From the BZ editorial team
What’s going on in the east? Almost one in three (31.1 percent) supports the “demand for a leader who rules Germany with a strong hand for the benefit of all”. 14 percent are even firmly convinced of it!
This was the result of a survey conducted by the Else Frenkel Brunswik Institute at the University of Leipzig among 3,546 East Germans, which was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education. And the other results are disturbing.
▶︎ 51.2 percent are of the opinion that “Germany now needs a strong party that embodies the national community as a whole”.
▶︎ 30.7 percent agree that “in the national interest, under certain circumstances, a dictatorship is the better form of government.”
▶︎ 21 percent say: “Without the extermination of the Jews one would regard Hitler as a great statesman”.
▶︎ 19.9 percent see “the crimes of National Socialism in historiography far exaggerated”.
▶︎ 31.6 percent – almost every third! – agrees with the statement: “Actually, the Germans are naturally superior to other peoples.”
A majority of respondents reject foreigners! So explained…
▶︎ 69.5 percentthat “foreigners only come here to take advantage of our welfare state.”
▶︎ 61.4 percentthat “the Federal Republic is being invaded to a dangerous degree by the many foreigners”.
▶︎ 47.4 percentthat “Muslims should be forbidden to immigrate to Germany”.
Prof. Dr. Oliver Decker from the University of Leipzig supervised the study Photo: Annette Riedl/dpa
Despite all of these values, 90.6 percent think “democracy as an idea” is very good. However, only 42.6 percent are satisfied “with the way it works in the Federal Republic” because “you have no influence on what the government does anyway” (77.4 percent).
The study: “Many East Germans want strong leadership to which they submit and in whose strength they can participate through identification.” A certain longing for the GDR also fits in with this. 57.8 percent of those surveyed feel “as citizens of the former GDR”, as “East Germans” (75.1 percent), as “citizens of the FRG” (78.3 percent), as “Germans” (96.1 percent) .
Almost one in four (23.6 percent) sees themselves as the losers of the unit, not even half (45.6 percent) as the winners. The study: “This review of the GDR is not least related to the desire for a one-party dictatorship, as illustrated by the high level of support for the demand for a single strong party.”
Director of Studies Prof. Dr. Oliver Decker (55): “Looking back, the respondents are very satisfied with their life in the GDR.”
And further: “Our study shows that many people in the East German states no longer want democratic participation and the protection of basic democratic rights, but rather the apparent security of authoritarian statehood.”
This is how the study was created
The survey took place between May and July 2022 in all five eastern German states and East Berlin. Oral interviews were conducted, for which part had to be filled out in writing by the interviewees on their own “to prevent answers in the sense of social desirability”. The respondents were on average 50 years old and mostly grew up in East Germany (91 percent). For 72 percent, the income was between 1,000 and 3,000 euros. More than one in four (28 percent) has a high school diploma or a university degree. 4.8 percent of the participants were unemployed or on short-time work. The ratio of men and women surveyed was almost the same at 48.3 to 51.6 percent (plus three diverse).