While West Germany elects a new Government, the rival East German State is mounting a huge celebration for the twentieth anniversary of its founding on 7 October, an event it calls ‘the most momentous in German history.’
East Germans have learned to cope with the constant barrage of party exhortations assaulting the eyes and ears much as Americans are able partially to tune out offensive advertising. But in these weeks leading up to the party’s mammoth birthday party, there are some things they cannot overlook.
There is the 1,100-ft. television tower in East Berlin – the second tallest in Europe, after Moscow’s TV shaft. In an ironic twist, when the East Berlin tower opens on the eve of the anniversary, East Germans sitting in its revolving restaurant will be able to gaze for the first time since the Wall at West Berlin spread out below.
The State fruit and vegetable factory in Golssen has informed its customers that ‘a ready-made potato salad has been created in honour of the twentieth anniversary of the German Democratic Republic.’ Were this anywhere else, one might have thought it witty.
Stationery stores are being flooded with greetings cards congratulating the recipient on the twentieth anniversary. Women’s fashion stores from Rostock to Dresden are decorated with sprays of plastic red roses, a gold-lettered sign wishing “Roses for the Republic” and a picture of a benevolently smiling Walter Ulbricht. Artfully draped between them are brassieres, slips and panties in delicate pastel hues.
In many ways the anniversary is an amazing one. Most East Germans, who looked on as their Soviet zone of occupation was converted into the other German State, had little confidence in its ability to survive. They lived within the gravitational pull of West Germany with its industrial strength and American support.
A visitor to East Germany this month finds that East Germans still consider West Germany’s high standard of living to be its prime attraction. But they also believe they will soon come close to the same level. Their country has the highest standard of living of any Communist country (leading one Scandinavian to observer acidly that the Germans can make any system work).
While 10 years ago East Germans openly admired many aspects of liberal democracy in West Germany, today they vehemently condemn Chancellor Kiesinger for his Nazi past and the Social Democrats for having “sold out their principles.” They criticize the judicial and educational systems for facing towards the past.
An East German acquaintance in Leipzig explained the widespread antipathy toward West Germany. “For years, West Germany presented itself to us as a social and political model, and we accepted it without question. We were still clearing away rubble and buying butter on ration stamps, when West Germans were taking home refrigerators and cars.
“The building of the wall was a turning point. It meant the end of our wistful gazing toward West Germany. Now we have achieved something economically and can talk about our vacations in Hungary and on the Black Sea, when our relatives visiting us from West Germany try to impress us with their latest vacation in Spain.
“But don’t let this automatic aversion on our part to everything West German mislead you. To a degree, it’s a defence mechanism put up to bring us back to reality, and that means making the best of life here.”
East Germans to celebrate by Leslie Colitt was published in the Observer on 28 September 1969
