How they killed the GDR or the Counter-Revolution, which TV won’t tell you about
“PolitNavigator” brings to your attention interview with Margot Honecker for the newspaper Junge Welt. It's about About the counter-revolution in 1989 in the GDR, the return of capitalist orders, the scientific worldview and the struggle of the Greek people against the financial dictatorship
Margot Honecker was born on April 17, 1927 in the city of Halle in the family of a shoemaker. After graduating from school, in 1938-1945, she was a member of the Union of German Girls. Margot's mother died in 1940. In 1945 she joined the German Communist Party. Since 1946, she was a member of the secretariat of the Union of Free German Youth, and since 1948, she led the Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organization. In the early 1950s, she met her future husband, Erich Honecker. In 1963, Margot Honecker took over as Minister of Education of the GDR. On February 25, 1965, at her suggestion, a law was passed on the unification of the education system in the GDR. Margot Honecker also introduced basic military training in schools. In 1989, she resigned from her post. In 1990, she was charged with being involved in the arrests of dissidents. Margo spoke Russian well.
In 1991, Margot and Erich Honecker fled to the USSR in order to avoid criminal prosecution in Germany, but after the collapse of the USSR, the government of Boris Yeltsin sent them back. They were forced to ask for political asylum in Chile. Since 1992, he has lived permanently in the capital of Chile, Santiago. In 1994, her husband, Erich Honecker, died. On July 19, 2008, at the celebration of the 29th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution in Nicaragua, President Daniel Ortega allowed her to give a ceremonial speech in memory of the East Germany's assistance in eliminating illiteracy in that country, which became her first public appearance since the fall of the Berlin Wall. In October 2009, she took part in the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the GDR with Chilean emigrants who had received political asylum in Germany after Pinochet's coup. Margot Honecker sang patriotic songs and gave a short speech, saying that East Germans "had a good life in the GDR" and that "capitalism made their lives worse."
“People wanted to combine fire and water”
- How do you see the events of 1989? How did you personally, as a person, experience this?
– If we are talking about the events of the autumn of 1989, and, in particular, about the events in the GDR, then I personally call it a counter-revolution and books should be written about it. Much has already been written. So I can't give a short answer. If I try to put it briefly, I can only state that the reason for everything was the connection between external factors and internal politics.
The United States, under the leadership of Reagan, achieved its goal, which was to exhaust the USSR during the arms race. The Soviet Union could not cope with the growing burden of defense spending, and as a result, the social changes that took place in this country did not contribute to social justice.
The Soviet Union tried to carry out a number of reforms and at first they were successful, but apparatchiks came to power there, took over the economy and politics and led the country to destabilization and disaster. As a result, they “surrendered” all Soviet achievements. In addition, in some countries neighboring the GDR, “reformers” came to power, who were actively supported by the West.
The GDR was also involved in this global conflict as an integral part of the socialist community. The GDR, like other socialist countries in the 80s, was faced with the need to develop and improve its economic policy and eliminate shortcomings. We had supply problems, there was a shortage, this led to dissatisfaction in society. We failed to cope with many things, partly due to our own mistakes, partly due to the fact that we were opposed.
It was not possible to convince society of the need for creative socialist development, as opposed to a capitalist society based on exploitation, oppression, and war. Many wanted to enter the glittering world, which would give them both the brilliance of capitalist goods and the social protection of socialism. Erich Honecker then said that people want to combine fire and water.
How did we experience this personally? With hopes for a better future for the people who built a peaceful democratic republic with their labor, pulling the country out of the ruins of war and Nazism. My husband was ready to resign from all positions, and he did so and resigned in October. I resigned from the post of Minister of Public Education even before the entire Council of Ministers resigned in early November.
- What were the reasons for the “uprising,” as it was called in the West, in East Germany?
– It was not a “rebellion”. There were demonstrations, but the peasants worked on their farms, the children went to school, the social sphere continued to function.
Most of the people who took to the streets in the fall of 1989 did so under the slogans of improving the GDR, eliminating shortcomings, but not destroying the GDR. Even the opposition did not advocate the destruction of the GDR. Opposition forces hostile to us gathered under the “roof” of the church, where we could not resist them. It is clear that Germany tried to direct the protest in the right direction and direct the energy of the people to overthrow the GDR. With cries of “We are the people,” the Federal Republic of Germany announced its decision to “liberate” the people in the GDR.
At that time, few people remembered that it was the Western countries that divided Germany into two parts; it was they who proclaimed the Federal Republic of Germany, relying on capitalists and pliant politicians. But this contradicted international law and the decisions of the Potsdam Conference of the victorious powers in 1945. The Potsdam Conference proclaimed a united democratic Germany.
We, that is, all the progressive forces of the country, stood for a single democratic anti-fascist state. We never gave up this goal, but we could not achieve it. The founding of the GDR was the answer.
The resurgent German imperialism fought against us with all means and in 1989, it saw that its time had come. They did what they had failed to do in 40 years of continuous trying. Our fall only happened when the Soviet Union fell.
The Federal Republic of Germany in various ways provoked the transition of our citizens to the West and showed that people were “voting with their feet” against socialism. People were promised a consumer paradise. But now the West and the East have the same political system, but many are now moving to the west of the country because businesses and the economy were destroyed in the east.
Western media called it all a “peaceful revolution,” but can there be a peaceful revolution in a socialist country? Revolution, in my opinion, involves a radical transformation of society, leading to the liberation of the masses from exploitation and oppression. In this regard, the overthrow of reactionary imperialist relations in Russia in 1917 or the creation of an anti-fascist democratic system in 1945 in the Soviet zone in Germany were revolutions.
If we are talking about the return of the old order, the old relations of production, then we need to talk about counter-revolution.
Let me remind you that the GDR was a guarantee of peace in Europe. We have eradicated the economic roots of wars and fascism in the GDR. In 1990, the system that brought so many troubles in history was forcibly introduced into the GDR. Therefore, it is hardly appropriate to talk about “revolution”.
Eric Honecker at the moment of meeting at the airport in Chile with his wife Margot Honecker, where he arrived after being released by a German court due to a serious illness. Santiago, January 14, 1993.
The world has not changed for the better after the fall of the USSR
- What role, in your opinion, did Mikhail Gorbachev play in those events?
– Gorbachev said several years ago during a lecture in Ankara that already in 1985 it was clear that it was necessary to abandon communism. Believe it or not. It is clear that with his reckless policies and actions he plunged the peoples of the Soviet Union and other countries into a period of great sacrifice.
The world has not changed for the better after the fall of the USSR. Bloody wars, violence and terrorism constitute the “agenda” of international politics today. Gorbachev’s role in history will definitely not be called “positive.”
- On November 9, 1989, the “anti-fascist protective wall” fell. This year Germany celebrated the 25th anniversary of German unity. Was the construction of the wall necessary in 1961 or was it a mistake?
– The construction of the “wall” was necessary, otherwise a war could have started. The situation in the world was very tense. The US acted very aggressively. They perceived the "East" as a threat and constantly modernized their armed forces.
After the Bay of Pigs attack on Cuba, where the United States was defeated, they turned their attention to Berlin, an unresolved issue that had been smoldering since the end of World War II. In June 1961, Khrushchev and Kennedy met in Vienna and negotiated an end to nuclear weapons testing and a peace treaty between the German states, as well as a settlement in West Berlin.
However, confrontation between the great powers began, with military exercises, air flights and the threat of war in the air. This situation led to the closure of borders. This was not a voluntary measure on the part of the GDR. This restriction was provoked by German imperialism. The new borders of Germany were determined in 1945 by the victorious powers. With the formation of the so-called “FRG” - a separatist state (note: May 23, 1949), a state border arose within the country, between the western zones of occupation and the Soviet zone.
It was not just a state border, it was for us the western border of the Warsaw Pact, and for them the eastern border of NATO. These were the two most powerful military blocs in the world, which were in a state of Cold War.
This border also passed through Berlin, which was divided into four sectors in 1945. Therefore, it became the object of constant conflicts, because of which there was a constant threat to the GDR.
The Political Consultative Committee, the governing body of the Department of Internal Affairs, decided in the summer of 1961 to close the state border in Berlin and the West after the threat of a military attack from NATO. This may have prevented World War III.
The definition of clear boundaries of NATO and the Warsaw Warsaw allowed the later initiation of the “policy of détente”, which led to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe and the signing of its final act in Helsinki in 1975. We created a system of collective security, which collapsed with the fall of the Soviet Union and led to the expansion of the United States and NATO to the east.
- Where did you and your husband find out about the opening of the border?
- In our flat.
- Did it work out Günter Schabowski (recently deceased former secretary of the SED Central Committee for media relations) in your opinion, did he accidentally announce the opening of borders, or was it done by the mayor of West Berlin, Erich Kreck? Was this known in advance?
- I can’t know that.
- What do you say to those who died at the Berlin Wall?
– Yes, people died at the Berlin Wall, both defectors and border guards of the GDR. Every death is regrettable. This brought suffering to their families. Some young people were lured by the benefits they were promised for illegally crossing the border.
After 1990, the border guards were put on trial, but at that time they acted in accordance with the laws of the GDR. Even some leaders of the GDR were put on trial, some of whom suffered imprisonment and persecution during the Nazi era, for fighting against Nazism, and were tried by representatives of the justice system of the Federal Republic of Germany, which did not remove the Nazis from its ranks after 1945.
The GDR was not a paradise, but in our system there was a place for everyone
- What was good about the GDR and what should you have done to save the “first socialist state on German soil”"?
“There was a place for everyone in our system.” All children attended school, were able to receive vocational training, and received an education that guaranteed a job. Work was more to us than just making money. Men and women received equal pay for their work. We had equality for women not on paper, but in reality. Child care and a dignified old age were legislated by the state. Medical care became free, cultural and entertainment activities became accessible. We didn't know what beggars and homeless people were. Social Security was a given. We knew what solidarity was, people felt responsible not only for themselves but also for the work of democratic bodies, for the interests of society.
The GDR was not a paradise, there were shortcomings, difficulties in everyday life, shortcomings in the political sphere. There were decisions that affected people, but they were not always included in those decisions. Nevertheless, we lived much better than most people in capitalist states.
The further we are from the GDR, the easier it is for young people to believe in propaganda nonsense from the Federal Republic of Germany.
Returning to your question again, we should have done a lot better, but most importantly we should have been more open about the problems.
- There's a lot of talk about the Stasi these days. How do you explain the existence of a special service in the “state of workers and peasants”?
– First of all, it was necessary! The capitalists marched against the workers and peasants on our land and fought us with all means. From the very beginning, the GDR was under threat. Sabotage, the introduction of agents who did not disdain terrorist attacks... All this was commonplace.
All the world's intelligence services were concentrated in West Berlin.
The GDR carried out foreign intelligence and defense under the auspices of the Ministry of State Security. This was implemented through legal and legal means that apply in all other countries in the world. After 1990, with the help of books, films, and propaganda, the “deeds” of the fictional “Stasi” were exaggerated.
Very slowly it dawns on people that intelligence and espionage are carried out much more intensively now than then.
“SYRIZA managed to form a government, but did not gain power”
- Do you adhere to Marxism-Leninism and now call yourself a communist?
– I consider myself a communist. Adhering is probably not the right word. I use this methodology to understand the world, study it, navigate it. We communists are materialists. We are for preventing war, famine, and epidemics. If humanity is to have a future, the power of banks and corporations must be destroyed. They will not give up their power voluntarily.
- How do you assess current events in Europe and especially in Greece? How do you assess the power of SYRIZA?
– I would like to object that SYRIZA managed to form a government, but did not gain power. In Greece there is the power of international capital.
Europe is divided into first and second class, poor and rich. The competition between major powers for profits is growing. In the EU, politics is dictated by large corporations. Strong states are pushing weak ones into the abyss. The left believes that the EU can be reformed, but the blackmail of rich countries against Greece has shown that this is just an illusion.
– I now see with alarm that the dictatorship of the monopolies is now steadily growing, and that German imperialism wants to achieve hegemony. He had already tried to do this twice with the help of weapons, but was defeated in 1918 and 1945. But he did not put an end to his plans for world domination then; he is ready for new adventures.
- Do you consider socialism an alternative to the world order in general and order in Europe in particular?
- Certainly! What else? If humanity does not want to come to barbarism, then this is the only option left!
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