By Gunnar Schupelius
Those who were politically persecuted by the SED regime have fallen into oblivion. Gunnar Schupelius believes that the victim’s pension is not enough to compensate them appropriately.
Around 400,000 people were politically persecuted in the GDR, as the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) wanted. Those persecuted were deprived of their rights, imprisoned or sent to psychiatric hospitals simply because they stood up for freedom and against the dictatorship. Young dissidents disappeared into re-education institutions, the so-called “Jugendwerkhöfe”. This nightmare only ended with the fall of the regime in 1989.
Many of those affected were unable to gain a foothold again and are therefore not only in a bad situation mentally, but also economically. This is the result of a current study by the Berlin Institute for Social Research GmbH (BIS).
Accordingly, the victims of the SED dictatorship have on average a lower income (1418 euros) than the population as a whole (1621 euros). The calculation refers exclusively to Berlin. In Brandenburg, a study by the state commissioner for dealing with the consequences of communist dictatorship in 2020 showed that almost every second person affected by SED injustice living there has a household income of less than 1000 euros per month.
In order to avert the worst, the GDR victim’s pension has been paid out since 1992, and since 2019 it has been 330 euros per month per person. Those who have been imprisoned for at least 90 days and have very little income are eligible.
Since 2019, victims of GDR youth work centers and special children’s homes have also been able to apply for a victim’s pension. But the process is difficult because the evidence is often incomplete. At the end of 2021, around 33,000 people nationwide received the victim’s pension.
In contrast to the victims, the perpetrators are surprisingly well off, even in old age. Those who were responsible for political persecution in the apparatus of the SED or the State Security (Stasi) enjoyed particularly high salaries. Their pension entitlements were fully credited after reunification. After reunification, the Bundestag initially capped their salaries with an average pension, but the Federal Constitutional Court overturned the decision. As a result, the GDR officials even received a hefty back payment. Minister of Education Margot Honecker, for example, who took the children away from those who were politically persecuted, received 45,000 Deutschmarks (22,500 euros) in their account.
It’s that unfair. Those who swam up then stayed up. And whoever got under the wheels is still down.
The victims of the second German dictatorship are already forgotten while they are still alive. The majority in the country has finished with history. But for those who were hit then, it’s never over for them.
Is Gunnar Schupelius right? Call: 030/2591 73153, or email: [email protected]