German Far-Left Party Takes State Parliament

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH East German communists return to power 25 years after fall of Berlin Wall

Germany's far-Left party has returned to power in a state government for the first time since the Berlin Wall fell 25 years ago, stoking heated debate about its communist roots.

The Left Party, widely seen as the successor to the Socialist Unity Party (SED) that once ruled East Germany, will head the government of Thuringia after the state parliament narrowly voted to approve a new coalition.

The new state prime minister, Bodo Ramelow, used his first speech in parliament to apologise to victims of the former communist regime, and said he wanted to "reconcile rather than divide".

Thousands of people braved sub-zero temperatures on the streets of the state capital, Erfurt, on Thursday night to protest against the expected result of the vote.

Angela Merkel predicted the decision would be "bad news" for Thuringia, while the German President, Joachim Gauck, broke with the traditional neutrality of his role to speak out against it. » | Justin Huggler, Berlin | Friday, December 05, 2014

NORD-WEST ZEITUNG ONLINE: Ramelow ist Thüringens neuer Ministerpräsident: Der 58-jährige Bodo Ramelow erhielt im zweiten Wahlgang 46 von 90 gültigen Stimmen. Damit stellt die Linke 25 Jahre nach dem Mauerfall erstmals einen Ministerpräsidenten in Deutschland. Bei der Wahl lief aber nicht alles glatt. » | Freitag, 05. Dezember 2014

Yearning for Freedom Brought Down Berlin Wall, Says Merkel

REUTERS.COM: (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday an irrepressible yearning for freedom brought the Berlin Wall tumbling down 25 years ago and called it a "miracle" that the Cold War barrier was breached without a shot being fired.

Speaking on the eve of Sunday's celebrations to mark the 25th anniversary of the Berlin Wall's collapse, Merkel said Germany would always be grateful for the courage of East Germans who took to the streets to protest the Communist dictatorship.

"It was a day that showed us the yearning for freedom cannot be forever suppressed," Merkel said in a speech in Berlin. "During the course of 1989 more and more East Germans lost their fears of the state's repression and chicanery, and went out on the streets. There was no turning back then. It is thanks to their courage the Wall was opened."In a country with few cheerful anniversaries to celebrate after its belligerent 20th century history, Germans have latched onto memories of the peaceful East German revolution that brought down the Berlin Wall on a joyful Nov. 9, 1989. » | Erik Kirschbaum | Saturday, November 08, 2014

Merkel Compared NSA to Stasi in Heated Encounter with Obama

THE GUARDIAN: German chancellor furious after revelations US intelligence agency listened in on her personal mobile phone

In an angry exchange with Barack Obama, Angela Merkel has compared the snooping practices of the US with those of the Stasi, the ubiquitous and all-powerful secret police of the communist dictatorship in East Germany, where she grew up.

The German chancellor also told the US president that America's National Security Agency cannot be trusted because of the volume of material it had allowed to leak to the whistleblower Edward Snowden, according to the New York Times.

Livid after learning from Der Spiegel magazine that the Americans were listening in to her personal mobile phone, Merkel confronted Obama with the accusation: "This is like the Stasi."

The newspaper also reported that Merkel was particularly angry that, based on the disclosures, "the NSA clearly couldn't be trusted with private information, because they let Snowden clean them out."

Snowden is to testify on the NSA scandal to a European parliament inquiry next month, to the anger of Washington which is pressuring the EU to stop the testimony. » | Ian Traynor in Brussels and Paul Lewis in Washington | Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Against All Enemies: Interview: Jens Karney (2003)

Erstmals durfte Jens Karney am 24.6.2003 im deutschen Fernsehen über seine illegale Entführung als deutscher Staatsbürger am 21.4.1991 aus Berlin Friedrichshain durch Agenten eines US Geheimdienstes berichten. Aber auch damals konnte er nicht alles erzählen. Dies macht er jetzt in seinem Buch "Against alle Enemies". Nach einem langwierigen Procedere der Prüfung/Zensur des Manuskriptes durch Pentagon, NSA und die US Air Force liegt es nun - leider noch mit sehr umfangreichen Streichungen - vor und ist ab 12.8.2013 erhältlich.

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Code Name 'Kid': American Stasi Spy Tells His Story: One of East Germany's top spies was actually an American soldier. Jeff Carney defected to the Communist state in 1983 and fed the notorious Stasi with reams of valuable information. He has now written a book about his experiences. » | Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Angela Merkel Under Fire over Communist Links as New Image of Her in Uniform Is Released
MAIL ONLINE: Photo found of her as 17-year-old marching with East German officer / Released as she is forced to play down new book which alleges communist past

German Chancellor Angela Merkel faced fresh speculation over her supposed links to hardline East German communists today after a photo emerged of her marching with the kommisars as a teenager.

Mrs Merkel, who was 17-year-old Angela Kasner when the picture was taken in 1972, is shown in fatigues marching with a group of friends and an East German officer as they prepared to take part in a civil defence exercise.

Her smile is easily recognisable and her forage cap is set at a jaunty angle as she strides along at the High School Hermann Matern in Templin, where she was brought up behind the iron curtain.

All children in the former German Democratic Republic had to take part in such exercises if they wanted to complete the equivalent of A-levels and go on to university. The drills included preparing for gas and nuclear attacks, how to spot enemy paratroopers and caring for wounded East German soldiers.

Not even illness or a death in the family allowed for the youngsters to skip the martial lessons - they were simply postponed but had to be completed. » | Alan Hall | Tuesday, May 21, 2013

BILD.DE: Diese junge Frau in Uniform ist heute unsere Kanzlerin: Templin – Ein Schwarz-Weiß-Foto aus dem Jahr 1972. Es zeigt Schülerinnen der 11. Klasse der Erweiterten Oberschule (EOS) „Hermann Matern“ in Templin. Sie marschieren... » | Von H. Kascha und B. Kolodziej | Dienstag, 21. Mai 2013

New Biography Causes Stir: How Close Was Merkel to the Communist System?
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: A biography focusing on Chancellor Angela Merkel's time growing up in East Germany is making headlines because it suggests she was closer to the communist system than hitherto known. Her spokesman has denied she has covered anything up.

A new biography covering Chancellor Angela Merkel's life in East Germany has caused a stir by suggesting she was closer to the communist apparatus and its ideology than previously thought.

Published this week and written by journalists Günther Lachmann and Ralf Georg Reuth, the book quotes Gunter Walther, a former colleague of hers at the Academy of Sciences in East Berlin, as saying she had been secretary for "Agitation and Propaganda" in the Freie Deutsche Jugend (FDJ) youth organization at the institute. Merkel, a trained physicist, worked at the academy from 1978 until 1989.

Excerpts from the book, "The First Life of Angela M.," were published in the newsmagazine Focus on Monday. The mass-circulation Bild newspaper has also given the book prominent coverage in recent days.

The book explores Merkel's life growing up in German Democratic Republic (GDR), where her father Horst Kasner was a Protestant pastor and a committed socialist. He moved to East Germany from West Germany in 1954.

Merkel has said in the past that her FDJ role at the academy was more that of a cultural secretary and that her duties included buying theater tickets and organizing book readings. » | cro | Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Liens en relation avec l’article »

'I've Nothing to Hide': Angela Merkel Shrugs Off New Book's Claims That She Was Propaganda Secretary in Communist East Germany

MAIL ONLINE: New book revives questions over Merkel's links to Communism in her youth / Claims nothing to hide but says she's never been asked about certain things / In 2010 she admitted she still uses East German detergent and hoards food

Chancellor Angela Merkel has shrugged aside a book that suggests she may have been closer to East Germany's communist system than previously thought, saying she's never hidden anything.

The 58-year-old Merkel grew up in East Germany and entered politics as communism crumbled in 1989. It's long been known that, like many, she joined the communist youth organization. She has said she 'politically lived an assimilated life'[.]

A book appearing this week revives questions about whether Merkel was a propaganda secretary for the youth organization, which she denies, and says she was an active labor union official.

Merkel said at an event late on Sunday that she had never hidden anything about her life in East Germany, though acknowledged some things may emerge 'because no one has ever asked me about them.'

Indeed, in 2010, she admitted to a German magazine that she still does her laundry with an East German liquid detergent, prepares East German Soljanka soup - made with sausages and pickle juice - and can't fight the urge to stockpile at the supermarket.

'Sometimes I can't stop myself from buying things just because I see them - even when I don't really need them,' Merkel told SuperIllu ahead of celebrations for the 20th anniversary of unification.

'This inclination to hoard is deeply ingrained in me, because in the past, in times of scarcity, you took what you could get,' Merkel said, referring to life under communism. » | Matt Blake | Monday, May 13, 2013

SUPERillu.de: Das erste Leben der Angela M.: Die DDR-Vergangenheit der Kanzlerin schlägt derzeit hohe Wellen. Auslöser ist das Buch «Das erste Leben der Angela M.». SUPERillu traf die beiden Autoren Ralf Georg Reuth und Günther Lachmann und sprach mit ihnen über Merkels Leben vor der Wende. » | Thilo Boss | Montag, 10. Mai 2013

AMAZON.DE: Das erste Leben der Angela M. » | Von Ralf Georg Reuth und Günther Lachmann

Margot Honecker Defends East German Dictatorship

THE GUARDIAN: Widow of GDR leader Erich Honecker gives unapologetic interview in documentary showing her at home in Chile

She was known as the "purple witch" for her arresting lilac rinses and tenacious political outlook. Now the widow of the former East German leader Erich Honecker has broken a 20-year silence to defend the dictatorship, attack those who helped to destroy it, and complain about her pension.

Margot Honecker, 84, who as education minister of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) served alongside her dictator husband, describes her homesickness for a "lost nation" and calls its demise a tragedy in an interview due to be broadcast on German television on Monday evening.

The documentary, which was years in the making due to Honecker's dogged insistence she would never give an interview to "West German" media, shows her at home in Chile where she escaped to with her husband after the collapse of the Berlin Wall in the early 1990s.

For the first time since 1989 Germans are given an insight into Honecker's life and a full-blown taste of her unforgiving views about a GDR that she continues to idealise. In shockingly frank exchanges in which she cuts a robust, vigorous figure, she defends East Germany to the hilt and refuses to accept any responsibility for its more tyrannical traits, including her own role as the minister responsible for thousands of forced adoptions.

"It is a tragedy that this land no longer exists," she tells the interviewer, Eric Friedler, adding that, while she lives in Chile "my head is in Germany". She does not, however, mean united Germany, rather the "better Germany" of the GDR. » | Kate Connolly in Berlin | Monday, April 02, 2012

Watch the documentary (in German) »

People and Power - Germany's Records of Repression
Fifty years after the Berlin Wall was erected, the spectre of the Stasi continues to loom over Germany

The Population Crash
THE GUARDIAN: Across Europe, we are having fewer babies. In many places, such as the deserted town of Hoyerswerda in east Germany, the falling birth rate is already taking its toll

Hoyerswerda, a town two hours beyond Dresden close to the Polish ­border, has lost half its population in the last 20 years. It is an ­ageing ghost town. The young and those with qualifications have left – young women especially. And those that remain have given up having babies. Hoyerswerda (known to its citizens as Hoy Woy) seems a town without a purpose, in a corner of Europe without a future.

On the windswept roof of the Lausitz Tower, the town's only landmark, I meet Felix Ringel. A young German anthropologist studying at Cambridge University, he has passed up chances taken by his friends to ­investigate the rituals of Amazon tribes or Mongolian peasants. As we survey the empty plots of fenced scrub below, he explains that the underbelly of his own country seemed weirder and far less studied than those exotic worlds.

In its heyday in the 60s, Hoyerswerda was a model community in communist East Germany, a brave new world attracting migrants from all over the country. They dug brown coal from huge open-cast mines on the plain around the town. There was good money and two free bottles of brandy a month. But the fall of the Berlin Wall changed all that. It was here in 1989, in the towns and cities of Saxony, that the people of the east started moving west to ­capitalism and freedom. At the head of the queue were the young, ­especially young women.

Under communism, East ­German women worked more, and were ­often better educated, than the more conservative western hausfrau. But when their jobs disappeared in the early 90s, hundreds of thousands of them, encouraged by their ­mothers, took their school diplomas and CVs and headed west to cities such as ­Heidelberg. The boys, however, seeing their fathers out of work, often just gave up. In adulthood, they form a rump of ill-educated, alienated, ­often unemployable men, most of them ­unattractive mates – a further factor in the departure of young women.

Reiner Klingholz, director of the Berlin Institute for Population and ­Development, calls it a "male ­emergency" – but this is not just an emergency for men. The former ­people's republic is staring into a ­demographic abyss, because its ­citizens don't want babies any more. >>> Fred Pearce | Monday, February 01, 2010

GUARDIAN DATA BLOG: Nine billion people by 2050? : The world's population is growing at a startling rate. These figures show the number of people in each country on the globe >>>

The Fall of the Berlin Wall

Vingt ans après la chute du Mur de Berlin : Est-Ouest : les différences persistent
Crédits photo : Le Point
LE POINT: Vingt ans après la chute du Mur de Berlin, les différences demeurent entre Allemands de l'Est et de l'Ouest, mais elles sont plus culturelles et sociales que politiques. Et "l'Ostalgie", ou nostalgie pour l'ancienne Allemagne de l'Est, souvent décriée à l'Ouest, tient plus de la volonté de renouer les liens communautaires et de retrouver les "petits plaisirs" d'antan que du souhait d'un retour au système communiste, selon l'étude parue dans le magazine culte de l'Est Superillu . >>> Le Point avec AFP | Lundi 02 Novembre 2009

Last East German Leader Still a Convinced Socialist
THE LOCAL: Communist East Germany's last leader Egon Krenz said this week he still believes socialism will triumph over capitalism in the end, almost 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

"I am still optimistic and cannot believe that capitalism, with all the crises it generates, can be history's very last word," Krenz, still sprightly at the age of 72, told reporters on Thursday.

Krenz took over from long-term communist leader Erich Honecker on October 18, 1989, as the regime vainly sought to regain control of a country engulfed in a peaceful revolution that brought down the hated Berlin Wall just three weeks later.

Eleven months on, communist East Germany, also known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a thing of the past as it merged with West Germany to form a single country.

But inequalities remain between the two halves of the country.

Just ahead of the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Wall, unemployment is twice as high in the east, and eastern German towns are losing their youngest citizens as they seek work elsewhere.

"We've achieved quite a few things in reunified Germany, like building roads, motorways, and renovating town centres," Krenz said. "But at what price? Freedom without work isn't freedom," he added. "Today's walls in Germany are those separating the poor from the rich."

He also had some sharp words for Germany's current Chancellor Angela Merkel, who grew up in the GDR, saying she has been "bad" for the country.

But he took pleasure in pointing out that she once belonged to the communist youth organisation (FDJ) when she was growing up behind the Iron Curtain.

In Sunday's general election, which is expected to give Merkel a second term, he said he would vote for socialist party The Left, a party made of former GDR communists and defectors from the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD).

"I back its programme, so you know how I'll be voting," Krenz said. >>> AFP | Friday, September 25, 2009

Despite Progress, Former East Germany Still Lags Behind
Wittstock, East Germany. Photo: Spiegel Online International
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Billions have been pumped into the former East Germany, but 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, its economy has not caught up with the West. A new report praises the progress so far but warns that the region needs well-educated young people and an influx of immigrants if it is to thrive.

When the Berlin Wall finally fell in November 1989, a wave of hope and optimism swept across Europe -- perhaps nowhere more so than in the once divided Germany. Hope, however, soon gave way to disillusionment as the collapse of the Socialist planned economies saw millions of people lose their jobs and many became nostalgic for their old way of life. In Germany, despite the pumping of massive funds into the former Communist East, the stark divisions in income and employment between the two halves of the country rapidly undermined the initial wave of enthusiasm for reunification.

Now, 20 years on, a new study on the economy in the former East has shown that while there has been huge progress in bridging that chasm, a significant gap still remains. While in the 1990s the two halves of the country saw their economies slowly converge, stagnation set in at the turn of the century and since 2008 they have actually begun to drift further apart again. The report by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) has found that there are still significant structural problems to be overcome. In particular the region has to battle a demographic slump and is in need of better qualified young people and immigrants to keep its economy growing. 'Exuberant Expectations' in 1989 >>> smd -- with wire reports | Friday, August 28, 2009