Douglas

Let’s not be too cut-and-dried here. I went to East Germany twice- in 1979 or thereabouts and in late 1988. I made friends there the first time, and was visiting them the second time. Both times I was in the company of a friend who was born there but who escaped on the handlebars of his mother’s bike when he was about 8 years old, when his father was jailed as an “exploiter of the working class” (he ran a factory making printing machinery). He became a professor of marketing in London, so no Ostalgia there.

My experience was that yes, there was a considerable lack of freedom. No, most people couldn’t easily travel to the West. No, you couldn’t say what you wanted; yes, people spied on each other. The upside (and there was an upside for many people) was, as Seamus Milne says, “full employment, social equality, cheap housing, transport and culture, one of the best childcare systems in the world, and greater freedom in the workplace than most employees enjoy in today’s Germany”. I haven’t read the article, and I think I’d query the last point, but I would add health care as another plus point. I remember talking to a girl from Jena university who pointed out that if you were poor in the West you couldn’t travel either, even if they let you… The interesting thing is that on my last visit, about ten years ago, at least two of the couples I’d met earlier had serious reservations about the “instant reunification” of the two Germanies. What they’d hoped for was a more gentle transition over a few years or so, via a Scandinavian-style social democracy.

What they got was, as for many in the East, a dreadful shock. Sure, they were suddenly allowed to do what they wanted, say what they wanted- start their own businesses, travel, etc. The fact is most of them were psychologically unsuited to do any of those things. What they had had was security- a nanny-like, oppressive security, it’s true, but they didn’t need to worry about losing their jobs, their houses, etc. (A bit like Spain after Franco, in fact…). But now all the rich, smart, Western-educated elite came over and bought up land, houses, companies- everything the Treuhand could sell, it sold. They’d exchanged slavery to the state for slavery to the (external) private sector. My friend was offered his father’s old home in Germany for just a few thousand marks. To his credit, he didn’t take it, because he discovered that it was turned into flats after the war, and six families would have to be evicted if he did.

So when people say “things were better under Communism” remember that for many people- especially the poor- many things were no worse. Most people adapt to the system they have. Do we seriously believe every Frenchman was a member of the maquis during the war? A large proportion of Germans were pretty much unconcerned who ran the country in the 30s. The majority of Spaniards carried on under Franco, and their lives didn’t change radically after his death. A surprising number of Cubans seem to be more or less content under Castro- perhaps they too are apprehensive about the American Dream-type alternative?

As the new generations come through, the East/West division will fade away- but it’s going to need a couple of generations- not helped by the fact that, as I said, at least in business the Wessies often treat the Ossies with contempt, as a source for cheap labour without immigration problems… This is no defence of the old system, but nor is the new one faultless. And at least we can criticise…