they?
No. They were western political exilees to east germany tho.
@Jesse Brennan Ever heard of Victor Grossman?
I am British and can tell you free marke yt? C
I am British and can tell you free market capitalism has destroyed this island
State capitalism as practiced by the Chinese will survive and be the practice of the future
Yeh it must have been great having your neighbors reporting you to the Stazi
Ian Muir ,Or your own brother or wife!
Is it better to have your neighbors homeless or unemployed? Stazi protected the people from the imperialists.
nah I'd much rather my neighbors report me to the police, such freedom!
The fascist police in the USA certainly serve the rich oligarchs. The Stasi served the people.
@@bryanholden1558 OK,stay with George Floyd
All old people romance and mourn the past.
The "good ole days" were never as good as people imagine
What? no one thinks of the DDR as a "paradise", but this belies the notion that the DDR was an abject hellhole with no redeeming qualities. That is the myth that ostalgie counters; it counters the self-righteousness of the West.
+Eric Bush I agree completely. I think the people complaining take it for granted that they can openly voice their contempt for the current system and also the fact they are free to leave if they wish and go to Cuba or North Korea like the guy said. If it was as great as these people make it out to be then no one would have tried to escape.
It's akin to praising Stalin only after his death. Any Soviet citizen would have wasted that demon given the chance.
You don't know Soviet citizens. Most old generation soviets had respect for Stalin even after his death, and had more or less contempt for his successor. Even now a lot of Russians are positive about him.
My suggestion is - don't talk about matters unfamiliar to you. It makes you look foolish.
This guys lived it. I am not going to say anything.
Also after having watched this YT video, i find it appropriate compare with a possible unification at the Korean peninsula. A certain number of possible frustrated NorthKoreans then will think: "Not so bad and brutal after all this Kimjung-un's dictatorship. Now in a united Korea with freedom and democracy, not worthi it. Those social benefits and safety, including garanteed jobs, still enjoyed in a separate NK - they undeniably r absent now."
Thus I am eyeing an option to just a unification. NK still a separate nation - BUT with a far more relaxed communism, like that of Vietnam.
I'm sure that when Moses led his people out of slavery in Egypt, some said "hey Moses, we were better off as slaves, at least we were fed, clothed and housed. What do we have now? Nothing but hardship". Maybe there are many who would trade liberty for security, but I'm not one of them.
This is idiotic. Dont compare
You don't have freedom or a free market in a capitalist society, you're ruled by giant conglomerates who own the media, the politicians, the majority of wealth, you only have an illusion of freedom.
lol, i just got why they misspelled Nostalgia
Free to chose yeah for sure
Ten meters higher? Yeah,Germans are tall.
@1:31
Where do i sign?
Heaven forbid you may have to work or move for that work...
@noprofitmaximierung i am a marxist-leninist. i know what marxists believe. probably shouldve worded my sentence so that would be clear
they seem to be missing their youth, not the actual old country.
Very sad,big German companies should of invested more in the east but it’s a long road and it will improve,the East Germans will get what they wanted a better way of life and better jobs
i miss the wall also. i was on the western side.
Do they still wait for years for a car? Months for an apartment? Outside toilets still around? Yep, the good ole days!
How many years did it take you to get a car or an apartment now?
@@alexdrackk At once whenever I desire!
Let's rebuild it 10 meters higher!
@UDSS
I see!! That is interesting....
Capitalism is failing.
germany fell with the wall
A Germany without cool cars, badass technology, and creativity? That is just lame.
inferno0020 IFA
Even Russia has had enough sense to dump communism.
Hi
many risked everything to escape the east. many more died trying. it had to have a lot of negatives for that to happen.
140 died crossing the Berlin Wall in its 30 years of history. Meanwhile, upwards of 20,000 Americans die per year from not having medical coverage. But - freedumbs! :(
I think the Soviets wanted to conquer Italy, or at least part of it, too. But with Germany, it's relative proximity made it easier.
Eastern Europeans have a complicated relationship with the former Soviet Union (now Russia). East Germans tend to be much less, but it's there too.
This pro-capitalist docu is as transparent as water...
Well, how do you like capitalism? And we were said, not to believe capitalist propaganda...
as Stevie Wonder sings "Most the people spend their lives to live in past time paradises"
even the bible warned 2000 years ago to look backwards......(Lot's wife)
Basically : Failure to adjust and carrying all the psychological hang ups from the GDR. It's nobody's fault but theirs
Who built the wall which divided families and punished those who didn't want it? Was it the capitalists or the socialists?
In capitalism both rich and poor are free to sleep under the railway bridge. The rich usually choose not to. There was never socialism in Eastern Europe or Cuba etc etc just state capitalism.
I think these days they'll chase you out.
They put spikes underneath to chase the homeless awayb
Yes well Cuba has a higher life expectancy than America now and they had about a 5 year lower life expectancy than America in 1960 so it's not all bad.
Ho
So, being "comfortable" and "taken care of" is worth subjecting one's life to the horrors of the Stasi? And some wonder why there seems to be something wrong in the German character. This is virtually beyond credulity!
Everyone wants a social democracy without knowing it
yea....sure they do.....
Well, did they not choose Hitler, who is really the blame for all of this?
my west-german grandparents told me the GDR in the 60s was like the nazi-regime.
Well did they live in the gdr
W Polsce komuna upadła pierwsza
Communism has failed, as well as nazism, so deal with it and don`t look back...
brankoood1 Oh its much more than that. If people is bad under a system they will want alternatives.
Capitalism failed too and that should be obvious.
Love you guys typing about the 'failure of capitalism' from your iphones and ipads. But not to worry, with freedom you can resurrect your old lifestyle by joining an Amish community and there's always Cuba: see the wall is to keep people in not out. They welcome all comers. You have the freedom to choose, in no time you can be cutting sugarcane to stand in line for a few monthly rationed staples while Castro's brood lives in the lap of capitalist luxury. Enjoy !
The truth still remains that the communist nations didn't have freedom, but even the crime rate was low and people had job security and every one was equal in matters of caste , creed.. religion, status or sex
You might want to take back religion considering you weren’t allowed to excersize religion
@@Ggyhhggtyyy I don't think so .. I will say we were better under communism instead of the Cresent star faith which came from Arabia
I belong to the same cresent faith which is more violent and oppressive .. specially for women .. I wish communism comes back to our rescue as that's the only hope for us now
1:25 @NoMoreLibsPlease1975 {r}
Hi
Hi