NO FUTURE EDITED BY WITHOUT MEMORY BÄRBEL FÖRSTER or, archives require a present

TWENTY-YEAR ARCHIVES DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM OF THE ROSA-LUXEMBURG-STIFTUNG TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Dagmar Enkelmann 4 Editorial Florian Weis 6 The Value of Breathing Deeply Evelin Wittich 10 Founding Moments

CREATORS OF MEMORY PARTY PARLIAMENT FOUNDATION MOVEMENT INDIVIDUAL

Bernd Riexinger 16 Memory Thomas Händel 20 Learning from History Jochen Weichold 24 In the Footsteps of Die Linke’s Council of Elders Claudia Gohde 27 On Archiving in Die Linke’s Party Central Office Petra Pau 30 My Blue Notebook Sahra Wagenknecht 32 Homesick for the Future Dietmar Bartsch 36 On Elation and Remaining Grounded Margret Geitner 40 Who Writes History? Jan Korte 43 Die Linke’s Memory Work in Parliament: “Parliamentary File Creators?” Bernd Hüttner 47 Preserving Movements Peter Delis 51 Specific Features of the Tradition of the German Peace Union Gregor Gysi 54 Archives and Personal Testimonials Friedrich Burschel 56 Your Own History Wolfgang Gehrcke 63 Looking Back Without Anger

USERS OF MEMORY POLITICS SCIENCE JOURNALISM

Tom Strohschneider 70 A Question of Transmission Alex Demirovic´ 74 Archives and Politics Albert Scharenberg 77 Wresting History from the Grips of Conformism Jörn Schütrumpf 81 Archives Against Historical Amnesia Marga Voigt 84 “Left-Wing Memory” in Letters: Perspectives of History? CUSTODIANS OF MEMORY DUTIES CHALLENGES DEMANDS

Andrey K. Sorokin 90 The 20th Century: Learning from History Anja Kruke and Andreas Marquet 93 The Archives of Collective Memory Uwe Michel 97 Knowledge of the Future Andreas Steigmeier and Tobias Wildi 99 A Digital Memory? Christian Koller and Urs Kälin 103 Trust is Good – and Essential Bärbel Förster 107 Ethical, Responsible, Professional, and Comprehensive

FRAGMENTS OF MEMORY STORIES FROM A 20-YEAR PERIOD

Jochen Weichold und Christine Gohsmann 114 Files Sitting on the Shelves of Strangers? Archival Work in South Africa Only a “Thin Booklet” “But Everything is Online!” The Autumn Meetings In Contrast to the Archives of King Solomon Detailed Forensic Work “Archives Aren’t Profitable, But They Do Pay Off!” A Last-Minute Visit

123 INDEX OF AUTHORS

processes, about political actors, and their thoughts and decisions. The documents in the files, the pictures, the sound and video recordings preserve what has been said and written as testimonies to certain historical periods. They are a prerequisite for future EDITORIAL DAGMAR ENKELMANN generations to be able to authentically en- gage with this period of time, ask new ques- tions, and perhaps find surprising answers Dear Readers! and other assessments. The Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung archive has existed for 20 years, and it is no secret that our Archives for Democratic Socialism is something special. It is one—perhaps even the—memory of leftist movements, social- ist ideas, left-wing party-political develop- ments, and democratic action since 1989. And yet our archive is only as good as we When I think about our Archives for Demo- make it. cratic Socialism, this quote from Peter Weiss Of course, sifting through personal docu- comes to mind: “Speaking, reading, and ments after an active political life and en- writing are in flux over the course of time. trusting them to an archive requires effort Sentences beget their opposites, questions and can in some instances even be painful; beget answers, answers beget new ques- it is not an easy decision to make. But let tions. Claims are revoked, what has been us be honest: when held in private owner- revoked is subject to renewed evaluation. ship, documents are often stored in boxes The writer and reader are in motion, they are in a basement or on the floor, of course al- always subject to change.”1 ways with the intention of taking good care Archives provide generations to come with of them, of one day looking through them, information about specific periods of time, perhaps writing a book, or considering pro- about views and insights, about events and fessional archiving at a later date.

4 INTRODUCTION

It is up to us to keep our history and that of collective memory of the left. The authors Die Linke and its predecessors—be it the So- describe what they associate with left-wing cialist Unity Party of Germany (SED)/ Party memory from the perspective of the writers of Democratic Socialism (PDS), Die Linke. and readers, as well as why they consider PDS, or Labour and Justice – The Electoral such memory necessary, what it consists of, Alternative (WASG)—authentic and alive whom or what it serves, and what demands in historical memory. But we are not start- it must meet. For the most part, these are ing from scratch. Twenty years of archival personal views and assessments. I would work have made numerous documents on like to thank all those involved. the origin and development of our party and I wish you a thought-provoking read! leftist movements available, as well as on the effect of left-wing forces on democratic Yours, Dagmar Enkelmann decision-making processes. The archive also includes documents on individuals that were part of these developments and processes. Scholars, students, and journal- ists already actively use our archives. Every archive is part of the collective memory of society as a whole, including our Archives for Democratic Socialism. We have chosen to seize the archive’s 20th anniversary as an opportunity to take stock and formulate new goals. This includes presenting its various functions as the memory of the party, the memory of the RLS, the memory of parlia- mentary work, the memory of social move- ments, and the memory of political figures, in addition to encouraging reflection and participation. This publication should help you recognize the value of your own docu- 1 Weiss, Peter, „Laokoon oder Über die Grenzen der Sprache“, In Gegen- ments and motivate you to add them to the sätzen denken: Ein Lesebuch, Frankfurt am Main: 1986, p. 217.

5 of which the RLS is a part; a groundswell in the same way the landmark ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court in 1986 formed a central pillar of the political institute. It is no coincidence that the party affiliated with the RLS was called the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS). It was not until the Histor- ical Centre for Democratic Socialism was founded in January 2017 that the direct ref- erence to democratic socialism was taken up again clearly in organizational policy. This

FLORIAN WEIS new department brought the archive and li- brary department together with a number of other colleagues who had worked within the The Value of Breathing Deeply RLS on Rosa Luxemburg and her left-wing socialist environment, as well as on vari- 20 Years of the Archives for ous historical topics. The name of the new Democratic Socialism department was jointly proposed by the employees and approved by the executive board. The name consciously refers both to the archive’s twenty years of work and to the basic political tenets of the RLS. On the other hand, the name “Archives for Democratic Socialism” was intended to make clear that the times when certain left-wing groups or parties could claim to be the sole represent- atives of a tendency should have been over by 1999. Democratic socialist movements, organizations, and people associated with them have a diverse traditional lineage; it As of autumn 2019, the Rosa-Luxem- would be presumptuous to claim only one burg-Stiftung (RLS) had existed for 29 years, site for them, both politically and in archival initially as an association for critical social records. This starting point of the Archives analysis and political education, and since for Democratic Socialism points far beyond 1999 under this main name.1 The RLS began the immediate archival work to the orienta- receiving public funding in 1999, and the tion of the entire RLS; to a plural left, whose Archives for Democratic Socialism (ADS) most important reference point is the party began its work. The name itself is striking Die Linke, but which also includes many and programmatic for two reasons. First, for other actors and figures. This diversity is in- many years it was the only explicit reference creasingly reflected in the areas of collection that the various structural units of the RLS of the RLS archive, which now also include had to the democratic-socialist groundswell the records of organizations, groups, and in-

6 INTRODUCTION

dividuals who come from the West German includes remembering the victims of Stalin- or, since 1990, the pan-German social left. ist rule. On the other hand, it was necessary To this end, our archive has been modified to re-formulate a socialist approach, even over the years to include materials from a after the failure of Soviet-style socialism and broader time period: the archive collections under the conditions of the supposed lasting for Die Linke, or previously the PDS and later success of a liberal and capitalist order in the the Labour and Social Justice – The Electoral 1990s. The RLS of today owes much to this Alternative (WASG), begin in December foresight and the two-pronged approach re- 1989 with the transition from the Socialist quired to develop it. Unity Party of Germany (SED) to the SED- When the RLS came into existence in 1990, PDS to the PDS. The RLS was never tasked nobody was certain that socialism would with collecting the holdings of the SED; in- again become democratic and exciting in stead these are stored and accessible in the the foreseeable future, rather than remain- Foundation Archive of Political Parties and ing historically burdened and old-fashioned. Mass Organisations of the GDR (SAPMO) in When the RLS archive was founded in 1999, the Federal Archives.2 militant anticommunism and the bour- For the RLS and its archive, the transition geois-capitalist exuberance of victory had from the SED to the PDS also serves as a po- lost some of its appeal, but a renaissance of litical starting point. That the PDS has roots democratic-socialist thinking still seemed in the SED cannot and should not be denied, inconceivable at the time. The defeat of the but the PDS and later Die Linke represent PDS in the 2002 federal elections also had a a break with Stalinism and an authoritarian direct impact on the archive’s financial situ- state-socialist perspective. The documents ation, since it received funding from the Ad- held in the collections of the RLS archives ministration of the German Bundestag—as unmistakably reflect this break, for example did the archives of all the political founda- in the minutes and other materials from the tions until 2008. Since then, the archive’s work of the PDS Federal Executive Board work has been financed by the Federal Min- during the period from December 1989 to istry of the Interior’s global funds for political January 1993, when Gregor Gysi was party foundations. What was debatable above all chairman.3 Ever since the RLS was founded, was whether a democratic-socialist party the debate on state socialism has been the- could be permanently established in the matized extensively in numerous publica- Federal Republic of Germany. The archival tions and events.4 In this context, the debate work of the RLS nonetheless continued, al- on Stalinism, which represents a reductive beit under considerably more difficult condi- yet conceptually justifiable placeholder for tions in terms of personnel and finances, so the politics of the time, was of central im- that from 2005 onwards, with the re-entry in portance for both the RLS and the PDS. On 2007 of what would later become Die Linke, the one hand, it was a necessary, self-crit- the RLS and its archive, now also with a col- ical, and painful examination of why the lection area for the WASG, could secure its socialist movement had in many cases de- future for the long run. veloped in an undemocratic, even deeply Deep breathing is an essential part of work- anti-democratic manner, which necessarily ing in archives in general and of working

7 in the RLS archive in particular; it includes As a publicly funded but non-governmental avoiding getting caught up in trends and institution, the RLS archive is guided by the fashions, and enduring (often in the literal principles of the rule of law and transpar- sense) being considered dusty and boring. ency. At the same time, our archive is com- Perseverance and the capacity to breathe mitted to the concerns of those who place deeply while sorting through the archives a great deal of trust in us by making their make it possible to process collections materials available to us. We consider the and thus also views and topics that will archival work of the RLS to be independent one day become relevant again, which of- in two respects: it is conducted independent ten happens. In no way does this exclude of state or governmental action, because necessary modernizations, such as those our archive serves society’s surging inter- that our archive and the RLS as a whole will est in democratic-socialist politics. A great have to undergo—neither in terms of tech- strength of the federalism that is guaranteed nological changes in the basis and means by the German Constitution and the political of our work (a key term in this regard is tradition of the Federal Republic of Germany digital long-term archiving), nor in terms of is that archives remain publicly accessible the requirements of users. In this respect, to many sectors of society, not just on a na- archival work in the RLS is also being mod- tional state. The archive of the RLS is also in- ernized considerably without compromis- dependent because it makes its documents ing its essential qualities of permanence, available to the public and thereby aims to thoroughness, and systematicity. In the facilitate serious research. Many dedicated best possible sense, the archival work rep- archivists have helped build up and shape resents a stubborn deceleration in phases our archive over the past 20 years. Spe- of constant overheating and over-acceler- cial thanks are due to Jochen Weichold, a ation, a renunciation of hectic adjustments founding member of the RLS, temporary to fast-moving trends and, above all, a member of the executive board, and head solid foundation for scientific work. As an of the archive and library department until historian this is something I have come to 2013, as well as Christine Gohsmann, who develop a particular appreciation for. Of has helped to build up the ADS since 1999 course, a single source does not change and then led it from 2013 to 2016. The mem- an overall picture; the appearance of a new bers of the executive board and especially document does not necessarily “rewrite its executive committee in 1999, Evelin Wit- history”, as journalists like to sensationally tich, Lutz Brangsch, and Michael Brie also declare, because documents constitute deserve an honourable mention, since they only one part of an overall view. But with- made it possible to create the archive struc- out them, historical work and our capacity ture. to explain current developments would be We consider this archival work to be among primarily and overly defined by the realm our seven essential functions.5 It is precisely of the purely subjective. Although archives this task, which may seem unimpressive to may appear unspectacular, they form a some, that clearly illustrates why political very tough line of defence against fake institutes such as the RLS are established news and “alternative facts”. for the long term and why they seek to

8 INTRODUCTION

and need to work beyond the politics and commotion of everyday life. Bearing this in mind, 20 years is not a long time for an ar- chive. The foundations have been laid and there is more than enough work to be done in the years ahead. In 2020, the Rosa-Lux- emburg-Stiftung moved most of its organ- izational units and staff to its new domicile on the Pariser Kommune Straße in the Berlin district of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg. This means that in future the archive will also become even more visible to those who are interested in the RLS and increasingly in a democratic-socialist perspective, and who should be familiar with its foundations and sources.

1 On this, see “Ich lebe am fröhlichsten im Sturm”. 25 Jahre Rosa-Lu- xemburg-Stiftung: Gesellschaftsanalyse und politische Bildung, edited by Enkelmann, Dagmar and Weis, Florian: Hamburg, 2015. 2 See the collec- tion overview of the Federal Archives and the BStU Archives, accessed 29 October 2019, at: www.argus.bstu.bundesarchiv.de/Bestaendeuebersicht/ index.htm?kid=2A13F- C86229C4892A97DC68C846C5A13. 3 See ADS, collection “Parteivorstand der PDS – Die Ära Gysi (1989 bis 1993)”. 4 See, for example, Nakath, Detlef, “Antistalinismus, Zeitgeschichte und Pluralität”, Ich lebe am fröhlichsten im Sturm, edited by Enkelmann and Weis, 2015, p. 42; Schütrumpf, Jörn, “Den Augiasstall ausmisten – Wilfriede Otto”, ibid., p. 178; Vietze, Heinz, “Bruch mit der Schönfärberei – Michael Schumann”, ibid, p. 179. 5 Das politische Selbstverständnis der Stiftung und ihre Funktionen, 2018, p. 6: “Our tasks can be roughly summarized in seven points (which are usually also named in the grant decisions): critical social analysis, political education, political advice and support, international dialogue work, net- working and partner work, scholarships for gifted individuals, and archival work. A business or organization will usually dedicate itself to performing one or two of these tasks. One of the special features of the RLS is that it brings these components together; no other organization in the fields of political education, development cooperation, or in scholarships for studies combines all of these tasks—only the political foundations.” [Organization Manual of the RLS]

9 velopments was discussed and determined. Both general assemblies led to inspiratio- nal discussions that led to decisions being made regarding the name of the foundation, among other things. On 25 June, the name Rosa Luxemburg was chosen. There was a project group called Building the RLS, which was composed of various working groups dedicated to specific topics, including political education work, social analysis in the alternative future commis- EVELIN WITTICH sion, work abroad, work in the West, scho- larships, the transfer of the magazine Utopie kreativ to the RLS, and also the establish- Founding Moments ment of an archive and a library. The results of the deliberations from all these working Memories from contexts had to be brought together, discus- sed, and decided on in a transparent manner the founding of the Archives in the general assembly. for Democratic Socialism Jochen Weichold, founding member of the RLS, long-standing board member, and member of the executive committee, took responsibility for the development of the archive and library. We quickly defined precisely what components a prospective left-wing memory would need: the archi- ves of the PDS members of the German Bundestag, but also those of the last Volks- kammer (People’s Parliament) of the GDR, and the estates of important individuals The Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung’s archive who form part of the political left in all its was founded in 1999, which was a turbulent diversity. The archives of the institute itself year for the RLS as a whole. The content and would also be needed: those of the Asso- conceptual orientation of the RLS was soli- ciation for Critical Social Analysis and Poli- dified while all its structures were still being tical Education, which, as of 1999, became built, including the recruitment and hiring the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung Institute for of colleagues, and operations continued to Critical Social Analysis. The library’s col- grow rapidly throughout this process. The lection areas were intended to reflect the executive board met on a regular basis. Two fields of activity of the RLS and its regional general assemblies were held in the first half associations, which also includes literature of 1999—one on 26 February and one on on the RLS’s eponym. In addition to this, 25 June—in which the shape of future de- many book donations were received, espe-

10 INTRODUCTION

cially of GDR literature, but also entire pri- of PDS deputies of the final Volkskammer vate libraries—this posed quite a challenge, of the GDR. The establishment of the Rosa- which our colleagues managed to handle Luxemburg-Stiftung provoked considera- calmly. The general mood during this ex- ble public interest. There was a great need citing time was characterized by the joy of for information and the desire to exchange being involved in the development of this viewpoints, especially in the affiliated party foundation, of being able to contribute, and with its various structures. This also applied of breaking new ground with like-minded to the nascent archive. On 19 November people. Intense debates over differences of 1998, a meeting was conducted between opinion were an essential part of this. the Central Historical Commission and Building the archive was now a matter of the PDS Communication and Information acquiring eligible archival materials. This did Centre, in which the relationship between not happen on its own, since the members the historical archive of the PDS and the of Bundestag who were asked to provide Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung’s Archives for their documents sometimes had to be con- Democratic Socialism was discussed. How vinced that their files from their work in the should the archives of the state parliamen- Bundestag were important for a leftist me- tary groups be handled, or significant esta- mory and that this was the archive in which tes from district organizations? How should they belonged. The incoming archival mate- materials from the RLS archives be publis- rials were immediately examined to ascer- hed, how could the archivists’ professional tain how much space they would take up training be carried out and what new acqui- in metres, in order to comply with the legal sitions could be considered? conditions for subsidies. Jochen Weichold On 26 August 1998, a conference was made sure that we were constantly up to conducted involving all the regional bran- date on these requirements. Choosing the ches of the RLS. The conference became archive software was an important decision a main reference point for the RLS, and with long-term effects. Several products became known as the Potsdamer Konsens were tested until the decision was made in (Potsdam Consensus); in it, we decided on favour of AUGIAS-Archiv, which proved to fundamental questions of cooperation— be very useful for the needs of our archive. thematic focal points, division of labour, Once AUGIAS-Biblio was acquired for the shared information, and, of course, finan- library, the archival work began with prepa- ces. The archive and the library were also ring the first finding aids. As I recall, Jochen topics of discussion. This meeting, which Weichold had to explain what a finding aid was by no means free of conflict, formed was to every single committee in the RLS: the decisive basis for surviving even the the executive board, the management, the most difficult years with a sense of unity board of trustees, the Council of Regional and solidarity, such as those that followed Foundations, the different departments of 2002, when our affiliated party only had the RLS, the initial discussion groups, and two members in the Bundestag, which led working contexts beyond the RLS itself all to funding cuts for us. This process would needed clarification. The first finding aid that determine the atmosphere in the RLS for could be proudly presented took account years to come.

11 It now had to be made convincingly clear dually working materials were received from to the funding agency that we were in a the RLS’s different departments. Such is the position to build up the archive and were breadth of documentation that a history of therefore also eligible to apply for funding. the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung could one Discussions on this topic took place in Bonn day be written from this archive. In 1999, on 6 May 1999. The application to receive ten years had passed since the serious so- funding for the preparation and preservation cietal shifts of 1989, which the RLS natur- of contemporary archival materials was sub- ally thematized in its work, for example in mitted in May 1999, in order for the funds to the Herbststürme event. The developments be distributed in August, at the same time in Eastern Europe were also an important as the first general grants. A request for the topic, as were feminism and gender equa- release of funds had to be submitted to the lity, technology and society, and the study budget committee together with the gene- of Western marxists and social scientists. ral grants from the Federal Ministry of the Since the very beginning, the RLS has ex- Interior. amined the causes of the failure of actually Another topic was of course the proper existing socialism, with the role of culture as storage of the archives. When the first staff an indispensable component of education members were hired in August 1999, some playing a fundamental role in all of these of them sat at trestle tables they had brought projects. Several meetings were conduc- themselves until the office furniture was de- ted with cultural workers and artists who livered. One of the highlights of furnishing expressed an extraordinarily active interest the RLS was the delivery and installation in helping to establish the RLS. The archi- of the shelving system for the archive. We ving of cultural assets and artistic works and marvelled at the mobile shelving units and what the RLS could contribute to this was had the system of storing the archival do- also addressed. Although this was only pos- cuments explained to us. Now groups that sible to a limited extent, a few works found visited the archives were also able to gain a their way into the archive. vivid impression of the growing “left-wing Every generation desires to break new memory”. ground in terms of social development, no The Archives for Democratic Socialism is matter what the field—be it science, tech- also a repository of knowledge for the de- nology, education, or politics. However, velopment of left-wing political education this can only be successfully achieved if the work nationwide and the history of all de- experiences, mistakes, successes, and con- partments of the RLS: the project group flicts of previous generations are respect- (which later became the Institute for) Critical fully taken into account. Social Analysis, the scholarship department, Archives as “memory” and libraries as “re- the work abroad, and the various acts of co- positories of knowledge” are indispensable operation with social partners. Just like the for the creation of new knowledge. A lot of representatives, employees of the RLS also interesting information is still preserved in had to be convinced of the importance of archives and is waiting to be discovered. submitting their documents to the archive. Incidentally, this is only completely possible Plans for the files were drawn up and gra- during times of peace.

12 INTRODUCTION

The Archives for Democratic Socialism pro- vides both the German left and the Rosa-Lu- xemburg-Stiftung with the opportunity to bring their own reality and perspective into dialogue with historical experiences.

13 PARTY

PEOPLE

TWENTY-YEAR ARCHIVES OF THE ROSA-LUXEMBURG-STIFTUNG CREATORS MEMORY OF

PARTY

PARLIAMENT

FOUNDATION

MOVEMENT

PEOPLE still politically active. But what is perhaps more important is the fact that the youth centre still exists today. The left-wing mem- ory started out small, but the small left-wing struggles have ended in victories. Once a

victory is achieved, it is easy to forget that it was won. The political-historical memory also functions as a kind of DIY guide.

LONG LINES It was the Scout movement, of all things, that put me in touch with the broader his- tory of the left. At that time, the Bund der Pfadfinderinnen und Pfadfinder (German

BERND RIEXINGER Association of Guides and Scouts, BdP) was strongly influenced by young students Memory engaged in the movements and protests of 1968. We read Marx and many other classics together. Without these left-wing Scouts, I would have been less likely to come into contact with Marxist ideas while living in the Swabian province. Every gen- eration must re-evaluate what is actually worthy of remembrance and what will be passed on; this applies above all to political movements and their economies. I came into contact with the organized la- bour movement by way of the union and the former comrades from the Communist Party of Germany (Opposition) (KPO). Large left- Working-class children are not born with ac- wing organizations like the SPD, the Com- cess to books. There were no books in the munist Party of Germany (KPD), and their house I grew up in, but as a child, I quickly respective trade unions usually have their became a bookworm nonetheless. Anyone own history of organization. Which part of who grows up in a small Swabian village has the archives is opened and which writings limited access to left-wing history. Without are read is often a matter of dispute. These access to the experiences of others, we had disputes can be gleaned in the history of the to organize ourselves. First, we did this in KPO. In the 1920s, the KPO was the strong- the village, then in Weil der Stadt, where we est organized movement within the KPD. Its built a self-organized youth centre together. members included former KPD chairman Today, the memory of our youth activities Heinrich Brandler, and August Thalheimer, hardly extends beyond those of us who are one of the greatest communist theorists.

16 CREATORS OF MEMORY

Thalheimer had warned of the imminent ture, which is why it is so important for us to fascist takeover of power as early as 1928, develop a collective memory of the left in its and developed a theory of fascism that is still entirety. If a witness to a past event or time worth reading today. The KPO demanded period is dead, it is often only archives that early on that the KPD build a united front will be able to bring their thoughts back to against fascism. It consequently criticized life. the KPD’s disastrous social-fascism thesis as well as the (unsuccessful) building of the THE SECOND BREAK IN 1990 Revolutionary Union Opposition (RGO), its The neoliberal era began as early as the own trade unions (RGO), and fought against 1980s. The entire left was plunged into a the Stalinization of the KPD. History would crisis almost worldwide, and unions were have been much different if their line had also forced onto the defensive. The history prevailed. History can no longer be changed, of defeats needs to be recounted precisely but we can learn from the mistakes of our because history is usually told from the per- predecessors. Important figures of post-war spective of the victors. Those who fail to history, such as Wolfgang Abendroth, Willi learn from past mistakes will never make Bleicher, or Theodor Bergmann, were mem- progress. But even in the worst of times, bers of the KPO. there is always hope and resistance. What sounds like mere theory comes to The PDS emerged during the difficulties of life when you imagine the impression that the 1990s. Unions were still able to achieve physical anti-fascist resistance fighters some successes here and there, despite the made on young leftists in the 1960s and fact that they were shrinking nationwide. 1970s. My friend Theodor Bergmann, who Neoliberalism never ceased to be controver- died two years ago at the age of 101, was sial, even in its heyday. The PDS was a voice one of those people. National Socialism de- for the disenfranchised in the neoliberal stroyed much of the active memory of the experimental laboratory of East Germany. German left, along with its members and The peace movement experienced an enor- organizations. This made it all the more im- mous influx in the early 1980s and again in portant to have these old traditions told by the early 1990s as it mobilized against rear- Theodor Bergmann or Willi Bleicher, so as mament and war. In 1997, the trade unions not to have to start again from scratch. Even were able to win sick leave in an important for me, some of the debates of the 1920s struggle. Despite this, the deindustrializa- were brought back to life and our disagree- tion of entire regions, especially due to polit- ments thus (again) became part of a larger ical turmoil in the East, as well as the ration- history of the left. Especially as different alization, globalization, and restructuring of political tendencies came into conflict with the economy left a tremendous trail of social each other, it was important to shed light devastation in its wake in both the East and on these intermediate positions between the West. The unions continue to struggle social democracy and the Marxist-Leninist with restructuring the workplace to this day. tradition: for me, democracy and socialism But not everything has gone downhill: new belong together. It is not always clear which industries were successfully opened up traditions will become important again in fu- in the service sector, and the scope of ac-

17 tors in the union movement has expanded, existence of a left-wing party has the poten- including strikes in the retail sector, in civil tial to shift social discourse, as a glance at service, the education and health care sec- the current situation in Austria or Hungary tors, and even at Amazon; all of these have painfully demonstrates. It is important that developed new forms of strikes and have we all play a role in helping shape the social had successes in collective bargaining pro- debates about our past. Achievements such cesses. This wave of innovate strike actions as the welfare state, peace, or democracy has provided some glimmer of hope, just as are too easily taken for granted. But almost the anti-globalization movement did at the all of our social and democratic achieve- beginning of the 2000s. ments have been the result of grass-roots struggles. The conservatives in particular APPRECIATION would like all of this to be forgotten. OF COLLECTIVE MEMORY Rosa Luxemburg once argued that the LEARNING AND masses learn primarily in large movements. FIGHTING PARTY The protests against Hartz IV and Agenda Die Linke has been greatly rejuvenated in 2010 turned something that sounded recent years. Upheavals in the workplace old-fashioned into a reality. As a union mem- present great challenges for us and for the ber and later as a co-founder of WASG, I unions. While one part of society is be- took part in these huge social protests from coming more and more highly qualified, the very beginning. The devastating cuts to the other side is experiencing a continuing social programmes carried out by the SPD consolidation of precarious employment and The Greens under Chancellor Gerhard relationships and conditions. As chairman Schröder were met with immense resist- of Die Linke, I consider connective class ance, which enabled PDS and WASG to politics to be a matter of life and death. One unite and form Die Linke; as a result, there of the central tasks of left-wing politics is to has been a pan-German party to the left of counter the precarization, exclusion, and di- the SPD represented in the Bundestag since vision of the various groups of wage-earners 2005—something that previously had not with a praxis that connects their interests happened since 1933. That was an historic and thus promotes class consciousness. moment. However, this unification should Solidarity of the many against the rule of not cause us to forget the many different the few. It is important to take account sources and traditions of this party and its of the fact that today’s class of workers is members. Our memory is as diverse as our comprised of a higher percentage of female traditions. and migrant workers and is more precari- It is political parties and their various affili- ous than ever before. We should no longer ated organizations that bear and transmit fix our gaze on the classical industrial prole- the memory of social movements both past tariat, but instead must increasingly direct and present. They form part of the collective our attention to new occupational groups, memory of the entire left; their debates, their for example in the social and educational actions, and their experiences are a treasure sectors, in healthcare and nursing, in trade that we sometimes underestimate. The very and logistics. Climate change must be un-

18 CREATORS OF MEMORY

derstood as an existential class issue. Social as well as pilot projects involving organizing justice and climate protection are mutually and canvassing door to door in focal city dis- dependent. tricts are also starting to bear fruit. The goal is Being a part of an active organizing party to remain anchored in society; this is a cen- was and still is important to me. It makes me tral prerequisite for changing society. proud that Die Linke has established itself as Learning from history can help us answer a a strong coalition partner in almost all rele- great many of our questions. There is a long vant protest movements. This has helped in- and rich eco-socialist and anti-fascist tradi- tegrate the party into these movements and tion that movements for climate protection introduced parts of the movements and their and against the rise of the right can draw activists to the party. Thematic campaigns from.

19 In March 2004, we, the initiators, wrote in the call for the Initiative for Work and Social Justice: “The last few years, but especially the policies of the Social Democrat-led federal government in recent months have shown that the SPD has abandoned its prin- ciples. Contrary to its election promises of 1998 and 2002, which made it appear to be an alternative to the neoliberal policies of the previous governments, it has become the main actor in implementing the cuts to THOMAS HÄNDEL social services and in the redistribution of wealth from the bottom to the top. None of us expected that a party with such a rich so- Learning from History cial tradition would mutate in such a short time into a party that blindly supports the chancellor, whose current political goals negate almost everything that this party has represented for over a hundred years.” This might help the reader understand why we founded this initiative in 2004—an open alliance for the defence of our welfare state and for the just structuring of our social systems—and wrote a call that has gener- ated tens of thousands of responses, both nationally and internationally. The public ap- peared to have been waiting for it. As a result, the call we put out contributed significantly to the successes of the left throughout Germany. It was and is, as it An essential task of left-wing politics is to were, a “notepad” for the memory of the bring up the painful subject of social injus- left, but also for that of the SPD and, in the tices, and a sound memory is needed for future, will probably also serve as a notepad this. This is true for hard-won victories, as for the memory of The Greens. The initiative well as for mistakes and defeats. That is why culminated with the founding of the WASG archives, and especially the Archives for (Labour and Social Justice – The Electoral Democratic Socialism (ADS), are indispen- Alternative) in 2004, which, together with sable for the left. In addition to many impor- the PDS, founded Die Linke in 2007. That tant documents, this archive also contains was and is a success story. For the first time traces of the emergence of the West Ger- in recent German history, a party to the left of man left, which had been fragmented prior the SPD has been able to form and establish to the creation of the archive. itself nationwide. A western expansion of

20 CREATORS OF MEMORY

the PDS had been attempted several times lished itself above all as a socio-political cor- before, but was doomed to fail because of rection factor within the political landscape. the deep-seated anti-communist sentiment It has achieved a number of successes that in West Germany. The formation of a truly were unprecedented in the history of Ger- left-wing party was only made possible by many’s political parties. In order for it to the SPD’s departure from its own history continue to do so, however, a more offen- and its orientation towards the welfare sive line-up is necessary. The future of Die state. It is therefore safe to say that Die Linke Linke will be determined less by its human changed politics; neoliberalism’s threaten- resource policies than by whether it proves ing advance was stopped. Many no longer to lead popular opinion at the focal points of consider the privatization of public property, social conflict. the health care system, or pensions to be a Since 2010, however, the history of this cure-all for social ills. The deregulation of the young party has also included a phase of labour market could be largely slowed down stagnation coupled with bitter defeats in and partially revised; without Die Linke there elections, steadily declining approval rat- would be no legal minimum wage, although ings in polls, and losses among its core the minimum wage that exists in Germany voter strata. We can only guess what con- today is still insufficient. sequences this has for the party’s external The left has been effective, even at the Euro- political image and its social anchoring. pean level. Rarely have so many successes The core branding of the WASG has always been achieved in the areas of employment, been identical with the core principles of Die social policy, and consumer protection as Linke: work and social justice. Neglecting have been achieved in the European Par- these principles would have negative con- liament over the last ten years—much of sequences for the programmatic-strate- which has been initiated and broadly sup- gic development of Die Linke. The WASG ported by the left. was strictly oriented around improving But we are far from the end of the road. The the working and living conditions of work- politics of the past is still having an impact ers, pensioners, and the unemployed, as today. Precariousness continues to spread well as popularizing alternatives. This was and impoverishment is growing. Power- a strategic response to the impositions of ful forces are at work at a national and Eu- the Agenda 2010, which itself was the Red- ropean level to prevent the equalization of Green reaction to the crisis resulting from living conditions towards a more social Eu- the implementation of financial capitalism. rope. Speculation and rent profiteering are This decision to prioritize defending the wel- on the rise, while militarization and rearma- fare state is part of a larger debate about Die ment increase the threat of war. Digitaliza- Linke’s trajectory. The threatened centre tion and climate change present hazards made up of workers (in the West) was intro- that overwhelm us and threaten our very duced to Marx’s Capital, which the WASG existence. There is a clear need for a strong brought into the newly formed Die Linke. If and convincing left-wing alternative. this historical and political reference point Today, Die Linke is an important element of disappears, the approval and support for Die the German party system and has estab- Linke will also dwindle. This will have nega-

21 tive consequences for its membership base The Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung’s Archives and ability to mobilize. The widely lamented for Democratic Socialism which is respon- exodus of active trade unionists from Die sible for the administration Die Linke’s archi- Linke has now reached a critical point, as val material, has also taken on the difficult has the proportion of trade union members task of systematizing WASG’s available who voted. archival material. The archival materials re- Nobody would claim that the problematic ceived from WASG have been catalogued, developments we are currently facing are but there are still gaps that need to be filled due to the disappearance of the WASG. in. To what extent these gaps can be filled by However, Die Linke’s loss of appeal can be privately owned source material or the archi- traced back to the disappearance of work val material of regional branches remains to and social justice from its core branding. As be seen. Compiling fairly closed archival col- previously emphasized by the former chair- lections on the history of WASG and making man of the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung, Heinz them accessible would be a worthwhile as Vietze, it is therefore a worthwhile project to well as difficult and resource-intensive task, dedicate resources to the safeguarding of which is yet to be completed. So far, there the historical and political heritage of WASG is still no analytical and systematized ap- as a reservoir for the traditions of Die Linke. proach to the history of WASG which would This project is not an end in itself. It is not acknowledge and investigate this formation enough to place the history of the WASG as an independent phenomenon within Ger- beside the history of the PDS and simply let many’s political history. both traditions stand side by side without Finally, the dynamic character of WASG’s offering any further explanation. Die Linke brief history has barely been acknowl- can win by taking up the history of these two edged. The formation started as a leftist co- original parties and thus creating a common alition movement to advocate the welfare history of Die Linke. The debate about the state, before becoming a party in order to different roots and traditions of the left ena- run in election campaigns; practically im- bles a process in which differences and sim- mediately after becoming a party, it fell into ilarities are worked out and common lines of a new dynamic that eventually culminated tradition are identified. in its own dissolution. How this sequence The interviews with the founding gener- of extraordinary events and challenges ation of WASG, which are already in our could be reconciled with the requirements archive, help to preserve their legacy. But of building a party on the ground, internal these interviews constitute neither a defin- party democracy and communication, itive presentation of the history of WASG, and organizational stabilization, has been nor an analysis. Instead, they present the virtually unexamined. It is precisely this in- subjective views of those who founded the tertwining of party building and breathless party and followed its course until Die Linke haste that the archived interviews make ex- was established; the interviews may provide plicitly clear. important impetus for further examination One of the archive’s major goals would be of the history of Die Linke and its continued achieved if it were to generate a renewed in- development. terest in the history of Die Linke by coming

22 CREATORS OF MEMORY

to terms with this piece of the party’s history. in other words, it is about class struggle. This task is absolutely fundamental. The concepts of good work and social jus- Especially today, it is crucial that we conjure tice are among the supporting pillars of our up this memory once again, because the programme. To neglect them would not WASG’s core principles of mobilization are still only be to abandon a substantial part of the relevant. It is still about defending the social heritage of the labour movement, but also interests of the majority. It is still about the con- directly contradict the imperative to “learn flict between “them up there – us down here”; from history”.

23 the PDS – The Gysi Era, 1989 to 1993) in the Archives for Democratic Socialism (ADS)? A brief reference was made on Die Linke’s

website to the fact that the Rat der Alten had been created at the extraordinary party con- gress of the SED/PDS in December 1989. In particular, this site contained all the state- ments and commentaries that the Rat der Alten had made since 2002. Research in the finding aids for collections on Parteivor- stand der PDS – Die Ära Gysi (1989 to 1993) yielded six references with individual doc- uments. Archivist Jan Runkwitz used the delivery lists from the collections of the ex- JOCHEN WEICHOLD ecutive of the PDS that had not yet been cat- alogued to dig up a “cleaned-up” file of the Rat der Alten that promised to span the pe- In the Footsteps of riod from 1993 to 1997, but only contained Die Linke’s Council of Elders documents from 1997. The file had been delivered by Horst Siebeck, the long-time secretary of the Rat der Alten, who passed away in June 2006. I agreed to take on the assignment in the hope of coming across some more revealing documents in the sec- retary’s office of the Council of Elders. Although this hope was ultimately dashed, I found a copy of an article by Edwin Schwert­ ner titled “Dem Grundkonsens der PDS verpflichtet. Zur Geschichte des ‘Rates der Alten’ beim Parteivorstand” (Committed When I was asked at the beginning of 2018 to the Basic Consensus of the PDS: On the to write or rather compile a history of Die History of the ‘Rate der Alten’ in the Party Linke’s Council of Elders, or at least splinters Executive Committee) from a 2003 issue of of such a history, I did not immediately say the members’ magazine Disput in a clear yes. Rather, I carried out preliminary re- plastic sheet, along with the current list of search on the following aspects: Could any Council of Elders members and their contact information about the Ältestenrat (Council information. This article not only provided a of Elders) and its predecessor in the PDS, brief outline of the council’s history, but also the Rat der Alten, be found on Die Linke’s contained a valuable clue for further work, website? What sources of information were namely that the statements and commen- held in the collection titled Parteivorstand taries of the Rat der Alten had mostly been der PDS – Die Ära Gysi (Party Executive of published in the PDS-Pressedienst (press

24 CREATORS OF MEMORY

service). A perusal of the PDS-Pressedienst, Heinz Vietze, who had also lived through this which is preserved by the Rosa-Luxem- period of history, were more fruitful sources burg-Stiftung library in association with the for my endeavour. Hermann Klenner, who ADS, fills significant gaps in the transmis- has been active in Die Linke’s Council of sion of information from the 1990s. It con- Elders since 2008, provided interesting in- tained not only statements and commen- sights into the committee’s discussion cul- taries made by the council, but also short ture and into how the statements and com- reports on the discussions conducted by the mentaries found in the archive had been Rat der Alten, which Georg Fehst, the editor produced. Thomas Falkner, who spent many of the PDS-Pressedienst and member of the years working on strategy and the party council, observed and vividly transmitted. leadership’s foundational issues, provided Edwin Schwertner is not only the author of insider knowledge about the fact that the the aforementioned article; he was also a council—and especially Hans Modrow— member of the Rat der Alten from as early were always busy tending to the party’s as the beginning of 1991, and worked from development in the rural region of Branden- the mid 1990s to the beginning of the 2000s burg. Both the council and Hans Modrow as a spokesperson for the committee. He handled topics ranging from critical and also authored an illustrated chronicle of the constructive support for the participation PDS alongside Otfried Arnold, Helmut Zes- of Die Linke in the government to the work sin, and others, which contains interesting of the committee of inquiry “On coming to facts about the history of the Rat der Alten. terms with history and the consequences of Having borne witness to this time period, the SED dictatorship and the transition to a he would surely have been a fruitful source democratic constitutional state in the state of information, but he had unfortunately al- of Brandenburg”, which covered constitu- ready passed away by the time this history tional issues and questions of respect for was being processed. I hardly had better East German ways of life, as well as an anal- luck researching Moritz Mebel, who was ysis of the reasons why Die Linke had lost a member of the Rat der Alten from 1990 votes in the Brandenburg state elections in onwards and many years later became a September 2014. In a series of lengthy tele- spokesperson. He left the council at the end phone conversations conducted in April of the 1990s due to his disappointment at 2018, Heinz Vietze, the long-time deputy its only sporadic contact with the executive or head of the PDS parliamentary group in board and the executive committee, which the Brandenburg state parliament, told me made the council’s advisory function seem about the beginnings of the Rat der Alten, obsolete. When I called Moritz Mebel in the in which he had been involved. In order to latter half of March 2018, he regretfully in- ensure the new committee was truly repre- formed me that he was not able to help me. sentative, it was necessary for its personnel He said that he could not remember the de- composition to span a particular political-so- tails of the many things the council had dis- cial spectrum. In particular, Michael Schu- cussed and had thrown the documents from mann, member of the federal executive the council’s activities away a long time ago. committee of the PDS, was devoted to the Hermann Klenner, Thomas Falkner, and selection and recruitment of the members

25 of the Rat der Alten. Heinz Vietze also took tive committee had deemed it appropriate up this role in 2007 when Die Linke formed for party chairman Gregor Gysi to appoint a its Council of Elders, together with Thomas council of “older comrades with experience Händel, the treasurer of the WASG. in the struggle … to consult with them on The aforementioned illustrated chronicle of basic questions of theory and practice, of the PDS by Edwin Schwertner, Otfried Ar- politics, as necessary”. Those with more nold, Helmut Zessin, and others contained experience were to play an advisory role facts about the Rat der Alten, which offers to the party chairman, who was younger. a starting point for elaborating and vividly Berghofer then explained which comrades explaining these facts with documents from would be asked to participate in this council. the ADS’s still untapped collection Parteivor- On 12 January 1990, the SED/PDS party’s stand der PDS – Die Ära Gysi (1989 to 1993). executive board officially constituted the Rat These documents pertain, for example, to der Alten. the meeting of the PDS party leadership on Archival materials and other written sources 31 January 1994, which dealt with the con- constitute one thing, as does questioning tinuation of the activities of the Rat der Alten, people who lived through the era in ques- as well as documents pertaining to the party tion. The other—no less important—thing executive committee’s decision to continue is forming one’s own opinion. This is why the activities of the council in order to make I seized the opportunity to participate in a use of the experience it had gathered; to ex- meeting of Die Linke’s Council of Elders on pand the council with qualified figures, and 26 April 2018, where the members of the to conduct consultations on the party’s elec- committee and party chairs Katja Kipping tion platform, on historical problems, and on and Bernd Riexinger discussed prepara- the evaluation of the results of state, Euro- tions for Die Linke’s Leipzig Party Congress pean, and federal elections. in June 2018, and critically examined the To continue my research into the Rat der work of the party leadership. I was able to Alten, I also looked into the brief reference incorporate some “splinters” from this dis- mentioned at the beginning and re-checked cussion into the final version of the outline of the minutes of the deliberations from the the history of Die Linke’s Council of Elders, special party conference of the SED/PDS which confirmed Hermann Klenner’s claim in December 1989, which were published that the council had always been to the left by Dietz-Verlag in Berlin. The original doc- of the official party line. Originally conceived uments from this conference are held to- as an advisory body to the party chairman gether with the corresponding shorthand and the party executive board of the PDS, notes in the ADS. On December 16, 1989, the Rat der Alten increasingly mutated into Wolfgang Berghofer, then deputy chairman an admonisher of the party and its leader- of the party, declared on behalf of the con- ship—a function taken up in a similar form ference leadership that the party’s execu- by Die Linke’s Council of Elders.

26 CREATORS OF MEMORY

of the party headquarters take care of trans- ferring the files to the RLS, the file folders remain complete, the knotting is no longer necessary, and the knowledge of how to tie an archivist‘s knot has become as superflu- ous as the knowledge of how to change a typewriter ribbon. In this sense, archiving is viewed as a rather bureaucratic process from the point of view of the party headquarters. How happy I was to empty 80 square metres of my basement and two other rooms in one fell swoop when GOHDE CLAUDIA the Archives for Democratic Socialism picked up many metres of files from me in On Archiving in the 1990s. Sooner or later you realize you Die Linke’s Party need the shelf and storage space, and the old stuff simply has to go. Central Office But in addition to the technical aspects of the work, there is also the personal, every- day-life aspect. The most difficult part of archiving is deciding which files are so old and superfluous to one’s everyday work that they can be given away; only that which is no longer needed enters the archive. And is what I want to give away even worthy of be- ing archived? Many files that I have submitted to the ar- chive over the years form part of my political life: files from the party’s executive board in the early 1990s, the AG West documents of In the past, the old folders would have to the 1990s, papers from the first attempts at be emptied and labelled with a cover sheet membership recruitment and political edu- detailing their contents. The stack would be cation, files documenting the party reform bound with natural white cord and tied with at the beginning of the 2000s, the party a special knot known as an archivist‘s knot. merger, the minimum wage campaign, and Then the archivist would be notified and various citizens’ correspondence during tur- they would pick up the files—to my surprise, bulent times—most of what is archived still with great pleasure—and would store them bears traces of my personal use and reflects in the basement. At some point, they would what I considered was important to docu- be transferred to the RLS. Little has changed ment. I have always found it difficult to part in this regard over the years: The archivist with them and have hoped that someone from that time has since retired, the offices would be able to use them. It is a bit like your

27 favourite clothes that no longer fit: it would I have learned that some files are written to be a shame to throw them away, but they be recognized in a system, or are simply of might still serve a good purpose in a used special interest. On the other hand, many clothes store. matters are not kept on file (for very different What would prospective readers do with the reasons). It is for this reason that files always files that my colleagues and I delivered to the reveal only one part of the truth. Knowing office of the national party headquarters? this makes it difficult to publish files that deal Do the campaign management documents with emotional events, visions, and critical really reflect the debates we had about the decisions, because in 30 years, the files poster campaigns? Do the documents of the might tell a completely different story than proposal committees from the party con- the one I experienced. gress reflect the strategic differences? Does It is no longer possible to write about ar- the study of several years of correspond- chiving without talking about digitalization. ence with citizens allow us to draw conclu- This not only concerns the fact that digital sions about how the citizens’ expectations files will be handed over to the archive, but of the party changed? My questions reveal also that these days an incredible num- scepticism. What do others see in our files? ber of facts can be accessed online, and For those of us in Die Linke, how we handle many events are documented on websites the files is influenced by two political dimen- and blogs without their having been ac- sions: data protection and the processing tively archived. Google, social media, and of history. While data protection is largely the internet overall have everything, know formally regulated and for political reasons everything, and can find everything. My must be implemented by a left-wing party, Google search just turned up 84,800,000 there is a dilemma when it comes to dealing results in 0.36 seconds for the word “PDS”, with history, because experience has shown 54,900,000 results in 0.56 seconds for “Die us that a plethora of different histories can Linke”, and 3,750,000 results in 0.34 sec- be written from the same file. onds for Archives for Democratic Socialism. In some cases, I was able to experience first- Who was it—Bisky, Gysi, Schumann, or hand what it is like to learn about history Brie—that made the apology at the SED from party files: in the 1990s I read several special party congress? How did the mem- files from the Ministry of State Security in bers of the PDS Mecklenburg-Vorpommern the GDR, in which the SED was also men- state association vote in the strike ballot for tioned. Later I read SED files pertaining to the merger with the WASG and for the foun- their organizations in the West. Surprisingly, dation of Die Linke? The answers to all of files from the SED cultural administration these questions are likely to be available on turned up a few years ago in the basement the internet. If this is the case, then is there of the Karl Liebknecht House. Files had been still a need for archives? neatly created for all those active in the cul- The almost infinite accumulation of facts on tural sector in the GDR, which documented the internet is at the same time an almost the more or less unsavoury (on the part of the infinite accumulation of “alternative” facts. government) correspondence with Stephan For this reason alone, it is important to se- Hermlin, Heiner Müller, and Christa Wolf. cure facts and documents in a more reliable

28 CREATORS OF MEMORY

framework—a framework that is offered by sures careful storage and processing and professional archives. For example, if we is aligned with the tradition of engaging look at the history of the SED through the with history in a critical manner. Politics is lens of documents pertaining to the early realized through the actions of the people, PDS, then we will write a completely differ- through the spoken and written word, and ent story than an article written on the same through the visualized message. These three topic for Die Welt. However, due to the algo- forms were and remain the most important rithms of internet memory, those conduct- forms of expression for (left-wing) politics. ing internet searches are far more likely to Even though many politicians now limit their find the latter than documents pertaining to messages to 280 characters on Twitter and party history. 140 characters on WhatsApp, the most im- It is therefore also crucial that the files be portant testimonies are still texts, photos, stored in a secure, trustworthy place. That and audio and visual recordings. Preserving is why I am glad that the Rosa-Luxem- them, preparing them, and making them burg-Stiftung’s Archives for Democratic available to future generations as a form of Socialism is a professional archive that en- memory is an indispensable task.

29 man reunification. To find out more precisely what they were working on, I immediately made an appointment with the foundation’s executive director. My youngest employee accompanied me to the meeting, but I very quickly got the feeling that she had lost all interest in the meeting. “What are these two old women even talking about?” she must PETRA PAU have asked herself. And indeed, she had never heard of many of the things that the executive director and I discussed. She was My Blue Notebook born in 1993, but I had told her some stories here and there. Back in my office, we went over some of the stories again. A long-time companion asked about the blue notebook. It was empty. And so we began to reconstruct different mem- ories together. That is how my book Gottlose Type – meine unfrisierten Erinnerungen was finally written. It was published in 2015 and contained 53 episodes from 25 years of my political action. It was cheerful, surprising, and serious all at the same time. The story of how my 1998 premiere in the Bundestag came about can be read in the section titled “Rotes Ampelmännchen” (Lit- tle Red Traffic Light Man). The story goes like this:

“If someone had told me in 1990 that I would When I was first elected to the German Bun- one day become a member of the Bundes- destag, I was gifted a thick blue notebook tag, and even its vice president, I would in which to record everything I experienced have told them they needed to see a doctor. and encountered, as long as I found it remar- In 1998, I did not want to run for the Bun- kable. The notebook was recommended to destag, and the thought did not occur to the me as a memory aid. party’s intellectual leaders either. They were Several years later, I was elected by the Bun- looking for a celebrity politician who could destag to the Board of Trustees of the Fed- defend Berlin’s Mitte-Prenzlauer Berg cons- eral Foundation for the Reappraisal of the tituency, which the unaffiliated author Stefan SED Dictatorship. This foundation deals with Heym had won over to the PDS in 1994. They the history of the GDR, but also with events thought about Elmar Schmähling, the former in the old Federal Republic and since Ger- admiral who had become an icon of the West

30 CREATORS OF MEMORY

German peace movement. It seemed likely ple to ‘stop’, but instead to use the one that that he could gain popularity, especially in the is clearly sprinting to the left. I still remem- trendy Prenzlauer Berg district. ber some insulting emails that accused me of The plan had only one tiny catch. Elmar trying to lure seniors into the middle of the Schmähling owned several small businesses, road at the wrong time instead of protecting which, for whatever reason, had now gone them from fast drivers. Anyway, we called for bankrupt. He was accused of criminal de- a press conference and lo and behold: almost lay in filing for bankruptcy, which the media all the relevant media outlets came, filmed, seized upon and transformed into a scandal. and wrote about my red Ampelmännchen. Their message was: From that point on, I carried a few dozen Am- ‘PDS campaigns for white-collar criminals: pelmännchen badges with me wherever I Ineligible!’ Unfortunately there were not went. People gladly took them, and after two many options for remedying this constant or three weeks they were starting to appear bombardment by the tabloids and the public on the lapels of all kinds of people. Whoever authorities. saw them and knew about them, grinned: of So Elmar Schmähling could no longer be course, vote for Petra Pau! counted on to defend the constituency. Did Shortly before the finale, our PDS campaign he still stand a chance of winning, and if so, manager at the time made another public who would run with him? Soon everything speech. He unceremoniously announced came down to me. Pau instead of Schmäh- the winner of the former Heym constitu- ling. But what did the ‘big four’ of the PDS ency: it was me. It was the year in which the leadership think about all of this? There was German song “Guildo hat euch lieb!” (Guildo a conference call and a vote—I was there for loves you) was playing on every station as it. It was a close call, but I won three votes to part of the Eurovision Song Contest. What two. came as an even greater surprise was the Suddenly it was time to begin the elec- moment I won my first direct mandate with tion campaign. I had to hurry, as Wolfgang the Ampelmännchen on 27 September Thierse (SPD), Günter Nooke (CDU), Mari- 1998. Small red things should never be un- anne Birthler (Coalition 90/The Greens), and derestimated.” Martin Matz (FDP) were weeks ahead of me. I was on the road from morning to night in an In the meantime—that is, since 2014—I attempt to catch up. I could make whatever have been writing down new experiences as political statements I wanted; I hardly ever they occur. My blue notebook is now black appeared in the media since my main com- and is generally called a laptop. Of course, I petitors were simply more present. We went had already made use of the Rosa-Luxem- to extremes and quickly declared that the burg-Stiftung’s archives as I wished, and red Ampelmännchen from the GDR era was I will continue to do so. After all, what we now the symbol of my campaign. However, are dealing with is a left-wing memory that we did not opt to use the one that tells peo- needs to be nourished and propagated.

31 help shape—without having to worry ab- out being unemployed, ending up in poorly paid jobs, or wasting their time at work performing meaningless tasks. They yearn for a government that will provide afforda- ble housing and other necessary services across the board, instead of prioritizing the interests of major corporations.

HOLDING THOSE RESPONSIBLE TO ACCOUNT

Why has our society been on the wrong path for so long? Who flipped the switch to put it on the wrong track? Who is to be held accountable—for plundering the earth’s natural resources just as much as for the meagre pension payments that keep people in poverty, the exploding rents, the invest- ment bottlenecks, the personnel shortages in hospitals and aged care facilities, and for the mounting levels of social division? Is SAHRA WAGENKNECHT it even possible to hold any one person or corporation accountable for this, or are we Homesick for the Future all just tiny wheels in a nonsensical system that disallows any kind of tangible alterna- tive? What is clear is that anyone who at- tempts to hold others to account must also allow themselves to be held accountable. Is that possible? Despite all the mistakes and wrongdoings, I believe that it is. Just as, “Young people are homesick for the future.” when people from the GDR had their lives This quote from Jean-Paul Sartre can be turned upside down after Germany’s appar- reconsidered in today’s context. In many ent reunification, we said no: no to letting countries around the world, (not only) young the East be colonized by trusts and West people are taking to the streets because they German corporations; no to the monetary are afraid of what the future holds; because union between East and West Germany, they yearn for a time when people lived free which led to deindustrialization and mass from worry, before climate change and the unemployment in the East; and no to a Eu- destruction of the environment made life ropean monetary union, which would later on this planet into a living hell. Because drive so many countries into debt crises, as they yearn for a society in which they can well as contribute to social devastation and put their skills to use; a society that they can nationalism.

32 CREATORS OF MEMORY

We protested against military interventions responsibility in situations such as these, in by the German Armed Forces and warned which past grievances boil up to the surface. that the so-called war on terror would only Sometimes, sections of the past need to be beget more terror. We were up in arms re-evaluated so that they can be overcome against Agenda 2010, which has mutilated in a reasonable manner. Archives are inval- our welfare state and brought us nothing uable when it comes to performing this task but low wages and poverty-level pension because they secure our past for the present schemes. We have criticized the privatiza- and the future. tions, social cuts, and the deregulation of the markets, and fought to ensure that the AGAINST THE TIDE public does not inherit the financial losses A political party’s memory is shaped by the accrued by private banks. We brought up experiences of all of its members. The par- these painful topics when politicians al- liamentary memory consists of the experi- lowed themselves to be bought out by big ences of elected members of parliament— corporations. And many of us have fought and all those who work for them in personal for improvements for the people through offices or parliamentary groups. My own our unfaltering commitment, have taken “parliamentary memory” begins in Brussels care of the problems of employees, unem- and Strasbourg. From 2004 to 2009 I repre- ployed or single parents, where many others sented the PDS in the European Parliament simply looked the other way. Committee on Economic and Monetary Af- fairs. Due to the fact that there was an over- RE-EVALUATING THE PAST whelming conservative and liberal majority It is always important to reappraise history, on this committee, I was not able to have especially if we want to find a different way much impact. The majority of the represent- of organizing the future. For example, this atives in the committee were convinced that year the left-wing parliamentary group once financial markets work best when they are again demanded to create a committee not subject to any rules or laws. They be- to investigate the work conducted by the lieved in a neoliberal policy of competition Treuhand. The former Minister President of that would prohibit state aid and make stra- Brandenburg, Matthias Platzeck, spoke of tegic industrial policy almost impossible. an “idiosyncratic atmosphere” when refer- They were either convinced that a policy in ring to East Germany, as if “the grievances the interest of big European corporations that had accumulated, especially during would automatically benefit everyone—or the upheavals of the 1990s, were now com- they allowed themselves to be roped in by ing to the surface after a period of delay”.1 lobby groups advocating this policy. Such an atmosphere can be dangerous, but I remember discussions with Jean-Claude it can also create a climate of opportunity. Trichet, the ECB president at the time, about Last year, a similar atmosphere could be the dangers that had arisen for financial mar- observed in France, which developed into kets as a result of monetary policy and de- a surge of fury directed at “those up top”, regulation policy, or discussions about the and ultimately culminated in the yellow creation of an EU-wide system of deposit in- vest popular uprising. We have a special surance for banks, whose basic functioning

33 could not be agreed upon. Most of the time, learn because fires are kindled within us or I was the only one in the entire committee around us. These fires can be painful and de- to vote against draft directives or reports. structive, can fill us with fear and terror—as It was not until the big economic crash of is the case in times of war and crisis, or in the 2007 that many people woke up, at which face of environmental disasters. They can point everyone in the committee agreed that also enlighten us, warm us, give us hope. nobody could have foreseen such a crisis. Either way, there are times and events that Disappointed about the limited influence leave a deep impression on our memory I had in the Committee on Economic and and herald change in our lives. My life was Monetary Affairs, I tried to educate the pub- shaped this way during the global economic lic about the neoliberal EU projects and win crisis that began in 2007, which also hap- coalition partners outside of parliament. I pened to be when people with very different informed people about the dangerous draft backgrounds from both East and West Ger- directives and projects. Upon my invitation, many came together in one party. ver.di leader Frank Bsirske was able to ex- Recourse to good traditions makes us plain to the European Parliament why the strong. Organizations from 50 countries Services in the Internal Market Directive came to Die Linke’s founding congress on 2006 on the deregulation of services for 16 June 2007 in the hope that a people’s employees was not acceptable and opened party to the left of the neoliberal SPD would the door to wage and social dumping. I do form in Germany. It was a party congress not know how many representatives were with charisma and with moving speeches convinced by his good arguments, but at the that conveyed a spirit of optimism. At that very least, the transnational protests did not time we set out to achieve great goals to- go unnoticed, and at least some aspects of gether: to rebuild the social state, to fight this horrible directive could be mitigated. for democracy and the interests of the wage earning majority against a globalization dic- UNITED FOR A NEW STRENGTH tated by finance, to connect the ecological “Without memory, we would be nothing”, question with the social question, and to wrote Eric Kandl, a US American neurosci- put the question of peace on the agenda. In entist, psychiatrist, physiologist, behav- the 2009 federal elections, we achieved our ioural biologist, and biochemist who was best result to date with almost 12 percent of forced to flee from the Nazis because of the votes. Two years later, we set ourselves his Jewish origins. “Memory is the binding a forward-looking program, which was con- agent that holds our spiritual life together.”2 firmed in a member vote with 95.8 percent At the same time, it connects us with other of the votes. Less concern for ourselves, and forms of life, since, as Kandl discovered, more concern for other people’s problems— certain learning mechanisms related to the this was something else that we aspired to faculty of memory are the same for all liv- back then. We did not always succeed in ing beings. Our memory does not function living up to this in the years that followed. like an archive, in which events are organ- We certainly need lively debates, because ized chronologically. Our brain is not a vessel it is only by exchanging viewpoints that we that is filled piece by piece with content. We will be able to find the right path forward. In

34 CREATORS OF MEMORY

fact, our members should be much more in- Not long ago, a young comrade approached volved in these debates, because this is the me. He was concerned that forward-looking only way we can achieve good results that contributions by left-wing theorists from the can be collectively represented to the out- period before 1989 would fall into collec- side world and thereby become effective. tive oblivion if we could not work together with left-wing publishers (who often do not LEAFING THROUGH THE PAST have the money for them) to save these texts “Those who want to read the future must for the digital age. The history of our party leaf through the past”, wrote André Mal- does not begin in 1989. The older genera- raux, who, like Sartre, was an important tions among us gained valuable experience French author and politician. As true as before 1989—in the upswing of the 1968 this sentence is, from today’s perspective movement, in the peace and environmental we must ask: does anybody “leaf” through movements, or in the GDR. It would be a pity archives anymore these days? What is digi- if these experiences were only available to talization making of our collective memory? future generations in the distorted form of Will all of our most important experiences reports by the German Secret Service, or in and thoughts be obliterated? Will they at the Gauck files. best be available in the form of printed pa- per, but not as files that are accessible to the broader public? And what does that mean for the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung’s Archives for Democratic Socialism? Does it make sense to limit ourselves to documents pro- 1 Cerstin Gammelin, “Eigentümliche Stimmung”, Süddeutsche Zeitung, duced since 1989 if we want this left-wing 20 August 2019. 2 Osterloh, Falk, “Ohne Gedächtnis wären wir nichts” (film review), Deutsches Ärzteblatt, 106/2009, p. 28, available at: www.aerzteblatt. “memory” to be valuable? de/archiv/65395/Filmkritik-Ohne-Gedaechtnis-waeren-wir-nichts

35 arly defining responsibilities does not mean restricting your viewpoint to a single depart- ment. For this reason, my memory is shaped by a perspective on the political situation and the situation within the party. I stand for a triad that combines a democratic-socialist perspective with an organizational aspira- tion and democratic resistance. I have no personal archive that I can draw from. I have an abundance of rich memories, but I have questioned my memory less about episo- des and more about contradictions—about BARTSCH DIETMAR what we should not forget.

OPPORTUNITIES SEIZED – On Elation and OPPORTUNITIES MISSED Remaining Grounded In 1994, the unthinkable came to pass in Germany: following the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, the SPD and The Greens “Happy people have a bad memory formed a minority government. Reinhard and abundant memories.” Höppner, Minister President of the SPD, and Hans-Jochen Tschiche, parliamentary Thomas Brussig chairperson of Alliance 90/The Greens, were prepared to tolerate the PDS. But in- stead, the “Magdeburg model” of indirect participation in government was born, and a spell was broken: governmental responsi- bility followed for us in Mecklenburg-West- ern Pomerania in 1998, in Berlin in 2001, in Brandenburg in 2009, and in Thuringia in I have taken over roles in the Party of De- 2014. In the West German states, the Social mocratic Socialism (PDS) or Die Linke since Democrats shied away from the prospect 1991, with some interruptions. I was Fede- of forming coalitions with the Democratic ral Treasurer from 1997 to 2002 and Federal Socialists. In Saarland, Hesse, and North Executive Director from 2005 to 2010. I was Rhine-Westphalia, they did not have the a member of the Bundestag from 1998 to courage to do so, or they did so too late, or 2002 and again from 2005. In 2015, Sahra only half-heartedly. The breakthrough was Wagenknecht and I were elected parliamen- not achieved there until 2019, when Die tary chairpersons. I have always felt respon- Linke moved into the Bremen Senate. At the sible for all areas of policy, a sentiment Lo- federal level, there could have been a red- thar Bisky and Gregor Gysi have promoted red-green government following the 2013 as party or parliamentary chairpersons. Cle- federal elections, but the SPD did not even

36 CREATORS OF MEMORY

hold talks with Die Linke. I am a supporter ment. Neither East nor West Germany had of centre-left coalitions at both the federal a democratic socialist party. At a time when and state level, among other reasons be- the right is gaining ground, this is should not cause our aim should be not only to criticize be underestimated. conditions, but also to take responsibility in helping to shape them. As Marx said, we do THE HOUSE IS BUILT not want to be right—we want to change FROM THE BOTTOM UP the world. In my view, at the very least this There were many occasions in the 1990s has to do with starting to redistribute social on which I had to explain the PDS’s meagre wealth, is about a sustainability strategy, and election results in the West to the party rep- a substantial reduction in arms exports. I am resentatives. My standard saying, that the for proposals, not for blockages. house is built from the bottom up, was noth- ing more than whistling in the woods, but at PUT YOUR HEAD UP, the same time it expressed a firm conviction: NOT YOUR HANDS a party draws its strength from a committed The PDS had been in the Bundestag since base, from voluntary commitment. I take 1990, where it had been openly hostile for my hat off to our comrades in the West Ger- many years. These hostilities reached a sad man states, which for a long time was the culmination point when Gerhard Riege, one site of our diaspora, as well as to the strong of our representatives who was also a clever structures in the East, which gave advice to and sensitive scholar from Jena, committed many people on issues such as pensions or suicide. “I am afraid of the hatred that is di- rents. I have always been heavily involved in rected at me in the Bundestag”, he wrote local political work. Close contact with An- in his farewell letter. In 1994, Helmut Kohl gelika Gramkow in Schwerin, with our first insulted the PDS, calling them “red-painted female mayor of a state capital, with Stef- fascists”. In the same year, the federal SPD fen Harzer, Hildburghausen’s long-serving passed a resolution saying that it would not mayor, or with Michaele Sojka, the district work with the PDS. CDU General Secretary administrator of Altenburg, reminded me Peter Hintze had 200,000 posters made for to always think about the needs of the cit- the 1994 federal election campaign which ies and communities when making federal had red socks printed on them (a pejora- political decisions. Being firmly rooted in my tive term for communists in Germany), and home state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is the slogan “Into the future, but not in red very important for me. socks!” We did not miss this great opportu- nity, and red socks soon became our num- RIDICULED AND COPIED ber one election campaign hit. This story is In 2002, we introduced our first proposal a great example of our members’ attitudes: to the Bundestag for a statutory minimum we are not easily discouraged. The PDS, wage that would ensure a decent standard later Die Linke, expanded the political spec- of living. All other parliamentary groups, in- trum to the left and thus extended what was cluding most unions, rejected our propos- normal elsewhere in Europe into Germany. I als. From that point onwards, we pressed am not afraid to call this an historic achieve- the issue consistently. It was not until 2015

37 that minimum wage legislation was passed. out in parliament. There is a reason why the Since then, the SPD has prided itself on hav- picture Sisyphus macht Pause (Sisyphus ing authored the proposal. Of course, there Takes a Break) by Siegfried Schütze is hang- are no copyrights for political ideas, and it ing in our office. The work mentioned above would be narrow-minded to insist on claim- is nonetheless indispensable, since our task ing authorship rights for progressive social is not only to critically engage in govern- causes. Many of our policy proposals were ment, but also to develop left-wing alterna- initially downplayed as unrealistic or as be- tives. We have repeatedly achieved public ing not financially tenable—a sentiment success with one form of parliamentary in- that the media often helped disseminate. I itiative: parliamentary inquiries. We are the could name several examples of positions most inquisitive group in the Bundestag. for which we were initially ridiculed or rep- This has often led to remarkable admissions rimanded, but that have since either been on the part of the government. implemented or adopted by the relevant political groups: opposing military inter- POLITICS NEEDS ventions in other countries, opposing fees TO TAKE A DEEP BREATH for university courses or apprenticeships, While the relocation of the Bundestag and opposing weapons exports to war zones. In the federal government from tranquil Bonn the spring of 2015, when I spoke in the Bun- to Berlin was already followed by a consid- destag about preparing our country for the erable acceleration of communication, the arrival in our country of upwards of 500,000 emergence of social media has heralded the refugees, the unions in particular accused onset of an entirely new set of dimensions me of pessimism. How things played out af- that have been detrimental to the quality of ter that is well-known. said communication. In the past few years, “Change begins with opposition” was one 30-second statements or 280-character of our party’s slogans in the 1990s. We have tweets became the standard for expressing kept our word. But this also led to quite a political opinions; a four-minute interview few people coming to consider Die Linke to is already considered a feature article. If the be part of the Establishment and also per- current job market figures are published at ceiving the party as a venue for protest. We 10:00, I have to be present at 10:10 with are in a position where many people agree a standpoint in order to be noticed. The with our analyses and goals, but struggle to events that are currently occurring around believe that we are capable of implementing the world force me to be attentive around our policies. the clock; there is barely any time for me to breathe and think. We, too, have learned BETWEEN FRUSTRATION the hard way. In 2002, Michael Schumann, AND JOY whom I hold in high esteem, stated on be- Opposition is not a walk in the park, and half of the PDS: “We are the smallest of the sometimes it can be very frustrating. Time parties, but we have the greatest ambition and time again, our members of parliament to achieve change.”1 He concluded that a and their qualified staff draw up motions and socialist party in particular could not reduce draft laws that are then consistently thrown itself to a politics of everyday life. Contrary to

38 CREATORS OF MEMORY

Lothar Bisky’s urgent advice, after our initial always—uncontroversial within the parlia- powerful entry into the Bundestag in 1998, mentary group. It is also part of our working the party failed to quickly proceed with the method to include external expertise and to elaboration of a new party programme. allow critics of our positions to have their say This contributed to our failure to reach the in the parliamentary group’s meetings or re- five-percent hurdle in 2002. Voters naturally treats. I would like to mention the journalists do not read a lot of manifestoes, but parties Hans-Ulrich Jörges and Jakob Augstein, the require a reliable compass for their actions. authors Jana Hensel and Sabine Rennefanz, I therefore strongly advocate that our party the political scientist Albrecht von Lucke be guided by the fight for social justice, or General Harald Kujat as examples. They peace, democracy, and sustainability and make arguing fun and allow it to sharpen the that our parliamentary group continue to ex- senses. pose Hartz IV as Armut per Gesetz (legislated poverty), to stand up for fair pensions and against child poverty, to condemn partici- pation in wars, and to fight against two-tier health care. This also includes our continu- ing commitment to East Germany, although 1 Michael Schumann, Hoffnung PDS: Reden, Aufsatze, Entwurfe 1989– this has not always been—and is still not 2000, edited by Wolfram Adolphi, Berlin: 2004, p. 158.

39 most people’s everyday context. Even the highest cultural artefacts like castles and churches contain something barbaric, Ben- jamin wrote, not least because they came about from the “anonymous toil” of those who remain invisible in the writing of his- tory, whose pain is unfulfilled and unredee- med, through which the past takes on an explosive force for the present. The task is “in every epoch … to deliver tradition anew from the conformism which is on the point of overwhelming it”. The potential for the li- beration of mankind lies “not in the future, MARGRET GEITNER but in history and in memory”. The task for the revolutionary classes is not to carry out the objective laws of development, but rat- Who Writes History? her to break open the continuum of history. Consequently, it is always a matter of inclu- ding the struggles of the oppressed, the struggle for dignity and one’s livelihood, for rights, and for participation in our historio- graphy. That “the ruling ideas of an era are always only the ideas of the ruling class”, as Marx and Engels formulated it in “The Commu- nist Manifesto”, applies in particular to the traditions written by the nobility and adapted to the needs of the ruling class in each case. Thus, historiography is predom- inantly characterized not by the search for knowledge, but by the rulers’ interpretation Walter Benjamin wanted to ensure that of events. True memory therefore includes “nothing that has ever happened should be both the sketches of the current epoch and regarded as lost for history”, even if it requi- the correction of false traditions through red humanity to first be redeemed before it new insights, through the liberation of his- could invoke and correctly interpret all its tory from the ruling calculus and through past moments.1 He opposed conformist symbols of truth. Otherwise, the living modes of memory and the naïve chrono- conditions and struggles of the oppressed logy of victory. The ruling class forged the will disappear from memory, while false ac- historical memory of the citizens with me- counts shape traditions that in turn form the morials, holidays, school books, and the foundation for fatal errors and lies, but also histories of great men who are absent from for curiosities.

40 CREATORS OF MEMORY

WHO FOUNDED EUROPE, hard imposed wage freezes at 20 percent in- AND WHEN? flation and described state welfare as “mod- If it was not Zeus who is said to have trans- ern mania”. Governments were right-wing formed into the shape of a white bull and and “neoliberal,” yet most social improve- made love to the goddess Europa on the ments were made during this time. Why is beach of Crete, then it was at the latest Char- that the case? lemagne, whom we encounter in the history Social improvements do not come from books as “the father of Europe” or “the light- economic doctrines or bourgeois govern- house of Europe”. Every year, the dignitar- mental constellations, they are the price that ies of the city of Aachen award the Charle- the ruling class pays to pacify resistance magne Prize to an “outstanding European”. and integrate renegades. Metal workers is What is not mentioned is that Charlemagne Schleswig-Holstein had to go on strike for was a mass murderer who, in the name of an entire winter in order to win the right to Christ, confronted all Europeans with the sick pay. Social reforms such as improve- choice: “Baptism or death?” Eastern Euro- ments to pensions or co-determination in peans who refused to be baptized were mur- the coal and steel industry were the prices dered or enslaved by him. Even today, eth- paid to pacify the anti-nuclear movement nologists refer to them as Slavs (slaves). The and the movement against rearmament. In history of his victims is hardly known, and this respect, the legend of Ludwig Erhard as they are certainly not honoured with prizes. the father of the social market economy is Instead, the stories of his royal biographer fatal in that it erases from memory the acting Einhard have been passed down: “Karl … subject who alone is capable of fighting for had a round head, his eyes were very large improvements or of preventing things from and lively, his nose somewhat long; … his getting worse, and attributes his victories to appearance was always imposing and dig- a state doctrine or a reactionary politician. nified, no matter whether he stood or sat.”2 The economic miracle was based on a func- tioning industrial base that was created by IS LUDWIG ERHARD THE FAT- millions of forced and enslaved labourers HER OF THE SOCIAL MARKET during the Second World War, and on 13 ECONOMY? million migrants from the East who received Even some leftist professors praise the welcome premiums and home construction “Keynesian social-democratic century af- loans, which in turn gave industry a boost. ter 1945”, which we have Ludwig Erhard to thank for. This is one of history’s great- HAMBURG CITY HALL – est lies. When Adenauer, Erhard, and sev- KAISERSAAL? eral Nazis governed the West German state, In an effort to correct a number of symbols working class families were only able to that convey a false sense of history, Die make ends meet through under-the-table Linke’s parliamentary group in Hamburg has work and child labour; people who were taken on the Kaisersaal (Emperor’s Hall). The retired had to visit relatives in order to stay Kaisersaal is the second-largest and most warm, children were sent to labour camps, frequented hall in the Hamburg City Hall. It where they were rented out to farmers. Er- was named after Kaiser Wilhelm, who once

41 visited Hamburg in 1895 on the occasion of Hope for liberation lies in the memories of the inauguration of the Kiel Canal. The hall historical moments in which dynamics of is adorned with all kinds of colonial decora- political dominance and control were over- tions, with busts of emperors and paintings thrown and subverted—in the Paris Com- of other rulers of the Hanseatic League. In mune, the October Revolution of 1917, in 2019, Die Linke’s parliamentary group ap- the Spanish Civil War of 1936, the liberation plied for the hall to be renamed Republican movements of the “Third World”, the upris- Hall. After 100 years, the November Revo- ing of 1968, the liberation struggle in Beijing lution, which stands for the beginning of re- in 1989, and many more. Taking as a starting publican-democratic conditions in Germany point the young Marx’s categorical impera- and also in Hamburg, was to be brought out tive to overturn all conditions in which man of the shadows of Hamburg’s cultural mem- is an enslaved being, these events, to para- ory. The workers’ and soldiers’ councils, phrase Benjamin, blew up the continuum of which formed the official Hamburg govern- domination in a brief flash. Marx described ment at the turn of 1918–1919, were ousted it thus: “Reforming consciousness consists in the spring of 1919, and the direct council only in awakening the world … from the democracy became a parliamentary democ- dream about itself.”3 This requires keeping racy. But there is nothing in the town hall to track of our activities and liberating tradi- commemorate them either. tions from conformism. For these tasks we The renaming of the Kaisersaal is a political need critical, non-conformist minds, even in act that fights for an emancipatory, libera- times of evil, for “the almost insoluble task tory memory—for memory from below. And consists of refusing to allow oneself to be the November Revolution has always been rendered dumb, either by the power of oth- more historically important than an emper- ers or by one’s own powerlessness”.4 or’s fleeting visit. The November Revolution is an important reminder of the struggles for social liberation and provides an impetus to 1 Walter Benjamin belonged to the circle of the Frankfurt School for Social debate the meaning of left-wing politics; a Research, which also included Adorno and Horkheimer. Questions of histo- rical reflection play an important role both in Benjamin’s “Berlin Chronicle” rebellion against the prevailing conditions, from 1932 and in the unfinished Arcades Project. After his escape from the which is carried over into the parliaments. German Wehrmacht and shortly before his suicide, he wrote the famous “Theses on the Philosophy of History” in 1940. This text is considered to be The knowledge of and feeling for this past, one of the most beautiful, but also one of the most enigmatic philosophi- cal texts of the 20th century. 2 See www.route-charlemagne.eu/Charle- the struggles of many people over many magne/Karl/Karl_unbekannt_08/index.html 3 Karl Marx, Briefe aus den centuries, including the lessons of defeat, Deutsch-Französischen Jahrbüchern, ibid., / Friedrich Engels: Werke, Vol. 1, Berlin 1976, p. 346. 4 Theodor W. Adorno, Minima Moralia, Frankfurt, are a constant source of stimulation. 1994, p. 64.

42 CREATORS OF MEMORY

As a parliamentary group in the Bunde- stag that throws itself into the political tur- moil every day, develops positions, is the progressive voice of the opposition, and criticizes the government from a left-wing perspective, we certainly have a special significance and responsibility. We have to make sure that our policies are comprehen- KORTE JAN sible, both in our daily work as members of parliament and as a parliamentary group, as well as in the development of a left-wing Die Linke’s Memory Work memory that will enable us and subsequent in Parliament: “Parliamentary File members of Die Linke to evaluate our poli- cies and to discuss them. Creators?” According to Maurice Halbwachs’s theory of “collective memory”, social thought is essentially a memory “whose entire content consists solely of collective memories, but only those that each society in its respective epoch can reconstruct within its contempo- rary frame of reference”.1 The capacity to reconstruct something re- quires traditions. For Aleida Assmann, there are two different modes of handing down traditions from the past to future genera- tions, and therefore also two different types of “memory” whose interaction shapes cultural memory and thus the development of the culture in question: on the one hand, “messages” that are consciously written When I was asked to contribute to this vo- and presented for this purpose, which deter- lume, I did not think about it for very long at mine what is considered necessary for the all before accepting. I began mulling over functioning of a society, and which therefore what it was that I wanted to write about, and also—as the “functional memory” of this what I should write about. Questions arose: society—must always be present and cher- What is a left-wing memory of the parlia- ished. On the other hand, “traces” are mate- mentary group and how does it come about? rial testaments of the past that often arose What about my responsibility as a member unintentionally, or, so to speak, en passant. of parliament? Who is really interested in Aleida Assmann describes them as follows: how I have positioned myself as a left-wing “They are at first mute witnesses who must member of parliament? And why do we need first be made to speak again by specialists a left-wing memory in the first place? through the creation of a context.”2 They are

43 a large and constantly changing repository on, drafted, debated, amended, reworked, of memory that must be used in order to be and finally it was decided that they would of use to its users. This second category is not become a “message”. As a result, they also where Aleida Assmann locates the ar- do not leave the office of the parliamentary chives that collect and preserve the mani- group or the representative. fold elements of this “memory repository” The “traces” also include the materials that and make them available to the interested, are created for the organizational needs of to the curious. the party—from personnel files, to invoices, To a certain extent, these two kinds of mem- to the documentation of events. The major- ories can also found in Die Linke’s work in ity of these “traces” never go beyond the the Bundestag. “Messages”: these are our internal discussions of the parliamentary positions in the form of printed materials group or its office; they are subject to legal from parliament, that is, motions and draft provisions governing their retention period laws which are discussed in committees and—especially in the case of personal and debated and voted on in plenary ses- data—their destruction. sions; as well as the large and small inquiries All this constitutes the memory of parlia- with the more or less informative responses mentary work, and is available in the Ar- of the federal government. They document chives for Democratic Socialism (ADS) as a what the parliament and its members have resource to assist in the formation of “Die worked on and how, and this information is Linke’s memory”. Unfortunately, this is not then presented and transmitted accordingly. the end of the story. The materials must first They are accessible via the internet, but are be collected and ordered by designated per- also held in the parliamentary archives, and sonnel before they enter the archive and be- fill tonnes of shelf space in public libraries come part of that memory. And a decision in the form of representative folio volumes. must be made as to what can and may be In addition, representatives also have their handed over to the archive—since we also own websites where they present these work with materials that may not leave the materials together with personal “mes- Bundestag or that are protected as personal sages”—press releases, position papers, data and cannot simply be “handed over”. events—in a sense as an individual “mes- However, what is collected and stored in sage”. The business and other regulations the parliamentary group and the represent- are also part of the “messages”, as are the atives’ offices are not files in the general minutes of individual parliamentary groups sense, hence the question mark in the title. and executive board meetings, which show We are a parliamentary group, not an admin- how these groups work, what they have istrative authority (even though one might worked on and decided, and these groups’ sometimes get that impression). We do not election and event programmes. have a strictly regulated order of operations “Traces”, on the other hand, are all those with precisely defined responsibilities. The materials that are necessary for the develop- goal is to develop a “message”; how it is ment of a “message”. This also includes all delivered is ultimately less important than the ideas and considerations that did not be- the fact that it exists and that everyone can come a “message”. They have been worked somehow help to convey it.

44 CREATORS OF MEMORY

In other words: what we can offer “Die suit our working needs, meaning files and Linke’s memory” are mostly collections of documents are edited, changed, moved, material from the preliminary stages of our resaved, and sometimes even deleted. “messages”, and these can be quite excit- This part of the memory is thus subject to ing. For example, when we drafted a bill in constant change and is growing more and 2006 for the long-overdue rehabilitation of more, especially media data: photos, au- the so-called war traitors, it was not foresee- dio recordings of meetings and events, but able that this would trigger a debate in and above all video files now require more stor- outside of parliament that would last three age space on our servers than all the other years and would result in one of the greatest files. In contrast, the share of “paper” traces parliamentary successes of a parliamentary is continuously decreasing. group in the contentious field of the politics In order to include these “traces” (and also of history. There were so many “messages” “messages”, especially from the parliamen- and “traces” of various kinds that Dominic tary group, since they do not fall within the Heilig and I ended up writing an entire book area of responsibility of the parliamentary entitled Kriegsverrat. Vergangenheitspolitik archives, we are responsible for these our- in Deutschland – Analysen, Kommentare und selves) in “Die Linke’s memory” in the ADS, Dokumente einer Debatte (War Treason: Pol- we made a transfer agreement with the ar- icies for Dealing with the Past in Germany – chive in 2006, which was supplemented in Analyses, Comments, and Documents of a November 2010 to account for digital doc- Debate), which was published 2011. uments, and was revised again in 2017 in Sure, there are exceptions. But considering view of the provisions of the General Data the fact that we often mischaracterize our Protection Regulation (GDPR). Within the own work, much of what may seem rather group, an archiving policy regulates the unimportant to us today could later be of in- jurisdictions and responsibilities for the terest to other members of Die Linke or the provision of the data to be handed over. In general public. addition, the file plan contains information As any quasi-authority should do, we have for each individual structural element in neatly regulated our data storage: since terms of whether or not the files located 2009, we have had a filing structure for here should be transferred to the ADS. This documents called a “file plan”. This file plan handover is then organized by the party staff states generally valid principles and rules member(s) responsible for questions about for filing, defines access rights and provides the archive who work in consultation and a detailed overview of the filing structure cooperation with colleagues in the archive. in force. In order to make it clear how the In the party’s early years in the Bundestag, filing works in this structure, we have also contributions were often connected with implemented rules for work documentation intensive persuasive work; both in the party since 2019. These rules define the creation and among the members of parliament, the and naming of folders and files in the file opinion that the most important things, the plan, making it easier for everyone to find “messages”, were presented and saved the “traces” they are looking for. All the or- by the Bundestag anyway, or could be re- ganizing structures and rules are adjusted to trieved via the party’s internet pages and

45 “stored” there became increasingly popu- ration of the specified retention periods— lar. Everything else was “not so important” and this promise was kept. The willingness and most people were not overcome by the to entrust one’s own data to “Die Linke’s vain desire to depict themselves with some memory” has grown with the confidence scribbled drafts for the sake of posterity in the reliability of the ADS, but there is still (well, maybe some did). Last but not least, room for improvement. another element that played a role was peo- In the end, one thing is certain: the history of ple’s fear of losing control over their data by a parliamentary party can be written, but we handing it over to the archive: would it be can hardly influence by whom. But it should safe there? Who would be allowed to see be written on the basis of our “traces” and the files? This was not and is not an entirely “messages”, and not on the basis of the unjustified fear in view of the not especially messages provided about us by others. We friendly treatment that the media has been can ensure this by handing over the “traces” known to give to a number of party mem- of our stories and histories to the ADS. bers. However, the ADS and the parliamen- tary archives were luckily able to calm these fears through a corresponding practice: without the consent of either the represent-

ative donating their files or the parliamentary 1 Maurice Halbwachs, Das Gedächtnis und seine sozialen Bedingungen, party manager, no one was to be given ac- Frankfurt, 1985, p. 360. 2 Aleida Assmann, “Archive als Medien des kultu- rellen Gedächtnisses”, Lebendige Erinnerungskultur für die Zukunft: 77. Deut- cess to the archive records before the expi- scher Archivtag 2007 in Mannheim, Fulda: 2008, pp. 21–33.

46 CREATORS OF MEMORY

of counter-knowledge that movements generate. There are approximately 40 or 50 large archives throughout Germany that are

dedicated to collecting materials either on specific topics or on a broad range of topics, and probably around 150 smaller archives. In addition, there are several dozen environ- mental libraries.2 Many of these archives were created as the result of movements, are in a sense connected to each other, and are based on voluntary work. Beyond that, there are semi-governmental HÜTTNER BERND archives and libraries on the topic of so- cial movements that have paid positions and also gather, save, and make materials Preserving Movements from the variety of different resistance and protest movements of the last century ac- cessible.3 The holdings in these archives The archives of are based around certain topics, such as new social movements National Socialism and anti-fascism, the Außerparliamentarische Opposition (Ex- tra-Parliamentary Opposition, APO), the Socialist German Student Union (SDS), the student movement, the feminist and lesbian movements, the environmental and peace movements, the internationalist movement, and of course also the entire spectrum of oppositional, leftist, and alternative groups. Since they are the easiest materials to ar- chive, all of these archives have large col- Fridays for Future, the unteilbar protests, lections of newspapers as well as a compre- protests against the G20 summit in Ham- hensive collection of brochures and “grey” burg, the International Women’s Strike, and or even “illegal” literature, which are not the ongoing actions against Nazis all prove collected anywhere else. Generally, they that emancipatory protests are a part of mo- also catalogue books, flyers, posters, stick- dern societies, have shaped them in their ers, and other memorabilia. The amount of contemporary form, and continue to do so. institutional support these archives receive But where will the documents produced by varies: While many of the institutionalized these resistance movements be archived to archives of the new social movements have preserve them for posterity?1 fixed structures and paid jobs, which affords The archives for these and other social them a great deal of continuity, the inde- movements collect and preserve the forms pendent archives of the social movements

47 find themselves in a much more tenuous organization. In the event that they do take position, even though many of them have history into account, it is mostly evoked as been operating for 20 years or more. In other a means to legitimize their own traditional words, much of the legacy of the new so- praxis. It is for this reason, and due to un- cial movements ultimately rests on private consolidated structures and membership shoulders and unpaid work. fluctuation, that a collective memory is so difficult to establish.4 As the hegemonic WHERE DOES IT COME FROM? politics of history proves every day, remem- Individuals and institutions are under no ob- bering is not harmless: it not only creates ligation to deliver files to archives such as understanding and reassurance, but also these, and there are also no assigned facili- creates standards. What should be remem- ties for building up files. The materials come bered and what should be (forcefully) for- together through donations, for example gotten? from (former) activists, political groups and The archives that consider themselves organizations that have dissolved and opt to to constitute part of the existing political donate their organizational archives, from movements see their work as a contribution duplicates from the archives of other move- to a more comprehensive understanding ments, and oftentimes through info-shops of contemporary struggles. As the saying that cooperate by giving their newspaper “learn from history” suggests, their pri- subscriptions to the archive. For this work mary target group is contemporary political in particular, a relationship of trust between movements. However, these archives are the groups and people donating the mate- also frequented by students, academics, rials and the archive itself is indispensable. and people who work in the media, which Both must see themselves as a part of the are also the largest user groups of the insti- same milieu of oppositional solidarity, be tutionalized archives. committed to similar ideas, and the donors must trust these independent archives more NETWORKING, PORTALS, than state archives to make a correct and AND SEARCHES appropriate assessment of the content and Many archives of social and political move- thus to process the material. ments meet once a year on the invitation of the Heinrich Böll Foundation at an event that WHO DO THEY DO IT FOR? is intended to foster an exchange between Even though the past is an ever-present colleagues working in different disciplines.5 topic for the media, neoliberalism has pro- For those archives that do not have any paid duced a strange form of ahistoricity. Many positions, (transregional) cooperation or new activists today know very little about even the idea of an actual “preservation of the struggles and protests of previous cen- a tradition through a network” very quickly turies. This ahistorical attitude is the result puts them at the limits of their capacities. of an undogmatic leftist approach that has The online database “dataspace” enables long been characterized by spontaneity, a more extensive search in the holdings and which eschews planned, strategic pol- of various info-shops and movement ar- itics, as well as more conventional forms of chives.6 A relatively high number of move-

48 CREATORS OF MEMORY

ment archives, such as the archives of the now groups dedicated to new social move- Informationszentrums Dritte Welt (Third ments at conferences of historians and ar- World Information Centre) in Freiburg, the chivists. In 2016, a position paper from the Antifaschistische Pressearchiv und Bil- VdA on the Traditions of the New Social dungszentrum (Anti-Fascist Press Archives Movements was introduced, although it is and Education Center, apabiz) in Berlin, the yet to lead anywhere to this day.10 Bibiothek der Freien (Library of the Free), The requests made for public support on the largest library on the subject of anar- behalf of the movement archives are being chism, as well as the archives of party-re- blocked, which makes it clear that issues lated foundations and other institutionalized concerning archives are always also issues archives and libraries have at least entered concerning domination. In earlier uprisings, their collections of periodicals into the pe- archives were often the first things to be riodicals database of the German National burned down because they were consid- Library (ZDB). A selection of recommended ered symbols of ecclesiastical and feudal books on the history of social movements power. Even today, many people are not in- can be found under the corresponding key- terested in creating an historical awareness words in the collective bibliography on crit- of the possibility of fighting against injustice, ical history.7 for freedom, and for solidarity. Scholarship and political education can (and should) en- OUTLOOK hance and advance this awareness, and the The different archives introduced here re- archives discussed here contain plenty of sist any unambiguous or uniform definition. materials to contribute to this. What they have in common is that they are The movement archives contain a great deal depositories of knowledge that make availa- of material about the ideas and political ten- ble an almost inexhaustible source of mate- dencies of the people who joined the PDS rials for understanding social change.8 The from 1990 to 1992, and those who joined archivists will continue their work despite all Die Linke from 2004 to 2007, and who sub- adversity and the fact that their work is un- sequently helped shape its development paid. The historicization and scholarship that in both a programmatic and an habitual deals with working through the 1980s and sense. The movement archives also con- 1990s in both the East and West has only tain an abundance of information pertain- just begun. Therefore, such archives will be ing to these people’s extra-parliamentary unique places where important sources of work, presumably more than the Archives information can be found. for Democratic Socialism (ADS) itself. Of Some of those involved in the archives of course, the ADS is not a movement archive, social and political movements have been nor should it become one. But it would be demanding a closer working relationship important to make the ADS receptive to the between state and movement archives for concerns and problems of the movement years. For example, a working group on Tra- archives. We do not have to immediately ditions of the New Social Movements9 has dream of a meta-database that could be fi- existed within the official German Archivists nanced and implemented in the medium Association (VdA) since 2009, and there are term with the support of the academic com-

49 munity. But something similar to this is ulti- mately going to be necessary. The women’s archives are demonstrating how this can be done with a meta-catalogue and the digitiza- tion of selected documents.11

1 The fact that newer movements produce their legacies primarily in a digital form raises new and unresolved questions for archives, as well as for prospective research on contemporary history. These questions have been deliberately omitted from the conversation here and would warrant a text of their own. 2 An online directory can be found at http://afas-ar- chiv.de/verzeichnis-freier-archive/ or www.umwelt-bibliotheken.de . Hüttner lists 270 addresses; see Bernd Hüttner, Archive von unten. Biblio- theken und Archive der neuen sozialen Bewegungen und ihre Bestände, Neu-Ulm: 2003. For an up-to-date overview with commentary see Jürgen Bacia and Cornelia Wenzel, “Was bleibt? Archivierung von Protesten und Widerstand seit 1968: Ein Bestandsaufnahme”, Zeitschrift für Bibliotheks- wesen und Bibliographie, 4/2018, pp. 173–81, available at: http://dx.doi. org/10.3196/186429501865425). For more references, see http://kobib.de/ kg/index.php/keywords/single/58 . 3 Examples include the archives and libraries of the foundations affiliated with the party, but also facilities such as the Institut der sozialen Bewegungen in Bochum, the APO archive at the Freie Universität Berlin, and the Institut für Sozialforschung in Hamburg. 4 See, among others, “Jahr der Jahrestage, interview mit Bernd Hüttner zu Ge- schichtsarbeit”, anti-atom-aktuell, issue 180, May 2007, available at: www. anti-atom-aktuell.de/archiv/180/180jahrestage.html . 5 See the materials at www.bewegungsarchive.de 6 See http://ildb.nadir.org/ 7 See www. kobib.de 8 The central “institution” for research into social movements is the Verein für Protest- und Bewegungsforschung; see www.protestinstitut. eu 9 See www.vda.archiv.net/arbeitskreise/ueberlieferungen-der-neuen- sozialen-bewegungen.html 10 “Zur Zukunft der Archive von Protest-, Frei- heits- und Emanzipationsbewegungen”, in: ibid. 11 See www.ida-dachver- band.de/ddf/ and https://www.meta-katalog.eu

50 CREATORS OF MEMORY

damer Straße in Cologne, the state office in Hesse played an important role in the union’s activities, and many events and demonstrations were organized out of the Frankfurt office. There were several rea- sons for this. For one thing, there was excellent contact with the trade unions. For example, the PETER DELIS headquarters of the Industrial Union of Met- alworkers (IG Metall) and the federal office of the Union of Persecutees of the Nazi Re- Specific Features of the Tradition gime (VVN BdA) were located in Frankfurt of the German Peace Union1 am Main. Influential officials of the German Communist Party (DKP), founded in 1968, also lived nearby. They often coordinated with us, mostly in personal conversations, as it was suspected that their office was bugged with surveillance devices. The DKP was too weak, not flexible enough, and did not have a good enough image among the middle class to successfully convert its pol- icies into votes. The DFU was created in or- der to solve this problem and bring the issue of peace to the middle classes. Thus, in close coordination with the DKP, the Friedensliste was established as a party, in the hope that at the peak of the peace movement, a party would enter the Bonn Bundestag that would represent the interests of both the DKP and the peace movement. The Deutsche Friedens-Union (German There was another reason why people came Peace Union, DFU) was founded in 1960 together more often in Frankfurt am Main. in Frankfurt am Main. Renate Riemeck, a Willi van Ooyen and Horst Trapp were based professor and peace activist from Southern in Frankfurt, while Heinz Dreibrodt lived in Hesse, was an important reference point for Hamburg. For all three, work on Friday after- this project because she embodied a certain noon did not end at 4 p.m. They kept work- “leftist” standpoint that gave her the oppor- ing through the weekend. tunity to be elected, even after the KPD had With the exception of Saarland, each state been banned. had a regional association and an office. Although the DFU’s federal office, man- Thus, there were plenty of structures put aged by Heinz Dreibrodt, Willi van Ooyen, in place for coalition work. The state office and Horst Trapp, was located on Amster- on Frankfurt’s Lersner Straße was located

51 in a strategically convenient place, so that Hesse to the Archives for Democratic So- the staff members who worked there were cialism (ADS). also available when needed. Since events A van picked up the DFU documents from and demonstrations often took place on Willi van Ooyen’s basement and delivered public holidays or on weekends, it is not them to the Verlagsgebäude des Neuen surprising that many of the DFU’s organ- Deutschland in Berlin. There, former re- izational papers had a return address in gional manager Peter Delis prepared the Frankfurt. Unlike at other offices, the oc- documents for archiving and created in- cupational ban committee at the office in formative lists of all the materials that had Hesse employed Uli Breuer as a full-time been delivered. Since the documents had staff member in order to establish contacts originally been filed in Cologne and Frank- with politically interested people who had furt am Main in a variety of different forms, not yet been organized. Other offices had they first had to be brought into a consist- designated employees to handle this mat- ent format. With a lot of effort, the docu- ter as well. ments were put in chronological order, Heinz-Joachim Nagel was the state chair- and multiple deliveries could be cleaned man of the DFU in Hesse until the DFU was up. The work on the inventory led to an in- dissolved in 1990. After that, he was no tensive study of the history of the DFU and longer able to be actively involved due to kept the memories of various actions and health reasons, but was available as a con- actors alive. tact person for the Peace and Future Work- The documents illustrate how different the shop.2 Willi van Ooyen kept the promise communication channels were at that time. made by Heinz-Joachim Nagel and brought If you had appointments, you were difficult the DFU documents that were in his house to reach, cell phones did not yet exist, al- (the central storage location) to the federal though there were telephones and typewrit- archive in Koblenz. ers in all the offices. Since Willi van Ooyen Willi van Ooyen was a leading figure in had previously lived in Paris and had lived the peace movement; of particular impor- with a French woman, he placed a great deal tance was his role in organizing the Peace of importance on maintaining a relation- and Future Workshop, which took place at ship with the French Communist Party and the Frankfurt Union Building. Local peace the French peace movement. He had very initiatives and Easter marches in Hesse, good contact with the party leadership, and the Kassel Peace Council, the “No war in German-French peace talks were held annu- Afghanistan” petition, and the nationwide ally in Alsace. Beyond that, regular working Easter march information centre were meetings also took place. just some of the activities organized by The Archives for Democratic Socialism was Willi van Ooyen. Beyond that, beginning chosen because of its ideological proximity in 2008, he was Die Linke’s parliamen- to the DFU. This guarantees that all the doc- tary chairperson in the state parliament in uments remain available to us, which should Hesse. He wanted to hand over the files be the norm. The value of the documents is documenting his activities in the DFU and supplemented by the knowledge of contem- as a member of the state parliament in porary witnesses. Misinterpretations would

52 CREATORS OF MEMORY

be conceivable without explanations of how decisions were made. Sometimes the old GDR saying can be helpful: who benefits from what?

1 On the history of the DFU, see Bundesarchiv, collection B442 Deutsche Friedens-Union, Christoph Stamm, “Einleitung zum Findbuch”, Berlin 2011. 2 The Peace and Future Workshop does not see itself as a successor to the DFU. It works exclusively with volunteers on contemporary issues.

53 In other words, the act of remembering is the production of a memory. Memories of- ten get embellished, or more importantly: coherence is forced upon them. This is how memory unintentionally and unconsciously deviates from an exact rendering of an event. Confronting the difference between my memory and how events are recorded in archives would certainly have been inter- esting for me as a personal experience, but it would have made writing difficult. GREGOR GYSI Autobiographies are not entirely uninterest- ing to historians; they are examples of texts Archives and Personal Testimonials that historians can put into relation to their own research. Another fascinating thing about autobiographies is how they allow the spirit of a time to be relived, especially when the zeitgeist is only ever expressed through individuals. But autobiographies are not texts that can be passed off as his- torical tracts. If someone wanted to write a scholarly biography about a person, an au- tobiography would probably not be their first source. Newspaper articles would probably be more important for this task, regardless of how the person is portrayed therein. The files stored in various archives, not least of all the materials from the PDS and Die Linke, would also be important if the person were a leftist. The different archives have more or less to When I embarked upon the task of writing offer, depending on the topic of interest. my autobiography, I was briefly tempted to Of course, one should not take what is ar- visit the Archives for Democratic Socialism, chived literally. The archive is organized but I ultimately never ended up doing so. knowledge. But what kind of knowledge? An autobiography is meant to record that And what organizational principles are at which can be accessed from personal mem- work? A good historian would never believe ory. However, as psychologists and lawyers what is written in any old file. They would know, memories are not always entirely also always work to determine the credibility reliable. Human memory cannot be com- of the file. This is what the term “source crit- pared to a photo, since it is not a faithful icism” refers to. Moreover, the structure of representation of a past event, but rather the archive always provides a pre-interpre- an active process—an act of production. tation of what it archives.

54 CREATORS OF MEMORY

Finally, regardless of everything that has sidered lost. It was not until 1968 that the been said so far, the question always arises historian Hermann Weber was able to pres- as to what an event is. The execution of ent his discovery of the minutes. And such a Louis XVI is certainly an historical event. thing really is a valuable find. Much can be What he ate or did not eat the day before, said in 50 years, a great many stories can be however, is perhaps of little historical inter- told, but who is there to keep looking at the est. History is not simply the collection of minutes of a party conference? It is precisely any old facts, but rather an investigation of notes such as these that form the basis for certain events. There is always interest and the tireless work of dismantling myths. relevance for the latter. The fact that Louis At one point, however, I regret not having XVI was executed is a relevant fact because been in the Archives for Democratic Social- it makes clear how resolute France’s deci- ism when I wrote my autobiography. There sion to turn away from the monarchy was at was a meeting of the presidium of the party that time. And it is interesting because our executive board (I had not been the party democratic societies should at least have chair for very long at that time) and I gave an interest in their own genesis. This is how a letter to the committee, which I wished facts turn into events. That is why we can- to have sent to the party members. Lothar not know whether we ourselves will achieve Bisky then requested that I be sent home historical significance; at best we can only immediately and that I not return until I had claim it. It is only when others look back at slept for 48 hours. He also requested that us that history is constituted. the letter be destroyed immediately. Unfor- Thus history—both that which is written tunately, I cannot remember what it was that and that which has “happened”—is never I had written in that letter that had caused merely a component of an archive. But the such a reaction. I assume that the letter is ir- archive does have an important verification retrievably lost. And there are indeed worse function. Without a transcript of the party things. But perhaps it is not lost. Perhaps it conference, for example, myths could easily still exists somewhere. If I had visited the ar- be formed. For rougly 50 years, the minutes chives, I would at least know whether or not of the KPD’s founding conference were con- this draft letter still existed.

55 even fused together, causing immediate di- sorientation. When did I learn how import- ant it was to write my own history? As it happens, I learned this rather late. Yet without being aware of it, I had been part of this left-wing counter-history from the time I was in school, starting from when we took to the streets with our own version of Fridays for Future in outrage at the atomic armament, the Pershing-II, SS-20 rockets, and the NATO Double-Track Decision, and were admonished by the school administra- tion for conducting a “peace circle” outside the school grounds during class. Back then, FRIEDRICH BURSCHEL more than 350,000 people protested on the Rhine meadows in Bonn. But it was not until 19 December 1999—I was 34 years old at Your Own History the time—that something became entirely clear to me that I had previously only sus- A personal approach to pected: I was part of a history that others spoke and wrote about in a hostile way. It the importance of preserving was they who had established hegemony and remembering over the meaning of this history and caused our counter-story of the events to be erased from public view, or be depicted as a cari- cature. On 19 December of that year, 1,000 members of the Berlin police stormed the Mehringhof social centre on Gneisenauer- straße. Members of SEK police tactical units arrested—along with several more people If I wanted to write about the importance of in Frankfurt—the manager of Meringhof preserving and securing documents, vesti- and my friend and colleague Harald, with ges and traces of a “left-wing history”, ab- machine guns drawn. The entire building in out the “memory of the defeated” (Michel Kreuzberg was torn apart, all the doors bro- Ragon), to which we and our histories have ken open and the hollow spaces between too often belonged and continue to belong, walls and staircases were opened up in the then I would need to recount several stories search for explosive devices. A state witness simultaneously. The result would be a caco- had indicated to police that explosives were phony of memories, in which an individual’s hidden in the building. This is also why the very own personal story about their family police raid occurred so shortly before the history would be interwoven again and turn of the century: the leniency programme again with the “bigger” history—sometimes for state witnesses that was in effect at the

56 CREATORS OF MEMORY

time was due to expire on 31 December. yet familiar with the history of the Revolu- But even though the witness in question tionary Cells (including myself). Finally, we was connected to a remote-controlled ro- removed the two black volumes of Früchte bot camera during the raid, not a crumb of des Zorns (Fruits of Wrath) from the book- explosive material was found in Meringhof. shelf in our apartment, where they had been The raid left us in a state of utter despair. standing idle as decorations or bookends for too long. The publishing house Informa- I wrote a text at the time, which was nicely tions-Dienst zur Verbreitung unterbliebener prefaced with a Hölderlin quotation—as Nachrichten (ID Verlag) had carried out the befitted the offspring of an educated mid- honourable work of publishing these vol- dle-class professor—,under the title “Where umes, which had given us the opportunity danger lies...”, and posted it on the internet to reconstruct the history of the Revolu- and in the Hamburg scene newspaper Off tionary Cells and to relate it to the policies limits. In the article, I attempted to discern of the federal government during the time why such a completely disproportionate the Revolutionary Cells were active, and to amount of effort and violence had been the policies that were current at the time: employed, when a few specialists could “In the present situation of speechlessness, have quickly determined that there were no however, a very strong need for discussion explosives. I wrote: “But of course, such a and transmission of history and events can discreet procedure would not have elicited be felt in all corridors, especially among the the desired side effect that the police could youth. For these contemporaries it will be appear to be in the service of a public that instructive to proceed by reading the ex- was already trembling in fear of the millen- planations and corresponding background nium attack plots and once again locate the literature. Suddenly the memory of Kemal spectre of ‘terrorism’ where they wanted Cemal Altun, of the scandalous decisions it to be: on the left.” At the time, the scene on deportations in torture states by the Fed- was in a state of emergency, paralyzed by eral Court of Justice (BGH), … the memory the state’s raids on our structures almost a of the fire in police custody at Augustaplatz decade after the end of the phase of “armed in Berlin … in which six prisoners set for de- struggle” carried out by the Revolutionary portation were torturously burned to death Cells (RZ). We organized solidarity for the in an overcrowded cell, the so-called Berlin five prisoners held at the time and tried to hole through which many refugees and mi- counter the narrative that was being dis- grants found their way to Western Europe seminated by the mainstream media with a and which the FRG tried to close by way of more nuanced version of events. “We must all possible means, and the emerging instru- write our own history”, an older colleague ments of defence against refugees, which we had worked closely with implored us. are still familiar to us today in an idealised Leading up to the pending criminal trial in way, such as the Central Register of Foreign Moabit, we published ZitronenfalteR. We Nationals (AZR)”, my article said. distributed reading and discussion mate- rials from the various scene archives and Anyone born as a white German in this distributed them to many who were not country is bound by their ancestry to the

57 history of National Socialism, the utter be- time felt after a number of excellent actions, trayal of civilized values that was the Hol- especially when they damaged property.” At ocaust, and the wars of extermination. In that time, I was thinking about the attacks many families, somewhere in the cavities on construction machines in Wackersdorf, of their memory, in attics, knee walls, and where Franz Josef Strauß’s “nuclear repro- cellars, there were boxes, crates, and cases cessing plant” was to be built, or of the fact containing letters, documents, photos, and that the Revolutionary Cells had prevented other artefacts from the thousand years be- a supermarket from being built on the tween 1933 and 1945, which had survived grounds of the former Ravensbrück con- the lengthy stretch of time since the end of centration camp with an attack. The nuclear the Nazi regime. Malte Ludin’s impressive reprocessing plant does not exist, the ruins documentary film 2 or 3 Things I Know Ab- of the supermarket can still be seen today out Him is centred around one such wooden in Fürstenburg/Havel. But such statements, box, and what this box reveals to the director especially with reference to the tiresome about his father, who was a member of the debate around Göttinger Mescalero, have extermination elite of the Third Reich. It is no not been forgiven by the German federal wonder that these boxes were not opened government and its population. Left-wing until the end of the 20th century, giving way terrorism continues to function as a source to a new genre in literature and art: working of national trauma, and declaring enemies through one’s familial past and interrogating has a unifying effect that strengthens the co- and confronting how the perpetrators are hesion of society. entangled with their grandchildren. Simply In the following years, this tiny snippet from because they had grown up enough to ex- the archives twice cost me my job. And in pose tabooed connections with their own 2007 the article earned me the refusal of ac- family history. Five years after the events in creditation as a freelance journalist for the Berlin, the same thing happened to me, but G8 summit in Heiligendamm: The Federal it concerned my grandfather. Office for the Protection of the Constitution had identified me as one of the “dirty dozen” History catches up with you again and again, journalists who were denied access to the and archiving, publishing, editing, or the high-security wing around the Grand Hotel new format of posting left-wing content on- Heiligendamm. Two lawsuits against this line certainly involves risks. In the text I men- “sovereign discretization” (Jürgen Seifert) tioned above, I also wrote the following: “So before the Cologne regional courthouse all that remains is personal access: the au- ended successfully; the court declared my thor, for example, has not been concerned ostracism to be illegal and then instructed with any ‘militant actions’ in the Federal the federal agency to delete the information Republic of Germany, since he found these about me that had been collected over the to be rather suspicious, and yet he stum- course of ten years. bled through clouds of tear gas and was absorbed by them, his open gaze drowned. The fact that this domestic secret service, Admittedly, it was often ‘more than just se- acting as a fatal legal guardian of the “do- cret joy’ that he and those around him at the mestic security”, has approached me time

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and time again probably has to do with my numbered letters to her at home before he journalistic research work as an anti-fascist. lost track of them in Stalingrad in late Janu- Anyone who talks about Nazis in Germany ary 1943. It then turned out to be quite differ- cannot remain silent about the domestic se- ent from what I had thought, because to this cret service. Since 4 November 2011 at the day I have not processed these letters; their very latest, it has no longer been possible contents were far too disturbing. At the time to deny this connection. To a large extent, I thought to myself that the German perpe- this knowledge and these alarming find- trators had received sufficient space for their ings stem from anti-fascist archives and the view of things and their version of history in quasi-scientific and incorruptible research the decades since the end of the war. Their of an anti-fascist—in the best sense of the narrative had overshadowed the interpreta- word—counterintelligence, which always tion of the German past and helped create keeps track of the involvement of state ac- the image of the “immaculate shield of the tors in the networks of the German Nazi Wehrmacht”, which contrasted with the re- scene. Concerning the National Socialist ality of the crimes of the SS, Gestapo, and Underground (NSU) complex, but also more Sicherheitsdienst. The trend-setting exhibi- recently with the murder of Kassel’s mu- tion on the Crimes of the Wehrmacht in the nicipal-oversight president Walter Lübcke mid-1990s helped put an end to this image. on 2 June 2019, it was Antifa that was able to present valid and explosive information, It was only much later that I came to truly un- often exclusively, early on. An expert report derstand the enormous scale of the Shoah from the federal office of the nationalistic and Germany’s sprees of destruction. In party Alternative for Germany (AfD) took school, the subject was fobbed off, leaving information from the same Antifa sources, me with very little reliable knowledge. In ad- which it classified as “left-wing extremist” in dition to this, I was raised in an environment its annual reports. with a fair deal of “Führer” fixation—among others, books from the historical denialist Even my ageing grandmother’s last apart- Joachim C. Fest were cobbled together with ment still contained the box that she had those of “Albert Speer” and “Hitler”, on our had a carpenter make for her in which to bookshelves at home. It was only trips to the keep my grandfather’s sacred letters. I, the scenes of the crimes, beyond Auschwitz historian among her nine grandchildren, into the backwoods of Poland, sometimes was once set to inherit this box and was al- accompanied by the estimable Bildungs­ lowed to open it. Shortly before her death at werk Stanisław Hantz Institute, that made it the age of 94, she had tried to have the box unmistakably clear what the extermination destroyed and literally “disposed of”, for she of millions of Jews and many other people, suspected what kind of effect my grandfa- carried out partly through industrial division ther’s 600 letters from France and the So- of labour and efficiency or by unimaginably viet Union might have on the person reading cruel mass executions in the Soviet Union, them. This box also contained about 1,000 meant. It was only in recent times and also of her own letters to her husband Heinrich. only after the US television series “Holo- He had regularly sent bundles of carefully caust” had made its way into the cosy living

59 rooms of West Germany at the end of the of what people could have left behind then, 1970s that large numbers of testimonies whether intentionally or accidentally, disap- from survivors and contemporary witnesses peared with their execution or with the de- began to appear. In an atmosphere charac- struction of the traces of the mass murders. terized by threateningly successful attempts The little we have can be considered a guar- to downplay the history of Germany’s crimes antor of the truth. against humanity as “bird shit” (AfD leader Alexander Gauland) in the long stream of his- The knowledge of very many perpetrators, tory and the desire shared by many to once on the other hand, has survived with them again be proud “of the achievements of Ger- and—contrary to the alleged tabooing of the man soldiers in the two world wars” (more subject—has flowed into the stream of post- precisely) beyond a German “cult of guilt”, war German history in an heroic or trivialized these testimonies have made it possible for form, which characterizes the half-heart- those eager to know more to discover the edness of the much-praised “coming to whole truth. Perhaps with the late publica- terms with the German past” and forms the tion of Raul Hilberg’s monumental work The breeding ground for the resurgence of na- Destruction of the European Jews in German tionalistic ideologies in our time. So what do in the early 1980s and Claude Lanzmann’s I do with the letters of my perpetrator grand- deeply harrowing nine-hour documentary father, who was definitely a Nazi and also Shoah in 1985, something began which is far a fervent anti-Semite, just like my grand- from over and which is based in part on doc- mother? When I began to work on this am- uments believed to have been lost, such as bivalent heritage, the biggest surprise was the unsettling memoirs of survivor Kalmen not that my grandfather was a Nazi. This is Wewryk titled To Sobibor and Back, of which quite clear, but more passim in his letters. a German translation was first published in What was most disturbing about the letters November 2019. After the concentration I had read at the time is something else en- camps were liberated from German forces, tirely: they are highly erotic letters that he knowledge about the suffering and death of had written to his wife, my grandmother, millions was discovered in secret messages full of sexual desire and physical longing. It that people had hastily noted down during was only once I had read Dagmar Herzog’s the ongoing extermination process, and had excellent book The Politicization of Lust that often buried or hidden at the sites of the exe- I was able to understand these surprisingly cutions shortly before their own murder, out pornographic scenes, which certainly deter- of the existential feeling of witnessing the mine the tone of the letters, and to adjust my unthinkable and indescribable and needing image of my grandfather as a cruel, asexual to set it in writing for some kind of posterity. Nazi disciplined to be body-phobic, and then Much of it, whether the Ringelblum Archive to put the reading of the letters aside in a in the Warsaw Ghetto or the messages from state of irritation. the inside of the extermination chambers, was quickly hidden in mortal fear in the in- The surveillance state, which keeps a do- ferno of the incinerators, and today forms the mestic secret service called the Verfassungs- basis of knowledge about the Shoah. Much schutz in order to watch out for “any­body

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who does something criminal at night” (Ex- serting since the very beginning that the files trabreit), and which I hardly took any notice had been shredded for reasons of time and of for a long time, has been with me since data protection. It was only much later that the encounter described above—literally. he was confronted with his own statement The role of the Verfassungsschutz (protection before the second parliamentary NSU inves- of the constitution) in the NSU complex has tigative committee, which he had made to completely strengthened my opinion that the Federal Criminal Police Office and which the “secrets” and “secret service” of these stated that he had had the information about 16 state secret services, plus the federal of- the Nazi informants recruited in Thuringia as fice pose a threat to an open and democratic part of “Operation Rennsteig” collected and society. After the disaster of the first pro- destroyed specifically and in order to avert ceedings to ban the NPD in 2003 and with repercussions from the authorities. But this the uncovering of the NSU’s terror network original sin initiated a lively trend of docu- in 2011, it must have become clear to every ment destruction in other state institutions halfway attentive person in the country that dealing with criminal prosecution and the the Verfassungsschutz was part of, rather than Verfassungsschutz, so that approximately the solution to a massive problem with right- 400 NSU-related files had disappeared after a wing structures that are prepared to commit one-year period. But even after the grandiose acts of terror in Germany. The growth and de- announcement of a moratorium on file de- velopment of the Nazi structures in Thuringia, struction, the destruction or disappearance for example, would simply be unthinkable of relevant archival materials occurred again without the lavish financial support and ma- and again throughout the course of the NSU terial contributions of the local state office’s trial at the Higher Regional Court in Munich, undercover agent Tino Brandt. It has been which lasted over five years. In those cases proven that there were at least 40 informants where the secret service authorities could placed within the NSU and its support net- not avoid handing over their files, however, work, which should make clear to even the this duty of disclosure of their “work results” most law-abiding people what kind of a hor- to the sovereign, which is to say the parlia- rible institution we are dealing with here. But ments at the federal and state levels, was not even the fact that then on 11 November marked by obstruction, inexplicable delays, 2011 (11/11/11)—seven days after the NSU arrogant rejection of the demands of the in- had been exposed—a head of department vestigative committees, and even the exten- in the federal office (presumably at the be- sive sanitization of entire files. In the course ginning of the carnival at 11:11) ordered the of the work of the Hessian NSU investigative destruction of all files in the federal office committee in Wiesbaden, the Ministry of the pertaining to the NSU, thereby violating the Interior even resorted to blocking a classified constitution. Although the head of depart- internal report on connections from Hesse ment was sentenced—after relatives of one to Thuringia in connection with the NSU for of the ten murder victims of the NSU sued an outrageous and extremely unusual 120 him—to pay 3,000 euros for “breach of cus- years. However, due to protests, this classi- tody”, the proceedings were discontinued, fication was reduced to 30 years, and Dirk despite the fact that he had been falsely as- Laabs—basically the only truly investigative

61 journalist within the bourgeois press—at I hope that my very personal reflections on least filed a lawsuit to disclose some detailed the subject of archives have made clear the information from the report, such as how of- importance of securing and preserving doc- ten the alleged murderer of Walter Lübke and uments and archival materials of all kinds, as his alleged accomplice are mentioned in the well as the sensitive handling of the property official text. The fact that the suspect is men- collected. I emphasize the importance of tioned eleven times once again reinforces this not only for my own, left-wing historiog- the pressing suspicion that explosive find- raphy, but also for any kind of investigation ings and connections are being deliberately into social and political conflicts, ruptures, concealed. But as the secret service coordi- and upheavals, into state and war crimes; nator in the Federal Chancellery, Klaus-Dieter as for investigations into the reconstruction Fritsche, who himself was Vice President of of what has been thwarted, smoothed out, the Federal Office for the Protection of the lied about, and falsified in a national frenzy, Constitution while the NSU was active, said out of authoritarian dogmatism, or in some so beautifully: “State secrets that undermine other way guided by special interests. For government action must not be made pub- these reasons, we must visit archives, col- lic.” A small anecdote in passing: after his lection points, libraries, view their databases retirement, Fritsche officially became an ad- and digital volumes, and incorporate them visor to the right-wing national former Aus- into our work. Even if one can only ever ap- trian Minister of the Interior Herbert Kickl for proach the “whole truth”, we are obliged the restructuring of the Verfassungsschutz in out of our own interest to at least attempt to Austria. approach it.

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found historical turning point. Meanwhile, the fall of actually existing socialism has left far more mourners than surviving depen- dents in its wake. In the West, there were political struggles that have not led to the desired outcome of radical social change, but still leave their mark on people today. In my life, both Germanies collide with one another. In the West, at any rate, which is where I lived—until the fall of the Wall, I primarily resided in Hamburg, and spent a number of years in the Ruhr district—but also in the East. After nine years of primary school education, it was comrades from the GDR who granted me access to the world of

WOLFGANG GEHRCKE art and culture and also opened the door to the Soviet Union for me, which was integ- ral to European security and peace—just as Looking back without anger the door to Russia is today. With the help of the GDR, we were able to organize classical music concerts, concerts for workers in the West. The large exhibition in Hamburg ab- out the artwork of Willi Sitte was as much a political undertaking as the study circle in which we explored the wonderful world of works by Marx and Engels. My historical awareness was enhanced dur- ing the struggle against rearmament and the great silence that cloaked Europe be- tween 1933 and 1945. I got into strife with I like to look back, and not in anger, even my father—and with almost everyone in though some of my mistakes bother me. his generation—because I wanted to know Retrospection is crucial when it comes to about how they had behaved during the understanding the present. Perhaps Die period of fascist rule. It was not the perpe- Linke engages in too little retrospection trators or fellow travellers who spoke about these days, choosing instead to focus too what had happened, but rather those who much on day-to-day operations. The pro- had been persecuted by the Nazi regime. cess of retrospection is likely to conjure up I suspected that they were communists; very different images and memories in the their party had already been banned. It was East and West; after all, an entire state and from them that I acquired the motto “Never social order were collapsing in the East just again fascism, never again war”, which led as the West was bourgeoning. This is a pro- to my being kicked out of the SPD and its

63 youth organization Die Falken (The Falcons) activists, a tradition that had been brought in 1961, around the same time that the wall back from Britain by Konrad Tempel, who was built. was a Quaker, and his partner Helga Stolle. The first Aldermaston march to be con- CODENAME: ducted in Germany took place in 1961 over a CHRISTIAN HAMMERER three-day period and travelled from Hohne, I then started telling everybody that if I were an area near the village of Belsen and the to join a party ever again, it would only be Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, over the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). At the Lüneburg Heath, to Hamburg. I helped some point, my wish was granted. My en- organize the march. I was enthralled by it, try to their ranks was marked with a small perhaps even because of its “loneliness”; ceremony. My two guarantors and the party we were but a few hundred people, and our secretary are no longer alive, but I think back supporters. Sleeping inside barns and wind- on them with gratitude. At one of the first mills, with a whole lot of love in between— party conferences to which I was invited, that was rather enticing. which took place in East Berlin, somebody Anti-fascism and the struggle for peace are asked me what my name was. My answer, inextricably linked. At the Ohlsdorf ceme- “Wolfgang Gehrcke”, triggered looks of hor- tery in Hamburg, there is a memorial grove ror and dismay. It was then that I was asked for deceased and murdered anti-fascists. whether I had a codename. I didn’t have The memorial for Ernst Thälmann, whose one, and had to make one up on the spot. board of trustees I worked on for a number The only thing that came to mind was my of years, should also be seen in this context. mother’s maiden name, Hammerer. In the Thälmann was murdered at the Buchenwald list of those working undercover, the name concentration camp; the plight of the German Christian was not yet taken. From now on, working class is reflected in his life and death. I would be known as Christian Hammerer One can reproach him for his strategic mista- in these circles. Under my alias, I designed kes, but the fact remains that he gave his life leaflets, spoke at rallies, and—something in the fight against fascism. that was very important for me—was in- volved in developing the KPD’s youth policy, NO MASS MOVEMENT which led in 1968 to the establishment of WITHOUT CULTURE the Socialist German Workers Youth (SDAJ). In the beginning, the peace movement was I was involved in its management, and was also a youth movement; it became a big its chairperson for a number of years. cultural movement with communists right at the heart of it. Without culture, there can EVERYTHING IS NOTHING be no mass movement, and vice versa: WITHOUT PEACE mass movements are simultaneously the But beforehand, I had other party objectives breeding ground for culture, and that which to fulfil—namely to participate in the peace it yields. At the time, there were artists like movement. At the time, the movement Hannes Wader, Franz Josef Degenhardt, was chiefly constituted by the Aldermas- Dieter Süverkrüp, the great Fasia Jansen, ton marches conducted by the anti-nuclear who had already taken to the streets dur-

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ing the first Aldermaston march, cabaret POLITICAL PERSECUTION artists like Hanns Dieter Hüsch, painters The political left in West Germany never en- like Adolf Wriggers and Willy Colberg, or joyed particularly extensive periods of res- cartoonists like Stefan Siegert. These days pite from discrimination or persecution. As there are other names for it, but to this day, many as 200,000 preliminary proceedings the peace movement remains a cultural were launched in connection with the 1956 movement, as seen in Ramstein; (still) only banning of the KPD, which often led to peo- somewhat smaller than the movements ple losing their jobs and their “good repu- against the emergency powers, or the tation”; as many as 10,000 people received NATO missile decision. I will never forget prison sentences (among some 6,000 to the peace demonstration that took place in 7,000 KPD members at the time). Then in Bonn in 1981 and drew a crowd of 350,000; 1971, under the Brandt government, profes- I was a member of the central action com- sional bans came into effect with unlimited mittee that was in charge of preparing for spying in the form of 3.5 million (!) enquiries the demonstration. to the Verfassungsschutz (Office for the Pro- Artists were well aware of what they were tection of the Constitution) about the “loy- doing when they became a part of these alty to the constitution” exhibited not only movements, and sometimes a driving force: by those applying for the civil service, but they were cut by the established institutions, also by former employees. Postmen were and this is still the case to this day. For ex- found to be too disloyal to be entrusted with ample, in the music index kept by the Nord­ the task of delivering letters, and honest and deutscher Rundfunk (NDR), there were in- upright customs officers were declared un- structions filed under the name Franz Josef reliable and untrustworthy. And there were Degenhardt: “Only with authorization from also professional bans that were intended to the artistic director.” Brilliant artists were to keep an entire generation of young, politi- be silenced, similar to what had been done cally aware, left-wing intellectuals involved in the USA under McCarthy. But here, just in the 1968 movement out of schools and as in the USA, there were people who dis- universities. Willy Brandt later made the covered and revealed these underhanded mistake of referring to the move as the Ra- schemes; in the “case” of Degenhardt and dikalenerlass (Radicals Decree). But to this the NDR, the people in question were mem- day, those affected are still fighting for their bers of the local DKP works group. rehabilitation. Today, we can choose to either mourn this Defending democracy, taking part in the breadth of politics and politicized social peace movement, maintaining an open life, or we can make attempts to pick up the mind towards political opponents, being in- thread. Doing this, to name just two names: volved in trade unions—I incorporate all of artists like Diether Dehm, whose popular these elements from my past into my polit- songs are also poignant and moving, or the ical work in the present. I also incorporate visual artist Heidrun Hegewald, whose mag- my love for Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador, nificent works the official art establishment and their liberation movements. Some com- would like to retroactively remove from GDR rades travelled from Hamburg to Cuba to culture. help with construction efforts, where they

65 also harvested sugarcane; in Nicaragua, together, we managed to hold out for a few they helped with electrification; in El Sal- hours with our banner of solidarity, but the vador, in a collaborative action with others, security guards were equipped with big bolt we supported the establishment of a rebel cutters and had burly men to take us away. radio station in the fight against the right- I will never forget the image of the HDW wing-bandit leadership, and, yes, we also workers who, after losing the battle, left their collected money for weapons for the liber- factory in a protest march carrying a banner ation movement Farabundo Martí National emblazoned with the words Standing tall as Liberation Front (FMLN). we walk through the gate. The notion of standing tall as we walk STANDING TALL AS through the gate still persists to this day; WE WALK THROUGH THE GATE failing to achieve a goal is one thing, but Forms of action from the extra-parliamentary not giving in to coercion is another thing en- movement such as blockades and occupa- tirely. tions managed to find their way into the po- litical struggles of trade unions; one exam- MY FILES SHOULD BE ple of this is the fight to preserve the Krupp MADE PUBLIC steel works situated in the areas of Rhein- It is likely that you can read about all of this hausen, von Hoesch, Westfalenhütte, and and much more in the file that the Verfas- Union in Dortmund, and the large shipyard sungsschutz created about me, which con- Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) in tains more than 10,000 sheets of paper. I Hamburg. It was always the workers in the want this file to be made public. Everyone companies themselves who took the initia- should be able to read what the spooks tive to conduct actions of this kind, but it was have collected about me. While I was in the possible for those outside the companies to process of attempting to obtain (access to) support them. A great deal of support came my files, I went as far as the Federal Admin- from artists, the women’s movement, which istrative Court and offered to have them had developed parallel to the labour move- placed in the federal archives and thus made ment, and from church circles. I was directly accessible to the public. The Verfassungs- involved in all of the aforementioned com- schutz refused my request at the time, and pany actions, in particular the occupation the courts unfortunately followed suit. It is of HDW in Hamburg. I was involved in an not destroying the files that is important, but action with a small communist action group: rather having them published, because files after consulting with our colleagues on the such as these constitute part of our collec- works council, we sailed across the Elbe by tive memory. With this in mind, I would also night and boarded a dry dock. This involved like to thank the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung a great deal of effort on my part because I for their efforts in creating and maintaining am afraid of heights, and from the water, a an extensive archive on left-wing politics in dry dock is as tall as a skyscraper. Chained Germany.

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POLITICS

SCIENCE

TWENTY-YEAR ARCHIVES OF THE ROSA-LUXEMBURG-STIFTUNG USERS MEMORY OF

POLITICS

SCIENCE

JOURNALISM nal appeal to the baby-boomer generation; whether it had learned the necessary les- sons from left-wing history. Then, an older person penned a text accusing the younger generation of not yet having “fully unders- tood” fundamental problems, issues, and perspectives. It would be easy at this juncture to get po- litely upset about pretensions such as these, which stem from a know-it-all atti- tude towards new social movements and younger generations of left-wing activists. A paternalistic perspective such as the one cited above will naturally come up against accusations of arrogance. But do we really want to be so quick to point the finger at oth- ers? How often have you had the first-hand experience of mentioning a name that you consider to be important from your own his- torical perspective, only to find that it is met with uncomprehending stares? How often have you thought, with eyebrows raised, that this is a brand-new idea that is only now being discussed—an idea that had thrice TOM STROHSCHNEIDER been rejected years or decades earlier. It is also possible to interpret the phrase “not yet fully understood” as a benevolent piece A Question of Transmission of sympathetic advice. We do not have to make the mistakes of the past all over again; not every debate has to be rehashed in every Why left-wing memory is so important era or generation; there is a kind of history in the quest for a different kind of future of experience that we should draw from in order to create the future. Whether the is- sue at hand is expropriation, alternative eco- At some point in the scorching summer nomic strategies, questions of authoritarian of 2019, a manuscript arrived that could populism, the criticism of racism, gender be used as a basis for reflecting upon left- relations—all of these and many more have wing memory. The text revolved around the been discussed in the past. Being left-wing question of whether the movement Fridays sometimes means being ahead of one’s for Future, which at that point was still in time: today, there are issues on the agenda its infancy, was on the right political track: in which the search for answers could bene- whether it had made a sufficient emotio- fit from this left-wing memory.

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“Trivializing environmental issues by appeal- der the feet of those in the GDR who were ing to consumers (to drive their cars less of- calling for a “third way”. Today, when we ten, to purchase phosphate-free detergents, look back on the events of 1989 and 1990, or to buy their groceries from organic food it is generally from the end of history, which shops) is an attempt to conceal a politically historically devalues part of the Peaceful motivated aversion to industrial intervention Revolution: the left-wing, social, and eco- and an unwillingness to break through the logical awakenings of that era do not fit into logic of capital.” This was stated decades an image of memory marked by national ago in a draft of a text titled “Grundlagen unity and capitalist triumph. And the same der Radikalen Linken” (Fundamentals of the can be said of the left in the West: they were Radical Left). It was the autumn of 1989, and among those who resisted the furious, thun- those in the progressive camp of the Fed- derous march towards reunification. But, eral Republic of Germany were looking for because the predominant view of history new opportunities to forge alliances and now deems this “reunification” to be the develop new approaches that would enable “right” outcome of that course of events, them to go on the socio-critical offensive, other perspectives and positions, alternative while a few kilometres to the east, opposi- answers, and radical lines of questioning are tion groups were speaking out. In the open- “written out” of the general population’s ing appeal of the grass-roots movement collective memory. Neues Forum (New Forum), warnings were It is therefore possible to make generaliza- issued regarding the ecological costs of a tions about the things that apply to these consumer society, and pleas were made to two examples: if it is true that past endeav- “curb uncontrolled growth”. They wanted ours—successful or otherwise—can also to “make room for renewal in order to live be useful in the search for answers, then in a more economical and environmentally the left needs to think about how it engages friendly manner”. In its day, the movement with its own memory, how it nurtures it, Demokratie Jetzt (Democracy Now) con- and also how it employs it. This leads to tended that democratic socialism was nec- two sets of problems. One revolves more essary “because when humanity is under around questions of the left’s self-image—in threat and in search of viable, long-term other words, the characteristic of needing modes of human coexistence, it will require to search for answers about the future in alternatives to Western consumer society, the past. The other is of a somewhat more whose affluence the rest of the world has formal, institutional nature: how can we had to pay for”. safeguard the process of collecting and the Both of these examples have something material storage requirements; how can in common, namely that what was dis- we ensure that these collections are “kept cussed, desired, criticized, and demanded available”, even beyond the generally finite would, from a contemporary perspective, lifespan of individual organizations, cycles be branded a “failure”. The attempts made of movements, and even beyond our own by the radical left in the West to reorganize individual biographies? When it comes to failed not least due to the same national dy- this subject, it would be a little odd to omit namics that also pulled the rug out from un- from a text the great many past endeavours

71 that revolve around questions of left-wing pressure in this internet era. The difficult sit- memory. The Berlin-based Papiertiger (Paper uation in which newspapers—including po- Tiger), an archive that seeks to “assist in the litical and scientific periodicals—find them- reappraisal of its own history in this form”, selves should also be taken into account has long said that a “pervasive sense of ahis- here. toricity, the coexistence of different currents Without papers such as these, the afore- and approaches, and a general sense of mentioned critical traditions would not have detachment within the structures of move- been able to take shape in the first place. No ments hinders the collective reappraisal of debates would have been conducted, and political experiences and the emergence we would not have the concepts and theo- of intergenerational learning processes”, ries that were developed in the struggle for by “functioning as a kind of ‘memory for analytical quality, political points, and social the left’, collecting materials, and making effectiveness. them available to those interested in his- Part of this memory of critical thinking is torical work”. There are a great number of in danger of disappearing—namely the ar- these “free archives”; many of them oper- chives, backlists, experiences, and contexts. ate under precarious conditions, and their What we are dealing with here is the mate- future is not entirely secured. A few years rial existence of projects that contribute to ago, the Verband deutscher Archivarinnen the preconditions of social criticism. This ap- und Archivare e.V. (Association of German plies not least to the period since 1989: three Archivists) drew attention to this fact and decades in which much has occurred on the formulated a series of proposals titled “Zur left both on a local and global level, and in Zukunft der Archive von Protest-, Freiheits- which critical self-reflection, radical new be- und Emanzipationsbewegungen” (On the ginnings, and attempts at political practice Future of Archives for Protest, Freedom, and have taken place under hitherto unknown Emancipation Movements), which included technological and social conditions. plans to establish a foundation that would Those who wish to talk about left-wing be “made available as a central institution memory must expand the conversation be- for receiving those archives that are about yond the question of how the preservation to be destroyed”. Recent shifts in modes of “our history” can be safeguarded at an of communication present a relatively new institutional level. If we are honest, this is problem for preserving left-wing memory. usually done with other people’s money. We The internet has not only shifted people’s also need to talk about the culture of mak- perception of the world, but has also in a ing collections available, of entrusting them, broad sense shaken up the ways in which and also of the openness it takes to hand a content is produced and disseminated. Who part of one’s own biography to another per- collects tweets and Facebook calls, or the son, knowing full well that it will not remain debates conducted in social networks, or under lock and key, but rather will only have the photos and flyers that are only available an educational impact when it is public is- electronically? Already precarious business sue once again, when political allegiances models, such as those of independent pub- and learning processes are possible. This is lishers, are also coming under even greater not easy, especially in a political scene that

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seems to have a tendency towards internal ers, but rather according to whether the re- division and conflict hardwired into its DNA. sources are helpful when it comes to solving Something can be done, however, to com- contemporary issues. The idea might also bat these gaps in left-wing memory, which be disseminated that all actions towards stem from gaps in transmission. changing conditions always have an his- First, a culture of mutual respect and ap- torical side whose usefulness for cognitive preciation might be helpful—one that is processes and creating strategies should also maintained when political controver- be discussed. We are not in need of new sies have increased. Secondly, it would be classics or saints, but we do need the de- helpful to cultivate a self-image that does sire to seek and find something in the past not measure learning resources according that sharpens the critique and facilitates the to some sort of “authority” of earlier think- practice on a political level.

73 the transience of action in our everyday dea-

´ lings; instead, we live and carry out the re- quirements or freedoms of the day-to-day. Everyday life represents the familiar and, in its nowness, seems certain to us. It mani- fests often enough as the repetition of the same actions, that is, habits; this is normality unfolding. It is absolutely positive to live life, provided it is possible to do things in one’s familiar environment with some degree of regularity, to spend time with people one likes, or to resolve conflicts that one might miss. In all of these repetitions, small, some- times barely perceptible shifts take place, which develop their own rhythm. They lead ALEX DEMIROVIC to a different economy, one that sometimes creeps up on us slowly, but at the same Archives and Politics time has the power to suddenly shift our perspective. Then, looking back, we know that something has shifted and changed. We come to understand that that sense of normality cannot be retrieved; the memory is unreliable, the steady rhythm engulfs events and experiences. We only remem- ber selectively and unreliably; much is lost, but some things live on in our memory with the clarity and precision of a photograph: an action, a decision, an argument, a gesture, a facial feature. When habits and routines are shifted, everyday life is shifted—space If everything were preserved, there would is made for other topics of conversation, ot- be no history, because history is connec- her people, other behaviours. We still think ted with loss, and the ephemeral. Not every we would know what we were doing and loss is cause for regret. There is much that would remember anyway. But then we have we would like to rid ourselves of, unburden to realize that the degrees of relevance have ourselves of. It is only in retrospect that we changed and, when it comes to people, the sometimes realize that it was a mistake not common points of reference, experiences, to have preserved something; because it and knowledge. We have to reflect on and would have been a memory, because it strive to remember how it was: which issues would have proved useful, because in re- we dealt with, which people we argued with trospect we can see that there would have and where, and what the cause of the con- been alternatives. We do not contemplate flict was.

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Some of these processes can be distin- dispossess the dominated of their memory, guished according to their external rhythms: to mock them, or to put them in the wrong. the chairs of a political group, party, or foun- This would imply that all the present endeav- dation, the election campaigns and parlia- ours of the contemporary left, all of the prac- mentary terms, the party conferences, and tices and the alternatives are suppressed. the commissions. Discussions and events, This includes memories of defeats, nasty arrangements and plans take place around conflicts, aborted attempts, even on the events such as these, which have their left itself. People are easily mistaken when it own kind of regularity. We may not want all comes to their own actions and often over- things to be preserved; in which case it will estimate their own importance, or the im- then become part of that story that we can at portance of their experiences and decisions. most suspect existed. They also believe that their ideas, objectives, These experiences are incorporated into achievements are original; wherever these the institution of the archive: it is a site of represent a repetition, or are reversed in ret- preservation that defies history and transi- rospect as an action or a line of thought with ence. But, at the same time, it constitutes far-reaching implication, it is essential to history, because, through the act of preserv- take a look in the archives. The prospect of ing, it allows us to remember and under- historical research is essential, the prospect stand that the present is the present of this of a retrospective view that allows us to flesh history—that we had challenges, conflict, out the details of the new, that picks up the and alternatives. It is therefore good that we thread of past ideas, recalls that which has are able to know about it without having to not reached its conclusion, or warns against rely on the testimonies of those who bore once again trying out strategies we know to witness to past events. But an act of pres- be futile. Perhaps history does not teach us ervation always represents an act of selec- directly, but rather is that experience that is tion. This means that aspects of the present perceptible just below the surface, which determine how institutionalized memory is one encounters in archival materials; that ordered—that is, that which in future will tacit knowledge that suggests that we not appear to us to constitute the past, but will go down certain paths again, that we exam- then seem inadequate and be evaluated as a ine present-day actions in light of the past, wrong decision from the perspective of the or to see itself confirmed. The archive rep- future present. Every archive is bound to fail, resents an attempt to keep this knowledge because archives require criteria that guide alive and to make it available for critical anal- the selection process; criteria that have been ysis. The history of the left and lines of so- obtained from history, interrogated, and cialist development must be wrested from overhauled. This is why it makes sense to as- the supremacy and dominance of bourgeois semble a generous selection. This puts each history. According to Walter Benjamin, it archive in relation to other archives. is the victors who write history, and they It is of great importance to the left that it have yet to stop winning. And the speed have its own historical memory, for domina- with which decades of efforts to achieve tion also involves the ability and the endeav- historical truth can be devalued is exempli- our to have time at one’s disposal and to fied in the activities conducted by the AfD,

75 or in the newspaper attacks on supposed violence within the left itself—are cause for political correctness—a magic formula a precise historical analysis that will enable that denounces historical experience and us to do things differently next time and per- knowledge acquired through painstaking haps also to overcome those traumas that efforts to remember and preserve the past. are caused by the things people do to each Society’s experiences of violence—also the other.

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fundamentally different approach to history. As many are well aware, the historiography involved in historicism seeks to empathize with the people concerned in past events in order to understand history. But who exactly does it empathize with? “The answer is inevitable”, writes Benjamin, “with the victor. And all rulers are the heirs of those who conquered before them. Hence, empathy with the victor invariably benefits the rulers … Whoever has emerged victori- ous participates to this day in the triumphal procession in which the present rulers step over those who are lying prostrate.” The critical among us might not join in this triumphant howl. After all, a left-wing—that is, critical—interpretation of history does not engage in the work of court clerks, which always served the interests of princes, kings, and autocrats, nor does it formulate a ALBERT SCHARENBERG self-satisfied l’histoire pour l’histoire (history for the sake of history), but rather directs our attention to the past with the explicit Wresting History from objective of permeating and disrupting the the Grips of Conformism historical continuum of the victors and ex- ploring strategic spaces for emancipatory action. A left-wing, democratic-socialist On the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung’s historiography that strives for emancipa- historical perspective tion and liberation would thus interrogate the rulers’ lengthy chain of victories and would respond with empathy to those who I. “IN EVERY EPOCH, THE were deprived of the means to pass on their ATTEMPT MUST BE MADE own experiences; whose histories were not TO DELIVER TRADITION ANEW afforded the same value. Left-wing histori- FROM THE CONFORMISM ography resists the allure of the blathering WHICH IS ON THE POINT OF sycophants of eras past—not least on behalf OVERWHELMING IT.” – those who today, in the present, are ruled by WALTER BENJAMIN the heirs of the ruling classes of the past. In his fragmentary essay “Theses on the Bertolt Brecht’s famous “Questions from a Philosophy of History”, Walter Benjamin Worker Who Reads” vividly expresses the compares the predominant “bourgeois” shift in perspective that is connected with interpretation of history, historicism, with a such an approach: “Who built the seven

77 gates of Thebes? / The books are filled with Right, “to overthrow all conditions in which names of kings. / Was it the kings who man is a degraded, enslaved, neglected, hauled the craggy blocks of stone? … And contemptible being”, remains for us the even in Atlantis of the legend / The night the categorical imperative, even with a view to seas rushed in, / The drowning men still bel- the catacombs of Stalinism and “post-Sta- lowed for their slaves.” linism”, because historical justice is indivisi- Left-wing historiography, as we understand ble. We are convinced that those who fail to it, prizes an alternative narrative from the confront the mistakes made and the crimes past, a history forgotten beneath the depths. committed in the name of socialism not only “The materialist presentation of history”, lose their credibility, but also lay the ground- Benjamin writes in The Arcades Project, work for its resurrection. In this sense, dem- “leads the past to bring the present into a ocratic socialism is based upon a fundamen- critical state.” tal anti-Stalinist consensus. In contrast to the “new right”—people like II. “FREEDOM ONLY FOR Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán— THE SUPPORTERS OF THE who are fighting for an “illiberal democ- GOVERNMENT, ONLY FOR racy”, we consider individual freedoms and THE MEMBERS OF ONE PARTY – constitutional guarantees to be constitutive HOWEVER NUMEROUS THEY of democracy. Democratic co-determina- MAY BE – IS NO FREEDOM AT tion is impossible without defence against ALL. FREEDOM IS ALWAYS AND despotism. In this sense, freedom and EXCLUSIVELY FREEDOM FOR equality belong together, they constitute a THE ONE WHO THINKS tandem, a point stressed by Michael Brie: DIFFERENTLY.” – “Freedom without equality is exploitation; ROSA LUXEMBURG equality without freedom is oppression. Sol- As the reference to its Jewish-Polish epo- idarity is the common root of freedom and nym already demonstrates, the Rosa-Lux- equality.” At the same time, the Rosa-Lux- emburg-Stiftung considers itself to consti- emburg-Stiftung argues for a high degree of tute part of the fundamental social current of historical differentiation. Instead of stoking democratic socialism. For the Rosa-Luxem- the embers of ideologically motivated pre­ burg-Stiftung, the two terms “democracy” judices, we should make the effort to look and “socialism” are inextricably linked. more closely. This explicitly applies to the The interrelationship between “democracy” historiography of the GDR and the individual and “socialism” is at the core of our histori- biographies of its citizens. cal self-image, and there is a good reason for this. Mistakes have been made and crimes III. “CONTRADICTION ENLIVENS have been committed in the name of so- THE CONVERSATION; THIS IS cialism and communism; we understand WHY IT’S SO QUIET ON THE the roots of these mistakes and crimes and FARMS.” – GERMAN PROVERB wish to prevent them from being repeated. Critical historiography inevitably contradicts The call expressed by Marx in the introduc- the legitimation of power; from its perspec- tion to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of tive, contradiction is the vehicle of intellec-

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tual development, and resistance is the en- trade from the perspective of shipowners gine that drives social development. and merchants, we would sketch an entirely There are historical facts. There are both true different image of the past than an historian and fictitious statements. But what does who places enslaved people at the centre of not exist is a “correct” interpretation of the their investigation. Knowledge and interest past. In this respect, too, the party-commu- are also closely linked in this regard. Anyone nist logic has proved fatal: according to this who directs their gaze towards those who logic, the “historical subject”, the working have historically been oppressed will find class, fulfils an “historical mission” which that it is impossible to avoid touching upon can ultimately only be implemented by the topics such as exploitation by way of capital- “leading role” of the party, which is conse- ist wage labour, gender hierarchy, colonial- quently “always right”. The logical conse- ism, and other forms of social domination. quence is therefore that Stalinism did not hesitate to falsify historical facts—in con- IV. “THE MOST POWERFUL temporary vocabulary, fake news. One need WEAPON IN THE HANDS OF only think of the retouching and editing of THE OPPRESSOR IS THE MIND photographs. OF THE OPPRESSED.” – But if the key to a critical, dialectical interpre- STEVE BIKO tation of history is inherently rooted in contra- The politics of history, in particular for the diction, then there is a need for democratic German left, means not putting the Nazi past pluralism. In other words, different lines of to rest, but instead, being committed to con- inquiry, interpretations, and evaluations of fronting and countering the Nazis and their historical events and contexts form the foun- “populist” apologists. “The premier demand dation of a democratic historiography. upon all education is that Auschwitz not But pluralism has another dimension. For far happen again”, wrote Theodor W. Adorno too long, even left-wing historiography that in his essay “Education after Auschwitz”. In extended beyond party communism has re- other words, we must prevent the “180-de- garded history as essentially the product of gree turnaround in the politics of memory” white male protagonists—and has tended demanded by the AfD. to define the “historical subject” in accord- History, however, does not only—or even pri- ance with this perspective. In this way, marily—influence the present through his- however, the majority of people who lived torical-political confrontations. On the con- through past eras—women, the colonized, trary, that which has a significant influence the marginalized—are simply conjured out on people’s consciousness, as well as the of being. Fortunately, emancipation move- image they draw of the society in which they ments—from the women’s movement, to live are the changing yet persistent material, movements for racial justice, to the LGBT- political, and cultural conditions of domina- QIA+ movement—have made significant tion—and thus also the generational transfer efforts to go against the historical grain. In of experiences and traditions. In this way, doing so, it is necessary to look at the whole their consciousness becomes a weapon of picture: for example, if we were to examine those in power, as Steve Biko put it. “The tra- the history of the Atlantic triangular slave dition of all dead generations weighs like a

79 nightmare on the brains of the living”, wrote that created a tabula rasa in the minds of Karl Marx in “The Eighteenth Brumaire of individuals. Life and thought inevitably take Louis Napoleon”. For Antonio Gramsci, this place within a space of contradictions, and led to the call made in “Prison Booklets” for no Francis Fukuyama, no Hegelian Weltgeist people to “criticize all previous philosophy will lead us to the “end of history”. On the insofar as it has left behind firmly established contrary: the knowledge of this inconsist- stratifications in popular philosophy”. ency remains an essential prerequisite for a One thing is certain: there is no “zero history and a politics of memory whose ob- hour”—neither in the past nor in the future— jective is emancipation.

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with paternalism and degradation, with slander and betrayal, and, yes, even with tor- ture and murder. For those who still believe that they have sound reasons for holding on to an alternative to social relations that are otherwise dominated by capital, this socia- lism weighs on their minds like a nightmare. The socialism of the 20th century offers the most convincing arguments against over- coming the dominance of capital; with re- gard to civilization, socialism has never man-

aged to reach beyond its condition at birth, that of violence: “Revolution always means a state of social emergency, restriction, and extreme conditions; a return to a state of ‘normality’ is generally only possible at a higher historical level at the price of a Ther- midorian Reaction. In the bourgeois revolu- JÖRN SCHÜTRUMPF tion, the state of extreme violence (which culminated in the Reign of Terror) was a temporary phenomenon that preceded the Archives Against imposition of the institutionalization of ‘civil Historical Amnesia society’, which came at the inevitable cost of the retreat of maximalism. For socialism, on the other hand, the permanence of direct violence remained the determining factor; the exceptional social situation became ‘normality’. Violence not only became the ‘midwife’ (Marx) of the new society, it re- mained its crucial pillar.”3 Regardless of the The socialism of the 20th century has—at perspective held by the political left (in its least in Europe—been relegated to the past; broadest sense) in terms of the 70 years of a past, however, that does not want to fa- “real socialist” practice, the left—as a whole de.1 This socialism, which was once routi- and in its entire breadth—remains chained nely depicted by those who championed to the gulag, the wall, and the barbed wire. it as “scientific”, “humanistic”, and “actu- At least, it will remain this way as long as ally existing”, represents all but one thing: the left fails to understand that a nightmare emancipation from all conditions “in which can only be brought to an end by way of sys- man is a degraded, enslaved, neglected, tematic and repeated confrontation with all contemptible being”.2 (This is how a Karl of its aspects; never by trying to repress, or Marx, following Ludwig Feuerbach, once even ignore it. This will only preserve it—for imagined it.) Instead, this socialism rhymed generations.

81 However, this ultimately non-socialism from especially when it becomes uncomforta- the past also offers opportunities that are ble; to sincerity, also and especially towards often overlooked: unlike the period leading one’s opponent. At best, dictatorships are up to 1917, socialism is no longer a vague built with deceitfulness; but nobody is en- idea today—there are 70 years of practice couraged either with or through them, let from which one can learn how to bring the alone empowered, to seek emancipation concept of socialism into discredit for a long from exploitation and oppression. time, but also learn about all the things that Instead of gleaning new benchmarks from socialism definitely is not. It is, however, not the years of power and megalomania with sufficient to simply know what happened— which to measure every step and decision historians have long since answered these against them and gradually arrive at a realis- questions, at least for the most part. The tic conception of socialism, the political left questions that need to be asked pertain tends to treat its ancestors like poor relatives to the why and how, and not just the who, who are a source of embarrassment. What what, and when. the left does not realize is that it is conse- Ever since the opening of the archives in quently rejecting the only real chance that the former Eastern Bloc, an entire phalanx exists—not to gain absolution from whom- of historians has been sitting on the legacy ever, but to uncover a route into a post-cap- of twentieth-century socialism. It is difficult italist society. When one maintains a forget- for academics to reach a broader public, re- ting of history, one remains a prisoner of this gardless of their discipline. It is not entirely past and, instead of its analyst, becomes, at surprising that, in the present case, this is best, a case for the same. Every day, the po- for the most part not achieved by those who litical left goes to the greatest lengths that interrogate the links between ideas and their would allow it to develop a modern socialist non-realization, and in doing so investigate politics, which is, in fact, the source of its all aspects of this complex—but above all own origins. The left of today has added re- by those who serve the mainstream opinion sistance to experience to its existing resist- makers by reducing the general perception ance to advice. of socialism to one of crime and terror. Those who deny what sticks to their shoes This distorted incarnation of socialism is of will never know where those shoes could use to all political powers, bar one: the po- take them; this is where the real secret of the litical left. If the left has a genuine interest strategic weakness of the political left lies.5 in leading contemporary society—which It is therefore all the more important to remains both politically and economically in collect, sort, catalogue, and preserve that the 20th century—into the 21st century,4 now which has been handed down to us, and is the time for it to find its way back more to set up and expand skills centres—all of consistently than ever before to its former these are things that archives do best. For virtues, which were stripped of all meaning the period leading up to 1989, this work in the torture chambers and at party confer- was carried out by state and other archival ence productions: to honesty about one’s facilities, professionally and often with ded- own actions in both the past and present; to icated employees who provided all the nec- the genuine nature of one’s own thoughts, essary assistance for the research. However,

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it is by no means just about the day before yesterday, but also no less about yesterday and today, about our current struggle—or lack thereof—for a modern socialist policy, whatever that means; about the past in its entirety, which we daily extend by virtue of merely existing. If we stop, there will be nothing left of our present as part of the past from which we will be able to learn in the future. That would be a failure that we really do not need.

1 On this point, Ernst Nolte might be right; see Ernst Nolte, “Vergangen- heit, die nicht vergehen will: Eine Rede, die geschrieben, aber nicht gehalten werden konnte”, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 6 June 1986. 2 Karl Marx, “Zur Kritik der Hegelschen Rechtsphilosophie: Einleitung”, Werke [MEW], Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels , Berlin 1956ff., vol. 1, p. 385. 3 Manfred Kossok, “1917 – eine periphere Revolution?”, Utopie kreativ: Diskussion so- zialistischer Alternativen, supplement no. 1 (November 1991), republished in: Manfred Kossok, Sozialismus an der Peripherie: Späte Schriften, edited by Jörn Schütrumpf, Berlin, 2016, p. 45. 4 Contemporary society has arrived in the future at least in terms of technology—but even that is not entirely certain. 5 The Greens have been explicitly excluded here; although it is possible to predict the direction in which the party is likely to develop, this is ultimately still not entirely certain.

83 which his mother’s legacy was handled. He was not afforded the time that he had requested for sorting and ordering the do- cuments. I was deeply touched when I was allowed to hold originals of the letters in my hands some 80 years later, in the reading room of today’s Russian State Archives of Socio-Political History (RGASPI); 100-year- old paper, the text written or printed tightly, cramped on the page. Among them were

MARGA VOIGT letters to Alexandra Kollontai, complete with a handwritten note from the recipient indica- ting that they were to be handed over to the party archives for conservation. Clara Zet- “Left-Wing Memory” in Letters: kin’s letters therefore not only tell the story Perspectives of History? of the day they were written; over the past 100 years, scattered throughout the archi- ves of the world, the letters themselves have become the bearers or conduits of a great many stories. Locating the letters would have been and would remain unthinkable without the hard work and care of the countless archivists who—then as now—work tirelessly in ar- chives, associations, and organizations for the preservation of the “history” (or rather, histories) of the international labour move- ment. In my work as an editor, I am filled with a great deal of gratitude and appreciation when I think of the interest and support of my Scholarly editorial work, such as that of the colleagues—especially Götz Langkau and letters penned by the socialist and interna- Gerd Callesen, Martin Grass and Henning tionalist Clara Zetkin, would be unthinkable Grelle, Christine Lauener and Angelika Voß- without the care and discretion exhibited by Louis, Franziska Dunkel and Sabine Kneib, those who received the letters at the time and, last but certainly not least, Grit Ulrich, regarding their whereabouts. In 1933, Clara from the archives in Amsterdam, Vienna, Zetkin’s unpublished works made their way Stockholm, Copenhagen, Zurich, Bern, Ham- into the party archives of the KPdSU in Mo- burg, Stuttgart, Bonn, and Berlin—and the scow, the site of her political exile. She ent- scans of letters and articles they sent to me. rusted the handover of the works in question Now to another story about letters: one of to her youngest son Kostja. Entrusted with the courageous couriers who delivered ille- the burden, he was appalled by the way in gal letters was Bertha Thalheimer, a younger

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comrade and friend of Clara Zetkin, who on from 1914 until her death in 1933. The later co-founded the KPD. Three of the let- first volume of the annotated edition of the ters to Bertha Thalheimer can be read in the Zetkin letters1 encompasses the years of first volume of selected letters, although the First World War. Clara Zetkin’s socialist they are in the possession of her family. I am and internationalist work towards achieving incredibly grateful to Theodor Bergmann, peace becomes apparent in the letters. Her the family’s now deceased friend, for put- commitment to peace, in association with ting in a good word for me and thus making her comrades Inès Armand and Alexandra it possible for me to publish the letters. Kollontai from Russia, Heleen Ankersmit I would also like to thank my friends from from Holland, and Angelica Balabanoff from the Förderkreis Archive und Bibliotheken zur Italy—to name but a handful of the socialist Geschichte der Arbeiterbewegung, in par- activists of the day—was pan-European in ticular Annelies Laschitza, Eckhard Müller, nature. Ottokar Luban, and Heinz Deutschland, and Clara Zetkin is well-known for being one of I would also like to thank Ulla Plener, Mirjam the founders of International Women’s Day. Sachse, Florence Hervé, Gisela Notz, John What has hitherto been less well known Partington, and Setsu Ito for their expert ad- about her is that she was also the secretary vice and assistance in annotating the letters. of the Sozialistische Fraueninternationale The Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung’s Archives (Socialist Women’s Internationale), which for Democratic Socialism has now acquired was founded by women in 1907 when the a CD containing the collection of Clara Zet- International Socialist Congress was held kin’s letters, which is stored in the RGASPI— in Stuttgart. In the years that followed, the what a long journey from Moscow to Berlin! socialist congresses also included the meet- I am also aware of the ongoing efforts of col- ings and conferences of socialist women. In leagues from what was then the Zentraler 1907, the female socialists decided to pub- Parteiarchiv (Central Party Archive) in the lish the social democratic women’s paper Institute for Marxism-Leninism of the SED Die Gleichheit (Equality), which was edited central committees to obtain copies of the by Clara Zetkin and printed in Stuttgart by unpublished works from Moscow, includ- the publisher Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Di- ing Clara Zetkin’s letters. They are housed etz, as an international women’s organiza- in the collection of the Stiftung Archive der tion. During the First World War, however, Parteien und Massenorganisationen der Die Gleichheit found itself impacted by strict DDR (Foundation Archives of Parties and military censorship. Any unprinted material Mass Organizations, SAPMO) in the federal had to be illegally transported across the archives. The RGASPI letters written be- border into the Netherlands and Switzerland tween the years 1921 and 1924 constitute and then be published there. a significant part of the publication of the One thing we learn from the letters is that second volume of letters. I am grateful to the social democratic women’s magazines ex- employees at the ADS for acquiring and pro- isted in a number of countries at the time. viding copies of the letters. The origins of the socialist women’s move- Zetkin’s legacy of letters is extensive: more ment and its peace movement during the than 1,000 letters alone have been passed First World War—especially in the neutral

85 countries—can be found in the archives of mechanism” would have come to a stand- European political parties and social move- still a long time ago. She derived women’s ments. Their struggle for peace was disre- right to share and participate in all future garded, suppressed, and persecuted in the social decisions—as well as decisions per- social democratic parties of the warring taining to war and peace—from the active nations, which had all opted to champion a participation of women in the operation of policy of “truce”.2 In this respect, Clara Zet- both the wartime and national economy. kin’s letters constitute part of the “memory” Towards the end of the war, Clara Zetkin of the socialists’ international and illegal wrote to the women’s rights activist and struggle for peace, which has thus far only socialist Anna Lindhagen, who was in Swe- managed to reach the outer margins of his- den: “We are fundamentally demanding toriography—if that. the right to participate in peace work for From the beginning of the First World War the representation of all women by all gov- onwards, all contact with foreign countries ernments.” “It is because we women are was prohibited, and Clara Zetkin’s post was female people”, she added, “and not faulty, censored.3 With this in mind, it is astounding botched copies of men”, and “bring with us how many letters have managed to be pre- our own spiritual and moral values that aid served. “I consider it to currently be one of us in contemplating and solving the prob- the most important of the tasks of women”, lems at hand”.7 she wrote in a letter to Alexandra Kollon- Are passion and science not equally indis- tai, “to keep the awareness of international pensable when it comes to ensuring the solidarity in the working class alive and to cohesion of a society? When things that be- reinforce it.”4 She appealed to women in all long together drift apart from one another— countries: “If men must kill, it is we women man and woman, home and street, city and who must fight for life. If men remain si- country, the assets, histories, and cultures lent, it is our duty to speak out.”5 In Zetkin’s of the world—do Clara Zetkin’s letters not opinion, it was the Socialist Women’s In- provide perspectives of history? ternational’s “proud prerogative and duty They undoubtably do. of honour to now awaken and lead women of all classes and nations in the struggle for peace”. 1 Clara Zetkin, Die Briefe 1914 bis 1933 – Vol. 1: Die Kriegsbriefe (1914– Clara Zetkin was working from the assump- 1918), edited by Marga Voigt, Berlin, 2016. 2 On 2 August 1914, union leaders in Germany decided to call off all strikes and avoid wage disputes tion that women’s work in the domestic for the duration of the war. The leadership of the SPD agreed to a standstill sphere and in society had become so much agreement within the party. 3 A state of siege was declared in the German Empire on 31 July 1914: the executive power of civil authorities was trans- more important during the war that the will ferred to military commands. The press was censored, and any opponents 6 of war found their letters subjected to censorship. 4 See Clara Zetkin on of women had become a “political factor”. Alexandra Kollontai, 2 September 1914, Zetkin: Die Kriegsbriefe, vol. 1, p. She brusquely declared that, without the 22. 5 See the call to action as an open letter in: ibid., pp. 121ff. 6 See Clara Zetkin, “Zum Frauentag der schweizerischen Sozialistinnen”, ibid., p. involvement of women, “the entire social 119. 7 See Clara Zetkin on Anna Lindhagen, 2 July 1917, ibid., pp. 341ff.

86

DUTIES

CHALLENGES

DEMANDS

TWENTY-YEAR ARCHIVES OF THE ROSA-LUXEMBURG-STIFTUNG CUSTODIANS MEMORY OF

DUTIES

CHALLENGES

DEMANDS We have all witnessed how the social sciences have been discredited by way of political manipulation over the course of the last few years, and the study of history

has certainly not been spared from this phe- nomenon. It has been discredited both by the frequently made claim that there is no verifiable past and by the complete and utter domination of speculative constructs and arbitrary interpretations of the historical pro- cess in the collective consciousness. I strongly believe that there is an authen- SOROKIN tic past that can be verified using scientific

methods, just as there is the study of history as such. I am convinced that the study of

ANDREY K. history does not function as a gravedigger for the recent past, but rather as a tool for analyzing the problems of the present. I am convinced that the magnificent institution The 20th Century: of archives can and must play the role of Learning from History doctor for the collective historical memory, because they contain documentation of every national history; they represent these histories in their entirety, replete with all their defeats, mistakes, and crimes, but also with the triumphs of the human spirit—all of the economic, technological, scientific, and cul- tural achievements. It is only the dilettante who mistakenly be- lieves the science of history to be simple, The legacy of the 20th century encompasses when it is in fact the most difficult of all the some momentous events: revolutions, local sciences; this is not dissimilar to a primary conflicts and world wars, crimes against hu- school student who has only just learned manity, economic and social crises, strug- the basics of arithmetic thinking that higher gles for the ideals of social justice, demo- mathematics seems simple. cracy and human rights, and scientific and It is science, and the positivist methodol- cultural achievements. Most of these events ogy that underpins knowledge, that must are contradictory in nature and are evalua- limit the scope of arbitrary interpretations ted differently by the different protagonists of the historical process and gradually teach involved in social development, depending the proponents of extreme approaches on which political, social, national, religious, that there are uncomfortable facts and in- ethnic, or other communities they represent. terpretations, and that views that diverge

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from their own also need to be accepted by that was made a century ago, and the price society. This therapeutic function is no less of the real achievements of the Soviet pe- important than the heuristic one. By using riod has proved to be extremely high. In this the available means to treat, or at least diag- sense, it also seems highly symbolic that the nose, the maniacal figures on both sides of 100th year of remembrance of the revolution the ideological barricades who are respon- happens to coincide with another memora- sible for interpreting history, we will enable ble date, namely the 80-year anniversary of the rest to feel that they are part of a com- the so-called Great Purge or Great Terror, in mon civil, political nation—despite the vary- which hundreds of thousands of Soviet cit- ing perspectives regarding what occurred in izens were either shot dead or subjected to the past and what is happening today. other forms of unwarranted political perse- These approaches to historical memory and cution in accordance with extrajudicial set- history’s prominent position as a science tlements. were of particular importance to Russian Society has also very nearly forgotten the historians and archivists in the memorable tragic anniversary of this event, which has year that marked the 100th anniversary of carved a deep wound into Russia’s national the 1917 revolution. This also applies to the identity. Had the national monument the series of tragic anniversaries that were to fol- Wall of Grief not been erected in the cen- low, which commemorated the outbreak of tre of Moscow, and had the Russian pres- civil war in Russia (1918–22), the founding ident not attended its opening ceremony, of the Communist International (1919), and Russian civil society would have passed the “Great Purge” (1937–38). entirely unnoticed. The figure of Stalin not Unfortunately, the events that took place 100 only repressed the ideas and methods out of years ago have been thrust to the margins of which the phenomenon of Stalinism arose, social perception and the adoption of history but also cast a dark shadow over the late as a science. The starting point, the nucleus Soviet period, in which a state was finally of the entire Soviet era of national history— built that, though not without its faults, was and even the entire Soviet era itself—was nonetheless a welfare state; a state whose replaced in the collective consciousness, cost was an unfathomable number of casu- for a number of different reasons, by the im- alties. Between 1991 and 1993, Russian age of Stalin. And this occurred despite the society jettisoned the state’s achievements, fact that Russian society had opted to adopt just as it had done with the achievements socialist changes during the revolution of of the previous historical period in 1917. In 1917 and 1918. After a degree of hesitation, keeping with its inclination to “start a new society also accepted the targets that were life at sunrise”, which had already been initially imposed upon it by way of force, as noted by the well-known 19th century his- well as the forms and methods of radical so- torian Vasily Klyuchevsky, Russian society cial transformation. This decision determined managed twice in the 20th century to ut- the physiognomy of Soviet socialism, the terly decimate that which had been created excesses of Stalinism, and even the overall by the hard work of previous generations. I outcome of the Soviet development period in would hope that we are able to learn from many ways. The price of this social decision this experience.

91 Endeavours to analyze and comprehend the first step in this direction some time the past are made all the more complicated ago: a few years ago, the Federal Archival by the numerous attempts to exploit history Agency of Russia established the web- for political gain—attempts that are made site titled “Documents of the Soviet Era”, by a range of political powers in almost which provides the general public with ac- every nation state around the world. In cess to the central archives on Soviet his- light of this, it occurs to me that we are also tory. In this scope, we intend to digitize all faced with the task of encouraging—or, if of the important complexes of documents you like, forcing—the collective conscious- pertaining to the period of Soviet history ness to make use of scientifically verifiable and thereby enable the public to have free knowledge. Russian archivists already took access to them.

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tical foundations have taken on the parties’ central documents, as well as documents from the organizations and individuals in

their orbit, safely preserving them, profes- sionally indexing them, and making them accessible to researchers and to the gene- ral public. These duties apply to all political archives, even if they manifest in different ways and have each developed their own special collection areas.2 In addition to these core tasks—the passive MARQUET memory function—archives should also

actively contribute to memory through tar- geted and specific research proposals and their own revision in conferences, events, publications, exhibitions, and digital for- mats, and also merge the history of our bailors with the more general history of Ger- many and international history. This is what distinguishes the archives of German politi- cal parties from most other archives. Article 21 (1) of the Grundgesetz (Basic Law

AND KRUKE ANJA ANDREAS for the Federal Republic of Germany) states that “political parties shall participate in the formation of the political will of the people”. The Archives of Collective Memory The parties’ historical documents make this formation of the people’s political will Challenges posed by the example visible and comprehensible and constitute the foundation for historical examinations of social democracy of the political process in Germany. In this way, the task outlined in the Grundgesetz is transferred to the historical sphere. This fact Political archives as they exist today have renders political archives central to the his- been evolving since the 1960s. The newest toriography of Germany, as other archives in archive, the Green Memory Archive, was es- the country’s vast archival landscape are not tablished in 1997. Prior to that, from 1967 able to perform this function at all, or only in onwards, a series of parties in the Federal part. This is because it is first and foremost Republic of Germany had opted to no longer these documents that provide us with in- retain their documents themselves and use sight into how discussions were conducted them for their own process of establishing and how political decisions were made; why traditions, but instead to hand them over to a party’s electoral campaign was either suc- an archive.1 Since then, the archives of poli- cessful or unsuccessful, why an individual or

93 a subgroup was able to prevail in a dispute. bond of trust that exists with the organiza- And—entirely incidentally, but nonethe- tions—and especially the political actors— less significant to our knowledge—sound who are donating documents to an archive methods and a good approach can also be is crucial for preserving an archive’s exist- employed in order to uncover more about ence and ensuring it can be made accessi- the inner workings of our democracy, about ble. We differ greatly from state archives in political dynamics (and dynamics between this respect; state archives operate on the the spheres of politics and the media), uni- basis of a legal deposit of the respective in- fying rituals and destructive disputes, about stitutions at the different federal levels. processes of renewal and restoration, or Since the archives of political foundations signs of wear and tear, about waning levels were established, the work of these foun- of attractiveness or the reverse, and about dations has undergone a greater change the motivation for political engagement. than was previously apparent. For a long The material can also be used to examine time, the quantitative expansion of written questions of socio-historical dimensions, material as mass written material that only of the social and personal basis for political exhibited a very limited seriality constituted activity, and of links to other social groups a challenge that left a lasting impression on and movements. In summary, it is in many the management systems of all the founda- respects thanks to the documents that are tions, especially with respect to magazine preserved in political archives that a histori- capacities; now, digitization is at the heart of ography of our contemporary democracy is the endeavours. Ten years ago, we thought even possible.3 that the challenge lay in document manage- Archives contain sources for a wide range ment systems and web archiving, but the of perspectives: in both written and audio- digital world has long since evolved beyond visual format, from internal papers, to the that. citizens’ units of the parties, to the perhaps Documents that have been created digitally more or less executive decision of a lead- require the utmost attention: if we do not at ing figure. The sources stem from all lev- least collect the central documents and ar- els: from the local and regional level to the chive them according to a set of standards central national level or the European Parlia- for the long term, the central records from ment; they stem from third parties, similar the current era or from the past 20 years work environments, from people from par- will be lost. This requires courage, because ties or their sphere, from organizations in the sometimes we have to make decisions surrounding area, or civic action groups and about things when we cannot be sure how other NGOs of all civic shades, but also from those decisions will work, or for how long, political groups at all levels. The sources and sometimes items cannot be accepted consist of written material of all kinds, audio- into an archive from the outset because visual or three-dimensional collected items, they do not adhere to certain format re- especially in the form of different artefacts quirements. Furthermore, it requires work; from election campaigns. it represents a new field, especially in terms Political archives actively acquire all doc- of adopting and evaluating materials. The uments, and there is no legal deposit. The phenomenon of archivists taking responsi-

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bility for supervising the technological envi- ing, knowledge-based specialization; in the ronment where the documents are created information age, the days of the generalists is not yet as present and has yet to be im- have come to an end. plemented everywhere to the extent that it When it comes to archives, this all amounts perhaps should be. And financial resources to nothing less than a paradigm shift: in fu- are of course required for this, because ture, they will preserve information, and no establishing a long-term digital archive in longer the offline media formats to which accordance with the Open Archival Infor- they are inseparably linked. The internet is mation System entails a series of specific the new repertory space, and highly quali- requirements, and the files cannot simply be fied information specialists are replacing taken and downloaded onto a hard drive. At universal historians with their affinity for the same time, digital archiving by no means archives. In short: the digital transformation constitutes the sole area of responsibility for arrived in the world of archiving a long time archives in the 21st century, although it does ago. remain a fundamental challenge that has yet The impacts of this transformation can be to be resolved. On the contrary, to the de- observed to varying degrees in different gree that technological systems are devel- facets of society. The landscape of the me- oped, old ones are replaced, and new ones dia has completely changed in the last ten are introduced, archives are put under direct years: no sooner had we archivists—with pressure to appropriately respond to these the support of the Deutsche Forschungs- developments. gemeinschaft (German Research Founda- On the one hand, archives are institutions tion, DFG)—solved the problem of web ar- that are driven by technology. But, contrary chiving and integrated it into our standard to the popular image of dusty, metres-long practices and operations, than social media filing systems that are guarded by a group appeared. Social media platforms herald a of socially isolated archivists, rather than new series of requirements and challenges being made accessible to the public, ar- for archiving, both on a technically and a le- chives make use of modern technologies. gal level. Along with the informalization of Research opportunities are available online, public communication, we are now observ- enquiries are generally received via email, ing a fundamental shift in political commu- and archivists use social media platforms to nication and paths for political mobilization. provide people with information about their A few years ago we joked that it remained to work. Users have a clear idea of the services be seen who apart from the NSA would end offered by archives, and these are by no up archiving our SMSs and content from means technophobic. Even if they wanted other digital messaging channels, but today to, archives would not be able to escape this we are learning that it is about far more than without compromising their relevance. just the communication itself. Here, too, a The effects of digitization can not only be ob- new problem arises for the archives of po- served in the archives’ contact with the bail- litical foundations that are dedicated to his- ors and users, but also in their own working torical and political education: fact-checking methods. A major trend is emerging across items from the archives against historical all fields, namely that work requires a grow- fake news is but one example of the range

95 of tasks in the field of working with archives private forums, chats, or other closed-sys- and archival materials. In addition to the ar- tem applications. This has an impact on the chives’ memory function, something else is political culture of a society that is already also coming to the fore that was previously undergoing a far-reaching transformation referred to as the sources’ “right of veto”, from being an industrialized society to a ser- especially within the study of history. Ar- vice-oriented society. chives tend to be afforded the function of This needs to be a challenge and a task of acting as custodians of an historical truth any political archive. How can we respond that adheres to a set of historical-scien- appropriately to these changes without tific principles. And it is precisely the more blindly implementing one interface after ephemeral social media sources that ques- another in proprietary technical systems in tion and challenge the rules of authenticity order to archive a single chat history or call? and accuracy though their use. What does the collection profile of political Criticism of digital sources therefore war- archives look like today? Which records are rants particular attention. It is the respon- deemed to be of archival value? How can sibility of archives to explain the technical we organize the acquisition of such fluid, formation conditions and the necessary pro- ever-shifting, ephemeral materials? And fi- cesses of change in order to ensure the au- nally, these questions must be considered thenticity and integrity of the digital objects. against the backdrop of the resources that Archives function as experts in the preserva- we have at our disposal, because the ana- tion of information; experts who endeavour logue will stay with us well into the future. to gain the trust of their bailors and users The period of hybrid—that is, analogue as through the transparency and traceability well as digital—formation of a network of ar- of their actions. Awareness of data security chives will be with us for a while to come— has only just begun to awaken against the and will require new solutions, especially backdrop of hacker attacks and tampering, due to its specific characteristics. and will without a doubt continue to grow even more important in the years to come. At the same time, it is becoming clear that political communication and mobilization is 1 On the history of political archives, see Die Archive der Politischen Stif- tungen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland: Ein Archivführer, edited by Anja moving to a section of the web that we know Kruke and Harry Scholz, Bonn, 2010. 2 See the documentation and collec- tion profile of the archives of political foundations in Germany, 2nd edition, very little about. We can only see 20 percent Munich. 3 In addition to performing this function, archives such as the of these communications through freely ac- Archive of Social Democracy (AsdD) also preserve other kinds of documents, such as those pertaining to people’s experiences under dictatorships and cessible websites; the rest is conducted in resistance efforts against such regimes.

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celling their subscriptions to printed news- papers and magazines, and are happy that the “digital revolution” is making it easier for

people to access knowledge from any loca- tion and in a space-saving manner; in short, that access to knowledge is becoming more democratic. But is this truly the case? This idea, which is also shared by many library users, that everything is already available in “digital” form, turns out, upon closer UWE MICHEL inspection, to be more of an ideal than a reality. But whether or not this new digital format for sharing knowledge is in fact desir- Knowledge of the Future able is a question that should be discussed at least once by those responsible for medi- ating knowledge within an archive or library context, before deciding to switch to a sys- tem that prioritizes digital options. Such a discussion would also involve questioning the extent to which libraries are still able to make information available to the public for free. What I am primarily referring to here is not the unsolved issue of digital formats. Li- brarians were so delighted when the advent of CD-ROMs heralded an increase in space and convenience, until their libraries were suddenly supplied with computers that did not have CD-ROM drives (they are no longer needed because everything is stored on “clouds” these days). Scientists today al- The monopoly that archives and libraries ready assume that the decades surrounding had on information for several millennia the turn of the next millennium will be able appears to have been overcome. If a per- to offer future generations the collections son is seeking immediate information, they that are least developed for the future. can simply “google” a term; if they require Even when it comes to the inventories of li- more specific information, they can at least braries—that is, the “core competence” of consult Wikipedia. Who needs libraries—let transmitting knowledge—discussions are alone archives—when we have these opti- hardly ever conducted regarding how their ons at our fingertips? collections might be maintained. In Ger- As a result of ruminations such as these, many, there are still approximately 75,000 librarians are banning their printed books new books published in printed format from being put into library stacks, are can- every year. In the fields of humanities, social

97 sciences, and cultural studies, almost all ac- ital expropriation of the common person. ademically relevant publications still appear This is especially true of the cooperation be- on paper. But the situation is different when tween libraries and internet groups such as it comes to recent publications in the fields Google, which has been monopolizing (and of medicine, engineering, and the natural ultimately privatizing) knowledge at the pub- sciences. lic’s expense. However, the question of “ownership” The German Digital Library, which provides arises here: in the past, librarians would digitized copies of books, images, and ar- select titles from the range offered by pub- chival materials, provides an example of lishing houses for a certain section of their how things might be done better. Financed collection or a particular target group, which by the federal and state governments, this then belonged to the library following the digital library makes cultural heritage avail- purchase and could therefore be made avail- able online—free of charge, for everyone, able to the public. and, above all, unfettered by commercial These days, it is the prerogative of publish- interests. Another positive example is the ing houses to decide whether or not they Digitales Deutsches Frauenarchiv (Digital wish to sell electronic books to libraries at German Women’s Archive, DDF), a special- all. And should they “generously” choose to ist portal that provides a broad public with do so, then they are the one to set the terms: digitized versions of selected sources on the specific licensing models not only inhibit the history of German women’s movements. preservation of knowledge, but also deter- This example demonstrates what kinds of mine costs and lending policies. While the great projects are made possible when ar- reform of German copyright law that came chives, libraries, and documentation centres into effect on 1 March 2018 did herald a se- are provided with sufficient resources and ries of improvements for libraries and their when their interconnectedness is encour- users with regard to duplicating works from aged and supported. their collections and making these works Libraries are still the most widely used cul- available to the public, there have also been tural institutions today. This is due in part to some significant backward steps in terms the fact that—in a world in which there in- of which connection uses are permitted (for creasingly fewer non-commercial spaces— example, printing out or saving to a hard they offer a space where people can simply drive). Furthermore, magazines that are not be without feeling the pressure to consume. explicitly professional journals, as well as They are of great importance for cultural par- newspapers will in future generally not be ticipation, education, and social interaction. permitted to be electronically reproduced. The knowledge of the future might end up The function and task of archives and librar- being made public and readily accessible, ies is therefore nothing less than to defend but it also might not be: making this possible free access to knowledge against the mar- will constitute a significant challenge for the ket power of publishing houses and the dig- archives and libraries of the 21st century.

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because legal provisions demand it, or be- cause private and public institutions wish to document their decision-making processes and their activities for the long term, or be- cause the data are of particular cultural and historical value. Digital information manifests in a variety of different ways: for example, as photographs, text messages, “posts” on social media plat- forms, websites, databases, video messages, or as the program codes of computer games. This diversity renders digital archiving a multi- disciplinary affair. But not everything that is STEIGMEIER digitally generated is worth preserving for

the long term—not by any means. Archiv- ing remains a selective process even in the digital realm, and this process involves eval- uating what is worth preserving for the fu- ture and what can be deleted after a suitable retention period has expired.

WILDI TOBIAS Information that is digitally generated must also be archived in digital form, because it is expensive and often impossible to transfer a file or data record to paper or microfilm for ANDREAS AND archiving. A website, a three-dimensional architectural diagram, or a computer game cannot be “printed out” in a meaningful A Digital Memory? way. It is imperative to avoid any disruptions or changes to the media for the purposes of archiving; those using the archives would Archiving and also like to consult the archive material digi- utilizing digital files tally. The aim of a digital archive is to ensure that digital documents remain accessible and usable for as long as possible. This ar- It is a truism that data and documents today ticle outlines the fundamental principles for are primarily created and used digitally— achieving this objective. one that applies to the private, political, and professional spheres in which we operate. WHAT DOES A DIGITAL While some digital information disappears ARCHIVE SEEK TO ENSURE? again after being created, there is other digi- There are two terms in this description of tal information that we would like to be able objectives that require an explanation. “As to continue to use far into the future—either long as possible” refers to the preservation

99 of digital information over generations of volumes of data. Thanks to a high degree of computer architecture, operating systems, specialization, clouds will generally tend to application programs, and file formats, be more secure than the servers that con- which amounts to time periods spanning stitute part of an organization’s own tech- a few decades to many centuries. We still nological infrastructure. However, when have no concept today of how computer selecting a cloud provider, it is important architectures and applications will be struc- to note where the company headquarters tured in the future—or if these metaphors is located; depending on the nation-state will even continue to exist. The second term context and specific circumstances of the is “maintaining usability”. Digital archiving country in question, state actors might be is not an end in itself; it can only be justified able to gain access to the data stored on a if it enables digital cultural assets to be made cloud. For example, under the CLOUD Act, accessible and used in a variety of ways. The US-based technology providers are obli- selected target groups should be able to gated to provide the United States govern- open and display the archived files, as well ment with access to their customers’ data as interpret and use them for new purposes. upon request, even if the data centres in If this still is still the case after a long period question are located in Europe. Archival of time, this means the digital archive works. data that document political activity, reli- gious beliefs, or medical diagnoses have no HOW IS THIS ACCOMPLISHED? business being hosted by providers such as Archiving doesn’t mean simply rendering these. However, there are cloud providers data onto a wear-resistant storage system that are absolutely trustworthy and that are (which the manufacturer may label as “au- able to take over the process of assembling dit-proof”), making one or two backup cop- and operating a client’s storage infrastruc- ies, and then turning one’s back on the data ture. In Switzerland, for example, this pro- and forgetting about it. A digital archive has vider is SWITCHengines, which is a cloud to be serviced and maintained on a regular for the academic community that is oper- basis and will change over time. There are ated by the SWITCH foundation. The foun- four basic measures that need to be taken in dation is non-profit-making and is owned by order to ensure a digital archive’s continued Swiss cantons, and is intended to provide usability: research-related IT services. Not only is it First, the dataflow of the files that need to be not possible for the government to access archived have to be transported unaltered the data stored on this cloud, it would be en- into the future. The majority of institutions tirely inconceivable within the Swiss demo- today adhere to the following practice: three cratic federalist system. or more identical copies of the data should As a second measure, every object in a digi- exist, and these copies should be stored on tal archive must be identified, right down to at least two different storage technologies the file type. The identification process must that are stored at two different locations. not rely on a current technical solution. The Today, cloud technologies are playing an in- use of digital object identifier (DOI), which creasingly important role in terms of provid- one is more likely to encounter in the library ing cost-effective methods for storing large world, and the Archival Resource Key (ARK),

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which is more common in the world of ar- indication that the formats are becoming chives, is widespread around world. Using obsolete, then conservation measures must persistent identifiers allows digital resources be planned, tested, and implemented. The to be cited and located, even after a long pe- files in question are then converted into riod of time. new archive formats in a controlled and Thirdly, the context of the archival records well-documented process. Such measures must be documented, as is also the case will generally need to be repeated every for paper archives. It must be possible for few decades, and this will inevitably lead to a third party to classify the origin, creation, further information loss, as in the initial file and significance of the data. This is the only migration. Modern concepts and practices way that the context of the data’s creation assume that changes, as well as controlled, and their significance can continue to be de- documented losses are indispensable to the termined even after a great deal of time has preservation of an archive’s core informa- elapsed. tion. Fourthly, it is important to use open file for- The measures described here are derived mats for archiving, which are in common from an internationally observed standard use and not patented or licenced. This in- for digital archiving (ISO 14721, OAIS). creases the chance that the files will still be The metadata schemas used in the archive able to be displayed and used after a long are also internationally standardized (for period of time. Archives often opt for the example, METS and Premis), which en- “file-migration-on-stock” strategy: when sures, among other things, that the digital files are admitted to the archive, they are archiving provider can be changed. A man- converted into what are generally referred ufacturer’s trustworthiness will also be in- to as archival formats, which include PDF/A, creased if its components are licensed as TIFF, and WAVE. This prevents files from be- open source and are therefore able to be ing archived in proprietary office, email, or further developed independent of the man- image formats that will no longer be able to ufacturer. be interpreted after only a matter of years. This is a good strategy, but the original for- WHERE WILL THE JOURNEY mats must also be saved in addition to the LEAD US? migrated files, because file migration always It is becoming apparent in more and more entails a certain degree of information loss. facets of life that databases need to be kept What’s more, the strategy only works for in a usable state for many decades, even if simple digital objects that are based on in- the data in question do not directly consti- dividual files. Other strategies are necessary tute or correspond to digital cultural assets. when it comes to archiving more complex Documents pertaining to a person’s entitle- objects like websites or software systems, ment to a pension and their medical records such as emulation, which involves repro- need to be stored for at least the person’s ducing entire runtime environments within lifetime. Documents pertaining to the man- the archive. agement of real estate, the maintenance of A digital archive will periodically review the a motorway, or the dismantling of a nuclear file formats in its collections. If there is any power plant also need to remain usable for a

101 long period of time. Productive systems are and archiving processes, the occupation of generally not able to do this; the technology scientific archivist is not likely to disappear. of digital archives is imposing. On the contrary: archives are in urgent need This means that archives have to automate of “digital archivists” and “archival com- their processes and design their infrastruc- puter scientists”; they are in need of peo- tures to be able to handle large volumes of ple who not only have a sound knowledge data. In the future, archives will cease to of archives, but also have an understand- be isolated systems that operate alongside ing of IT architectures, process modelling, all the other systems within an organiza- and both data and metadata formats. In the tion—this is what previous IT architecture German-speaking world, the relevant train- concepts intended. In future, productive ing courses are only now beginning to ori- systems such as e-file solutions will hand ent themselves towards the “digital turn”, files over to the archive only a few years af- which was already underway in the world of ter a business transaction has taken place archiving 15 years ago. and will then access the data in the archive If we choose to digitalize our economy, our for research purposes. There, the fixed doc- administration, essentially our entire soci- uments that are no longer modifiable are ety, then our archives should also document subject to maintenance planning; however, this digital world in an appropriate format thanks to clear identifiability, third-party sys- and make it easy to understand, just as they tems can still make efficient use of them by did in the past in the analogue world. This is way of technical interfaces. exactly what archivists are working towards Despite technological upgrades to archives today.

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documentation, and a research fund. The archive collects both analogue and digital material, conducts extensive public relations work, and in 2018 registered more loans than the Swiss National Library, which is ap- proximately ten times larger. The archive and library of the Social Archives now constitute part of the Swiss Inventory of Cultural Pro- perty of National and Regional Significance. The institution’s development has a great deal to do with the (mutually dependent) trust of various stakeholders: the administra- tive bodies that subsidize the institution and its projects, those who supply documents to the archives, and those who use the archival services. How did they manage to establish and maintain this sense of trust? Founded in KÄLIN URS 1906, the institution was renamed the Swiss Social Archives in 1942 and has been sup- ported by a non-partisan association since it was first established,1 which distinguishes it KOLLER CHRISTIAN AND from many thematically related institutions in other countries that are tied to specific political parties, trade unions, or political Trust is Good – and Essential foundations. In his role as a founder of the ar- chives, the priest and social-democratic po- litician Paul Pflüger was inspired by the Mu- The example of sée social in Paris, a sociological think tank the Swiss Social Archives established in 1894 that encompassed a mu- seum, library, and research centre. Against the backdrop of mounting social conflicts (in The Swiss Social Archives in Zurich has particular in 1906, the year in which the ar- changed considerably in its first 113 years chive was established, Europe was engulfed of existence. The archive was originally es- by a wave of strikes that also led to violent tablished in 1906 as the Centre for Switzer- industrial disputes in Switzerland), a similar land’s Social Literature. Initially housed in a institution was set up in Switzerland with small one-bedroom apartment, it has deve- the goal of making knowledge in the area of loped into a research infrastructure for the the “social issue” available in the service of humanities and social sciences, which in- reformist action, and thus contributing to a cludes a special archive dedicated to civil so- sense of social equilibrium. The Social Ar- ciety with written and audiovisual material, chive’s thematic focus then broadened over a specialized academic library, topic-specific the decades to incorporate social, political,

103 and cultural change, and social movements, taining to the early history of the Swiss and with a particular emphasis on contemporary European labour movements, collections Swiss history. on the theories of socialism, communism, From the beginning, a wide array of social and anarchism, on the political and trade and political groups were represented in unionist Internationals, or on the fascist and the board of trustees. Among its members anti-fascist movements that were active in at the time the association was established the interwar period.2 A documentation of were the Swiss Federation of Commerce media resources also emerged from 1943 and Industry (SHIV), the Zurich Chamber of onwards, which today comprises a total Commerce, the Swiss Federation of Trade of 1.2 million articles. The newspaper and Unions (SGB), the Schweizerischer Gemein- magazine collections contain a number of nütziger Frauenverein (Swiss Non-Profit rarities and also cover the entire political Women’s Association, now Dachverband spectrum. In 1921, director Sigfried Bloch Schweizerischer Gemeinnütziger Frauen, received criticism from a board member SGF), and a number of workers’ associa- that too much communist literature was be- tions, as well as politicians from a variety ing acquired, a claim that he countered with of political parties, the Bishop of St. Gallen, the argument that scientific institutes have a banking executive, the Secretary of the a duty to collect material stemming from Swiss Workers’ Association Herman Greu- all directions. In the 1930s and 1940s, the lich, Fritz Brupbacher, a workers’ doctor institution was among only a handful in the who had an affinity for anarchism, and Betty German-speaking world that had both Nazi Farbstein-Ostersetzer, a women’s rights propaganda books and anti-fascist literature activist. In addition to Pflüger, the manage- on its shelves. The 1932 annual report— ment committee also included representa- which was composed in the spring of 1933 tives of the city of Zurich, the cantonal and at the same time that the Nazi book burnings municipal library, the right-wing liberal Neue occurred—recorded the foundation’s col- Zürcher Zeitung, the Catholic Neue Zürcher lection strategy: “The choice of acquisitions Nachrichten, and the Social Democratic is based neither upon the personal opinions Party of Switzerland, as well as three profes- of visitors, nor upon those of the manage- sors from the University of Zurich and the ment. Rather, it is concerned with the pres- University of Bern. From the beginning, this ervation of a most precious cultural asset: a broad support base made it possible for the documentation of the present for the future. foundation to secure subsidies from both It is essential that this task be approached the city and canton of Zurich. with a strong sense of responsibility and ac- The institution built on Plüger’s private lit- countability. That a particular book has been erature collection and its initial acquisitions acquired for the collection by no means primarily consisted of books and short writ- indicates that the acquisition has been ap- ings, whereby they consistently took into proved by library management.” The broad account all political orientations. This is how range offered by the foundation attracted a number of different collections were es- many a prominent user; before and during tablished and accumulated; for example, the First World War, this list included illus- rich collections of printed materials per- trious figures from the international labour

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movement, and in particular from the Rus- right-wing populist end of the spectrum, sian exile community—among them Lenin including the unpublished works of James and Trotsky.3 During the interwar period, a Schwarzenbach, the pioneer of Switzer- great many women who had been exiled land’s anti-immigration movement of the from fascist countries visited the institution 1960s and 1970s, and the poster archive of (for example, Otto Braun, Joseph Wirth, Alexander Segert’s advertising agency Goal. Anna Siemsen, Wilhelm Hoegner, Marga- A separate research fund was established rete Buber-Neumann, Rudolf Hilferding, in 1999 thanks to an extensive inheritance René König, Robert Jungk, Friedrich Adler, from the social scientist Ellen Rifkin Hill. The Manès Sperber, and Ignazio Silone); during Social Archives has also systematically col- the Cold War, refugees came from the East- lected audiovisual material since 2003.5 At ern Bloc, among them Nobel Laureate in Lit- the same time, the institution also managed erature Alexander Solschenizyn. to successfully cross over into the digital age In 1974, Switzerland acknowledged the by digitizing all of its catalogues and finding Swiss Social Archives as a leading research aids, working on retro-digitization projects infrastructure facility in its subject area. As for magazines, newspapers, photographs, a further official vote of confidence, the films, videos, posters, and audio material, Federal Council in 1979 appointed director developing an infrastructure for assembling Miroslav Tucˇek as the president of the Eid­ authentically electronic archival and docu- genössischen Expertenkommission für die mentation collections, as well as a number sozialwissenschaftliche Dokumentation of online information channels.6 (Swiss Expert Commission for Social Sci- The acquisition of privately stored written, ence Documentation). The subsidization visual, and audio materials from social move- that came along with the governmental rec- ments—that is, archival material of non-gov- ognition made it possible to establish an ar- ernmental origin—heavily depends on two chival department, whose collections have basic conditions: the degree of confidence increased significantly since the 1990s and and trust that those who created the records today encompass approximately 800 corpo- have in the archival institution, and the rela- rate archives and personal estates.4 A num- tionships that the archivists have to the per- ber of central organizations constitute the sonalities, political groups, initiatives, and main topics of the Social Archives: for ex- organizations in question. A special bond of ample, important trade unions and workers’ trust is required here, especially where previ- associations, political and cultural organiza- ous and estate collections are concerned. A tions that form part of the labour movement, sense of confidence in the archival institution social movements and associations from is forged in particular through its considera- spheres such as feminism, pacifism, ecol- ble levels of continuity and reliability. As far ogy, human rights, or the LGBTQ* commu- as an outside perspective is concerned, the nity, as well as non-profit organizations and archives need to at least appear to be able to youth organizations in Switzerland. How- ensure the long-term continued existence of ever, there are also archives of communist, the archives and therefore also the archival Trotskyist, and neulinke organizations (Neue material stored therein. The issue of sponsor- Linke or New Left), and collections from the ship is also addressed here; a sponsorship’s

105 configuration and philosophical or ideologi- of the archival collections, and the individ- cal character has the capacity to either help uals or organizations who created the files or hinder the archive’s sustained funding by are shown that it was indeed worthwhile state institutions. In the case of the Swiss So- to hand over their documents, and that cial Archives, there was a broad-based spon- the documents are being put to good use. sorship from the beginning, which minimized Finally, the Social Archives also endeavour the risks associated with financing. The ser- to procure organizations and activists who vices provided for the benefit of the organi- generate documents as members of the zations and individuals creating the archives board of trustees. Collaborating with activ- (such as research, and scan and copy jobs) ists can have a snowball effect in terms of are also important and should be rendered building up an archive’s inventory, because in a timely, accessible, and uncomplicated activists are simultaneously archives’ best manner and, if possible, be free of charge. ambassadors and those who are most famil- The technical expertise of the archival insti- iar with the ins and outs of their respective tution are of course also of crucial impor- milieus. In the ideal scenario, they would tance. The people responsible for creating acquire archival material from within their the files and records must be certain that the own social or political sphere: classic exam- institution in question is able to guarantee ples of this are the Schwulenarchiv Schweiz reliable, long-term preservation of artefacts. (Swiss Gay Archives), the collection of These days, this applies to digital docu- state security files (Archiv Schnüffelstaat ments in particular. Expertise encompasses Schweiz), or the Swiss Music Archives, a range of aspects: applying recognized which documents the rock and pop scenes. standards, participating in networks and These collections are essentially founded collaborating in groups, cooperating with upon a sense of private initiative and make partner institutions, and also visibility, which possible the preservation of records in sec- in many cases is a prime motivation for the tors that would otherwise be difficult for the submission of archival collections. It is in the Social Archives to access. interest of the organizations submitting the records that their documents be used for re- search activities and that the name of their 1 Jacqueline Häusler, 100 Jahre soziales Wissen: Schweizerisches Sozial- organization be present in scientific con- archiv 1906–2006, Zurich, 2006. 2 Hanspeter Marti, “Schweizerisches So- texts and exhibitions. zialarchiv, Zürich”, Handbuch der historischen Buchbestände in der Schweiz, edited by Urs B. Leu et al., vol. 3, Hildesheim, 2011, pp. 317–325; Koller, The important relationship-building and net- Christian, “Weder Zensur noch Propaganda: Der Umgang des Schweizeri- schen Sozialarchivs mit rechtsextremem Material”, LIBREAS: Library Ideas working that is carried out by the archival 35, 2019, available at: https://libreas.eu/ausgabe35/koller/. 3 Christian institution includes being physically pres- Koller, “Bibliotheksgeschichte als histoire croisée: Das Schweizerische Sozialarchiv und das Phänomen des Exils”, Vernetztes Wissen: Online – Die ent at external events (such as anniversary Bibliothek als Managementaufgabe, edited by Rafael Ball and Stefan Wie- derkehr, Berlin, 2015, pp. 365–392. 4 Anita Ulrich, “Le ‘Schweizerisches celebrations) and demonstrations, as well Sozialarchiv’: Stratégies de conservation et de valorisation des archives du as actively conducting public relations work mouvement ouvrier”, Archives, histoire et identité du mouvement ouvrier, edited by Alda De Giorgi et al., Geneva, 2006, pp. 92–101; Urs Kälin, “Fixierte by way of panel discussions, private book Bewegung? Soziale Bewegungen und ihre Archive”, Arbido 3, 2007, pp. 74– 77. 5 Stefan Länzlinger, “Audiovisuelle Privatarchive im Schweizerischen previews, lectures, source presentations, Sozialarchiv”, Memoriav Bulletin 25, 2018, pp. 16–18. 6 Christian Koller, and participating in exhibitions. The media- “Digitales Sozialarchiv: Was bisher geschah”, Sozialarchiv Info 1, 2018, pp. 12–15, available at: www.sozialarchiv. ch/2018/03/12/digitales-sozialarchiv- tion work is thus performed for the benefit was-bisher-geschah/.

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management of written materials and the

preservation, maintenance, and accessibil- ity of the world’s archival cultural heritage. The ICA is an impartial NGO that is financed by its 1,500 members in 195 countries and fulfils its duties through the activities carried out by its members. For more than 70 years now, the ICA has united archival institutions and archivists from all over the world with the aim of protecting and ensuring access to archives, advocating sound archive BÄRBEL FÖRSTER management practices and the physical safeguarding of recorded cultural heritage, creating recognized standards and sample Ethical, Responsible, Professional, solutions, and promoting transnational dia- and Comprehensive logue, as well as the exchange and dissemi- nation of this knowledge and expertise. As an international organization, the The international network ICA therefore works with top-level deci- of archivists sion-makers and international organizations like UNESCO and the Council of Europe, and liaises closely with other NGOs like Blue Shield International.1 Part of the ethos of the ICA involves harness- ing the cultural diversity of its members as a means of developing effective solutions to problems and mutually establishing stand- ards for a flexible, inventive métier.2 This is why the ICA has published four standards for the cataloguing of archival material since 1994, which have fundamentally changed Archives are an invaluable resource. They cataloguing practices.3 constitute a record of human activity ex- For a long time, the International Council on pressed in documentary form and as such Archives has dealt with the issue of access are indispensable testimonies of past to archives. In the wake of the political shifts events. They fortify democracy, and the that occurred in Europe at the beginning identities of individuals and communities; of the 1990s, European archivists formu- they strengthen human rights. But they are lated an “Outline of a Standard European also fragile and vulnerable and in need of Policy on Access to Archives”, which was protection. adopted by the ICA by resolution of the An- Founded in 1948, the International Council nual General Meeting in Edinburgh in 1997. on Archives (ICA) advocates the effective This resulted in the “Principles of Access

107 to Archives”, which were adopted in 2012. from 1996, and the “Universal Declaration Two other ICA documents emphasize the on Archives” from 2010. The key points of all importance of the professionalism of archi- three of the documents mentioned here are val work: the “Code of Ethics for Archivists” printed below.

PRINCIPLES OF ACCESS TO ARCHIVES4

The public has the right of access to archives of public bodies. Both pu- 1 blic and private entities should open their archives to the greatest extent possible.

Institutions holding archives make known the existence of the archives, 2 including the existence of closed materials, and disclose the existence of restrictions that affect access to the archives.

3 Institutions holding archives adopt a pro-active approach to access.

Institutions holding archives ensure that restrictions on access are clear 4 and of stated duration, are based on pertinent legislation, acknowledge the right of privacy and respect the rights of owners of private materials.

5 Archives are made available on equal and fair terms.

Institutions holding archives ensure that victims of serious crimes under international law have access to archives that provide evidence needed to 6 assert their human rights and to document violations of them, even if those archives are closed to the general public.

7 Users have the right to appeal a denial of access.

Institutions holding archives ensure that operational constraints do not 8 prevent access to archives.

Archivists have access to all closed archives and perform necessary archi- 9 val work on them.

10 Archivists participate in the decision-making process on access.

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CODE OF ETHICS FOR ARCHIVISTS5

Archivists should protect the integrity of archival material and thus guaran- 1 tee that it continues to be reliable evidence of the past.

Archivists should appraise, select and maintain archival material in its historical, legal and administrative context, thus retaining the principle of 2 provenance, preserving and making evident the original relationships of documents.

Archivists should protect the authenticity of documents during archival 3 processing, preservation and use.

Archivists should ensure the continuing accessibility and intelligibility of 4 archival materials.

Archivists should record, and be able to justify, their actions on archival 5 material.

Archivists should promote the widest possible access to archival material 6 and provide an impartial service to all users.

Archivists should respect both access and privacy, and act within the 7 boundaries of relevant legislation.

Archivists should use the special trust given to them in the general interest 8 and avoid using their position to unfairly benefit themselves or others.

Archivists should pursue professional excellence by systematically and 9 continuously updating their archival knowledge, and sharing the results of their research and experience.

Archivists should promote the preservation and use of the world’s docu- 10 mentary heritage, through working co-operatively with the members of their own and other professions.

109 UNESCO UNIVERSAL DECLARATION ON ARCHIVES6 Archives record decisions, actions and memories. Archives are a unique and irre- placeable heritage passed from one gen- eration to another. Archives are managed from creation to preserve their value and meaning. They are authoritative sources of information underpinning accountable and transparent administrative actions. They play an essential role in the development of societies by safeguarding and contributing to individual and community memory. Open access to archives enriches our knowledge of human society, promotes democracy, protects citizens’ rights and enhances the quality of life.

To this effect, we recognize:

The unique quality of archives as au- The diversity of archives in record- thentic evidence of administrative, cultural ing every area of human activity; and intellectual activities and as a reflection of the evolution of societies; The multiplicity of formats in which archives are created including paper, elec- The vital necessity of archives for tronic, audiovisual and other types; supporting business efficiency, accountabil- ity and transparency, for protecting citizens’ The role of archivists as trained pro- rights, for establishing individual and col- fessionals with initial and continuing educa- lective memory, for understanding the past, tion, serving their societies by supporting and for documenting the present to guide the creation of records and by selecting, future actions; maintaining and making these records avail- able for use;

The collective responsibility of all—citizens, public administrators and de- cision-makers, owners or holders of public or private archives, and archivists and other information specialists—in the manage- ment of archives.

110 CUSTODIANS OF MEMORY

We therefore undertake to work toge- ther in order that

Appropriate national archival policies and laws are adopted and enforced; The management of archives is valued and carried out competently by all bodies, private or public, which create and use ar- chives in the course of conducting their business; Adequate resources are allocated to support the proper management of ar- chives, including the employment of trained professionals; Archives are managed and preserved in ways that ensure their authenticity, relia- bility, integrity and usability; Archives are made accessible to every- one, while respecting the pertinent laws and the rights of individuals, creators, owners and users; Archives are used to contribute to the promotion of responsible citizenship.

1 Blue Shield International is an international organization that is affiliated with UNESCO and is based in The Hague. The organization is dedicated to protecting cultural assets from the effects of war, armed conflict, and di- saster. 2 https://www.ica.org/en/deutsch 3 1994: ISAD(G), available at: https:// de.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISAD(G); 1996: ISAAR(CPF), available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISAAR(CPF); 2008: ISDF und ISDIAH, available at: https://vsa-aas. ch/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Normen- katalog_Version1-3_201312.pdf bzw. https://vsa-aas.ch/wp-content/up- loads/2015/06/ISDIAH_-_Inter- nationaler_Standard_fuer_die_Verzeich- nung_von_Archivinstitutionen. pdf; sowie 2016: RiC (Records in Content), available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Records_in_Contexts 4 In the spring of 2010, the ICA’s Best Practices and Standards Committee commis- sioned a group of archivists to draw up a document on best practices for public access to both governmental and non-governmental archives. This resulted in the “Principles of Access to Archives”, which were adopted by the ICA’s annual meeting on 24 August 2012; see https://www.ica.org/sites/ default/files/ICA_Access-principles_EN.pdf. 5 Code of Ethics for Archi- vists, adopted by the General Assembly of the International Congress on Archives on 6 September 1996 in Beijing, status: January 1997, available at: https://www.ica.org/sites/default/files/ICA_1996-09-06_code%20of%20 ethics_EN.pdf 6 UNESCO Universal Declaration on Archives, adopted at the 36th session of the UNESCO General Conference on 10 November 2011, available at: https://www.ica.org/sites/default/files/20190510_ica_decla- rationuniverselle_en_0.pdf

111 TWENTY-YEAR ARCHIVES OF THE ROSA-LUXEMBURG-STIFTUNG

STORIES FROM A20-YEAR FROM PERIOD STORIES

FRAGMENTS OF MEMORY JOCHEN WEICHOLD

FILES SITTING ON THE SHELVES OF STRANGERS?

On a sunny Tuesday, on 21 June 1999, Eve- of using the portion of the project funds re- lin Wittich and I travelled to Bonn—she as served for staff costs. But when it came to the managing director of the Rosa-Luxem- the material costs, a dispute arose between burg-Stiftung (RLS), and I as a board mem- the advisor from the Bundestag’s adminis- ber whose task was to tend to issues per- tration and the head of the parliamentary taining to archives—in order to negotiate archives. The Bundestag representative was with the administration of the German Bun- anxious to use the budget item to its fullest destag and the parliamentary archive over extent and was therefore of the opinion that financial matters. The topic on the agenda the ADS’s archive shelves could also be paid was the use of funds from the Bundestag’s for out of the portion of the budget desig- project titled Aufbereitung und Erhaltung nated for material costs. “No”, responded zeitgeschichtlich bedeutsamer Archivalien the head of the parliamentary archives, “the (Processing and Preserving Archival Docu- shelves have always been financed using ments Significant to Contemporary History) the foundation’s general funds.” “But”, said from German parliamentarians which the the Bundestag representative, “then all your RLS was entitled to receive. The PDS del- files will end up being stored on the shelves egates’ written material from the last GDR of the Federal Ministry of the Interior.” “That Volkskammer and from the last two Bunde- doesn’t matter”, was his terse response. stag election periods was to be made acces- And so the shelves (and later the mobile sible within the framework of the project. shelving system for magazines) were paid We managed to quickly resolve the question for using the general funds of the RLS.

114 FRAGMENTSKOLUMNENTITEL OF MEMORY

CHRISTINE GOHSMANN

ARCHIVAL WORK IN SOUTH AFRICA

“The role of archive in reconciliation, develop- In that instance, the work of gathering expert ment and identity politics is central, not only in opinions had already commenced before the addressing the past, but also in imagining and project began. Project envoys travelled to Ber- facilitating the future.”1 lin, and we were tasked with providing them This assessment of the significance of archives with an insight into our work and with organ- applies not only to the context of South Africa, izing visits and events in cultural institutions but for archives everywhere. with online presentations in which we could ex- Over the years, the expert opinion of archive change our experiences. After it commenced managers has repeatedly been requested for ar- in Cape Town and Johannesburg, the project chive projects both here in Germany and abroad. received professional support, and its progres- We were happy to acquiesce to this request. In sion and results were evaluated on site. This 2003, the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung opened its demonstrated to us that the tools needed to first foreign office in Johannesburg, South Af- market such a project differ significantly be- rica. The Centre for International Dialogue and tween Europe and Africa. For example, in Af- Cooperation, which is responsible for the Foun- rica, radio programmes still enjoy a high level dation’s overseas work, began supporting edu- of distribution, which is why interviews and cational projects in southern Africa even back in feature programmes are commonly used as a the preparatory phase leading up to the official means of publicizing matters pertaining to the opening of the office. Among our first project project and of advertising the supplementation partners were Khanya College in Johannesburg of the archival collection. Because access to and the Labour Research Service in Cape Town; the internet was not guaranteed everywhere, subsequent additional project partners included we were also granted the right to provide CDs the South African History Archive and the ar- containing prominent events of the labour chive of the Congress of South African Trade movement such as mass strikes as a means of Unions (COSATU). The South African Labour further disseminating the knowledge gleaned History Project was launched in 2001 in col- from the archival documents. laboration with Khanya College and the Labour The study of South Africa’s archival landscape Research Service in order to promote commu- and our work in a consulting capacity for a num- nication, cooperation, and networking among ber of archival projects brought us into contact activists in the trade union sector. The project with vocational colleges, which invited us to was funded from 2001 to 2006 and served to attend workshops, discussion groups, and con- construct an online archive of the South Afri- ferences. Conferences like the one that was or- can labour movement in the period from 1966 ganized in 2006 by the Southern Africa Office in to 1979. In 2002, the project was integrated collaboration with a project partner under the ti- into a regional project conducted in southern tle Memory, Heritage and The Public Interest led 1 Carolyn Hamilton and Xolela Mangcu, Freedom: Public Delibera- Africa by the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung titled to the development of a special research interest tion and the Archive, published by Gesellschaftspolitische Maßnahmen (Sociopo- and a broadening of the view of the significance the Public Intellectual Life Project of the Nelson Mandela Founda- litical Measures). of archives. tion, 2006, p. 2.

115 JOCHEN WEICHOLD

ONLY A “THIN BOOKLET”

We had our first finding aid, which had been the relevant contacts. We visited the Ar- compiled on the subject of the PDS-Fraktion chiv der sozialen Demokratie (Archive of in der Volkskammer der DDR (PDS Parlia- Social Democracy, AdsD) in Bonn and the mentary Group in the GDR People’s Parlia- Green Memory Archive (AGG) in Bornheim ment, March to October 1990), printed in a together in May 2000; these contacts and limited edition of 100 copies and bound as experiences were of immense benefit to a brochure in A5 format. After we had sent us in terms of coming to grips with the the finding aid, status report, and the report Bundestag project. After all, we lived from on the expenditure of the funds to the Bun- this project. During these visits, we took destag administration punctually at the end the opportunity to inspect the finding aids of March 2000, I called Ms Handke-Lep- that had been compiled there for the Bun- tien, the head of the budgetary unit of the destag administration: each of them was a German Bundestag administration, in April large volume in A4 format with text printed 2000 to enquire as to whether everything only on one side of the page and made had arrived. “Yes”, responded Ms Hand- use of spacious text layout; the AdsD’s ke-Leptien. The finding aid was merely a finding aids were bound in brick-red imi- “thin booklet”, she said, only to follow this tation leather, and the AGG’s finding aids observation up with a reassuring comment: were wrapped in jackets of green imitation “You only had three months’ time.” Aha, I leather, and the titles were rendered in sil- said to myself, the director of the budgetary ver script. As a result of these archive vis- unit clearly hoped to see something more its, we opted to produce future versions of substantial in return for the money she had the ADS’s finding aids for the Bundestag doled out for the project. administration in an A4 format with sin- In the spring of 2000, Christine Gohsmann gle-sided text, but in order to ensure they then paved the way for our fledgling party stand out, we have our product bound in archives to become integrated into the deep red imitation leather, with the title ren- broader archival landscape and established dered in black text.

116 KOLUMNENTITELFRAGMENTS OF MEMORY

CHRISTINE GOHSMANN

“BUT EVERYTHING IS ONLINE!” – AS AN ITINERANT PREACHER IN BRUSSELS

In November 2013, at the annual confer- Our visit to the offices provided us with an ence of the International Council on Ar- excellent opportunity to familiarize our- chives in Brussels, we were given the op- selves with the members’ working methods portunity to meet our colleagues from the and with their very distinctive propensity for Regional Office for the European Union of storing the results of their work in an ana- the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung in Brussels, logue or digital format. Often “only” the fi- as well as to pay a visit to the staff of the nal version of the papers was available on left-wing delegation of the United Euro- the website due to the chiefly electronic pean Left/Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) nature of the exchange on the topics of the political group in the European Parliament. papers that were to be compiled. Informa- It was on this occasion that the idea was tion pertaining to processing stages and born of organizing a workshop the follow- preparatory work was barely ever stored ing year for the members of parliament and in the electronic records, true to the slo- their offices. gan “Everything is online!” A meeting with It took some persistence and an endless those responsible for the delegation’s media barrage of emails and telephone calls before and public relations work had also been ar- we were finally able to settle on a date for ranged, and we were able to add to our col- the workshop, which we agreed would take lections in the period that followed. Among place in Brussels in May 2014. We entered the arrangements made was an agreement the European Parliament in pairs and pre- that the marketing and communications sented our work. We started by explaining company Media-Service GmbH, based in that our archives at the time only contained a Berlin at Franz-Mehring-Platz 1, would in fu- limited number of documents from the work ture submit one copy of all advertising mate- conducted by the left-wing delegation in rial produced for Brussels to the Archives for the GUE/NGL; we endeavoured to impress Democratic Socialism for archiving. upon them our desire to achieve the broad- Once back in Berlin, we reported on the est possible transmission of the group’s workshop and the specific features of this work, while at the same time referring to the collection. The workshop had once again range of goods and services provided by the convinced us that it is first and foremost per- archive. After answering several questions, sonal contacts that inspire in institutions and we accepted an invitation to visit some of individuals the confidence needed to entrust the members’ offices. an archive with their records.

117 THE AUTUMN MEETINGS including the archive premises and the ar- There were no laws or regulations stipulat- chiving software. In later years, the meet- ing the obligatory submission of documents ings led us to the parliamentary group Die to the Archives for Democratic Socialism Linke in the German Bundestag, to the ar- so we had to tend to the task of increasing chive of Die Linke’s party executive in Berlin, the number of documents of archival value to state parliamentary factions of Die Linke, ourselves. As employees of the Archives to the regional offices of the Rosa-Luxem- for Democratic Socialism, we have always burg-Stiftung in a variety of federal German considered ourselves to perform the role of states, to the Clara Zetkin memorial in Birk- mediator between those who “produce” the enwerder, and to the Stiftung Archive der documents and the potential users of those Parteien und Massenorganisationen der records. We saw ourselves as responsible DDR (Foundation Archives of Parties and for the tasks of advising the creators in the Mass Organizations, SAPMO) in the federal process of generating the files, as well as in archives in the Berlin district of Lichterfelde. terms of safeguarding and acquisition, and The objective of the autumn meetings was evaluating, preserving, and utilizing the doc- for those in charge of archives to share in- uments. formation about the collections for which In order to establish the necessary contact they were responsible, as well as the work- with those responsible for the archives, we ing conditions and the opportunities for invited those in charge to a series of annual utilizing the records on site. The location of autumn meetings involving the party exec- each meeting or the institution that would utive of the PDS, its regional associations, be hosting it was included in the content Landesstiftungen (regional foundations) and design of the meeting. This enabled the par- associations affiliated with the PDS, as well ticipants to become familiar with a number as the Bundestag parliamentary group of the of different state parliamentary libraries; for PDS, which subsequently became the polit- example, they were given a guided tour of ical party Die Linke. Schwerin Castle, which is the seat of the The autumn meetings began with a meet- state parliament, and were briefed on the ing in Berlin, where the work of the Archives work conducted by the Landesstiftungen. for Democratic Socialism was presented, The exchange of experiences between the

118 FRAGMENTS OF MEMORY

JOCHEN WEICHOLD

IN CONTRAST TO THE ARCHIVES OF KING SOLOMON

CHRISTINE Since time immemorial, the general public GOHSMANN has associated archives with dust. In his book The King David Report, writer Stefan participating archivists drew upon field re- Heym outlines the state of chaos in which ports, and was supplemented by specialist the royal archive found itself; stored in a sta- articles. Over the years, the work conducted ble that had been built to house King Solo- on the collections of the Mecklenburg-Vor- mon’s horses. In these archives, which con- pommern PDS (from 1989 to 2007) consist- sisted of piles of clay tablets stacked on top ently played a role in a number of different of each other, covered with dust and cob- ways, until the autumn meeting conducted webs, and numerous leather scrolls strewn in Schwerin in 2016, where the finding aids about in a state of terrible disorder, one were finally presented to those responsible would search for the records of King David’s for party development in Mecklenburg-Vor- scribe, Seraiah—a pursuit that was at first, pommern; here, the finding aids were able unsurprisingly, futile. to be assessed in terms of user-friendliness The situation was significantly different with and validity. The response was overwhelm- regard to the documents that two employ- ingly positive. ees from the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung, The autumn meeting that took place in which was still in its developmental phase 2014 in the Käte Duncker room, Die Linke’s at the time, received in July 1999 from the meeting room in the regional parliament of information and documentation unit of the Thuringia in Erfurt, and the meeting in 2016 PDS parliamentary group in the German in the office of the Schwerin parliamentary Bundestag. The documents from the PDS group were dedicated to the recent state in the last People’s Parliament to take place elections. An initial analysis of each party’s the GDR in 1990 and those from the PDS election results and a report on the state of in the Bundestag from the 12th and 13th the coalition negotiations in Thuringia pro- election terms had been clearly filed over vided the meetings with a very up-to-date the years in Leitz folders and stored in a framework. dust-free environment in built-in cupboards The highlight of the 2010 autumn meeting in the Bundeshaus (federal parliament build- was when a hard drive containing databases ing) in Bonn. This acquisition of files laid the pertaining to Die Linke in the German Bunde- material foundation for the Archives for stag from the Bundestag’s 16th election term Democratic Socialism At the end of 1999, was physically handed over to the director of we counted 28.1 running metres of archival the Archives for Democratic Socialism. records.

119 JOCHEN WEICHOLD

DETAILED FORENSIC WORK

In 2001, we had a modern mobile shelving system built into our storeroom in the office building at Franz-Mehring-Platz 1; first came the initial construction phase, and then the second phase took place in the first half of “ARCHIVES AREN’T 2002. We had expected that the new system PROFITABLE, BUT THEY would provide us with sufficient space to DO PAY OFF!”1 be able to properly and professionally store new archival material for four or five years. The advantages of an archive for an organ- But then the PDS was kicked out of the Bun- ization might not always be immediately destag during the federal election in the apparent, because an organization’s history autumn of 2002. And at the end of October is not necessarily the focus of the archival 2002, two removal vans parked in front of work at the time when an archive is first the building and unloaded vast numbers created. Archivists therefore never tire of of moving boxes containing files. They explaining their work in-house, of offering filled the entire foyer, and it took us several guided tours of the storerooms, or of as- weeks to first classify the removal boxes sisting in developing filing plans, as well as and then the document folders according to developing standards for the handover of the member(s) of parliament to which they documents to the archive. pertained—an undertaking that sometimes For their part, the departments would ap- involved a considerable amount of detailed proach the staff at the archive on specific forensic work—and then finally to organize occasions: for example, when older files the records. were in the way during the moves that re- Our storeroom with the new mobile shelv- peatedly took place within the building; ing system was now filled to the brim. We when the work conducted by the various accepted the offer made by the Kirchliches departments was presented at the Markt Zentralarchiv Berlin (Central Ecclesiasti- der Möglichkeiten (Market of Opportuni- cal Archive) to store any further records ties) during conferences for overseas em- and also rented additional shelf space in ployees; or when the introductory seminar the newly established archive building on of the RLS’s Studienwerk was planned. In Bethaniendamm. Since then, our archival April and October every year, we welcome material has been spread out across the two the new scholarship holders, which usually locations. entails their spending two days as guests at the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung, familiarizing themselves with the foundation and its var-

120 FRAGMENTS OF MEMORY

CHRISTINE GOHSMANN

ious departments, and what these depart- of the Bundestag. Corresponding videos ments have to offer. The archive and library were also shown of her appearances in the were merged together to form one single Volkskammer and the German Bundestag, department. This merger also involved the the contents of which the scholarship hold- guided tours through the main shared store- ers analyzed and then presented to each room and the information pertaining to the other. This allowed the scholarship holders collections and their potential uses, espe- to gain an impression of the documents’ cially in relation to archives or libraries. The significance and gave them an insight into participants were keenly interested and con- the work conducted by the archivists. Over tinually responded with questions. Unsur- the course of the scholarship, some of the prisingly, we were also often asked whether scholarship holders returned to the archive the archive was also home to Rosa Luxem- and library. burg’s written legacy, to which we had to It was just as important for the Studienwerk respond that no, it was not. But we were at to have immediate access to the scholar- least able to draw the visitors’ attention to ship holders’ documents as it was for those the extensive library collection located on funding the project to have access to the the same premises containing literature by files containing the approvals or rejections and about Rosa Luxemburg. of project proposals. Not all employees im- In addition to the guided tours, a workshop mediately warmed to the new form used was offered over a number of years that was by the archivists for the purposes of log- conducted in two groups using archival ging each new submission of documents, materials (copies of original documents). but they have since grown accustomed to A series of highly significant and informa- its use over the years. Research conducted tive documents pertaining to her life and in preparation for anniversaries of the Ro- work were selected from the collections sa-Luxemburg-Stiftung has illustrated how of Jürgen Demloff, a representative in the significant the filing system actually is for 1 Quoted from Katharina Tiemann Volkskammer, and Christa Luft, a member the history of our own organization. in Der Archivar, vol. 3, 2005, p. 196.

121 JOCHEN WEICHOLD

A LAST-MINUTE VISIT

Ms Nelles, who is responsible for imple- we used as the only party archive of the par- menting the Bundestag project in the parlia- ties represented in the Bundestag. (At that mentary archives, registered at short notice time, all other party archives were working to visit our archives on 15 November 2001. with the FAUST archiving software.) Finally, It certainly would have been very helpful we presented archival material from the to have our colleague Christine Gohsmann Bundestag project that had been indexed there on that occasion; at the time, she was in the storeroom on a sample basis. We the only archivist in our small archive and were able to convince Ms Nelles by way of library department who had a relevant de- a visual inspection that the work detailed in gree from a university of applied sciences. the annual reports for the previous years had However, on the day in question, her teach- actually been carried out: removing all metal ing commitments meant that she was at the components, foliating the sheets of the units Fachhochschule Potsdam and was there- of description, and transferring them from fore unable to be present. “Good advice is their original folders into acid-free archive expensive.” Or so the saying goes. Our li- portfolios and containers for archival mate- brarian Uwe Michel and I not only removed rials, and applying up-to-date shelf marks to the unsightly moving boxes from the store- the folders and containers. Ms Nelles was room, but also bought coffee, pastries, and also able to verify that the archival materi- sparkling water in order to create a pleasant als had been stored in accordance with the atmosphere during our initial conversations regulations, thereby allowing us to clear an with Ms Nelles. We then demonstrated our important hurdle in terms of securing future archiving software AUGIAS-Archiv, which funding for the ADS.

122 Dr Dietmar Bartsch, born in Stralsund in together with Susanne Lettow and Andrea 1958, is an economist and a member of the Maihofer in 2018, and Emanzipation (Eman- German Bundestag. He acted as treasurer cipation), published in 2019. and federal whip for many years, for the PDS and later for Die Linkspartei.PDS, or Dr Dagmar Enkelmann, born in 1956, is a the party Die Linke. He has been the chair- qualified historian and has been the chair of person of the Die Linke parliamentary group the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung since 2012. since October 2015. During the period of political change, she was actively involved in roundtable discus- Friedrich Burschel, born in 1965, is an his- sions and was elected to the Volkskammer torian and political scientist who works for of the GDR. She represented the PDS, or the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung as an advisor rather the party Die Linke, as a member of focussing on neo-Nazism and the structures the German Bundestag and the Branden- and ideologies of inequality. He supported burg state parliament for a number of parlia- the NSU Trial in Munich through his work as mentary terms. From 2005 to 2013, she was INDEX AUTHORS OF an employee at NSU-Watch and as a corre- the parliamentary whip of the Bundestag spondent for Radio LOTTE in Weimar. He is political group Die Linke. also an author and writes the antifra* blog. Bärbel Förster, born in 1959, studied His- Peter Delis, born in 1951, was a full-time tory and Archival Sciences in Leipzig and employee of the German Peace Union until Berlin. She worked at the Saxon State Ar- 1990 after completing his business adminis- chive in Dresden from 1984 to 1994, and tration degree. In the mid-1980s, he became then worked in the Federal Archives of Swit- the state majority leader in Rhineland-Palat- zerland in Bern and Zurich in a leadership inate and Saarland, and later in Hesse. He and project management role (from 1995), worked as the advisor for alliance work for and in the Swiss Dance Archives (2008), as Die Linke in the Hessian state parliament well as in the Federal Department for Foreign from 2008 to 2014. He works as a volunteer Affairs (from 2009), and the State Secretariat at the Friedens- und Zukunftswerkstatt e.V. for Economic Affairs (from 2015) in the area of business administration and archiving. Prof Dr Alex Demirovi ´c, social scientist From 1999 to 2008, she was a part-time lec- and associate professor at the Goethe Uni- turer in information science in Chur, Zurich, versity Frankfurt, is a senior fellow of the and the University of Bern/Lausanne. She RLS, member of the Scientific Advisory has been the director of the Rosa-Luxem- Board of the RLS and currently its chair- burg-Stiftung’s archive since 1 March 2019. person, member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Attac and of the Bund demokra- Wolfgang Gehrcke, born in 1943, is a pol- tischer Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissen- itician who has also worked as an admin- schaftler (Federation of Democratic Scien- istrative assistant and journalist. He was a tists). His latest print publications include member of the German Bundestag from Wirtschaftsdemokratie neu denken (Re- 1998 to 2002, and again from 2005 to 2017. thinking Economic Democracy), published He joined the KPD in 1961, and in 1968 he

123 cofounded the Socialist German Workers for Democratic Socialism since 2017. In Youth (SDAJ) and was jointly responsible for 2018, she graduated from the Freie Univer- initiating the Aldermaston Marches and the sität Berlin with a degree in Editing (M.A.). new peace movement. He was a founding member of the DKP in 1968 and was party Dr Gregor Gysi, born in Berlin in 1948, is a executive from 1973 to 1989. In 1990, he lawyer, skilled labourer in the area of cattle cofounded the PDS in West Germany and farming, and member of the German Bun- was its general secretary from 1991 to 1993, destag. He was a member of the Volkskam- and then its federal deputy chairperson from mer of the GDR from 1990 onwards and was 1993 to 1998. He is a founding member of the chair of the PDS parliamentary group. the Party of the European Left. From the end of 1990 until January 2002, he was the chair of the group, or rather the par- Dr Margret Geitner, born in 1963, is the chair liamentary group of the PDS, and was the of Die Linke parliamentary group in the Ham- chair of the party Die Linke in the German burg city parliament, political scientist, former Bundestag from October 2005 to October advisor for foreign policy of the left-wing par- 2015. In December 2016, he was elected the liamentary group in the Bundestag. She has president of the Party of the European Left. been actively engaged in a number of differ- He currently works as a lawyer and publicist. ent internationalist and anti-racist groups for many years (kein mensch ist illegal, Welcome Thomas Händel, born in 1953, is the vice to Europe, and w2e, among others). chair of the RLS. An electrician by trade, he studied at the Akademie der Arbeit in Frankfurt Claudia Gohde, born in 1958, is the man- am Main. He was a member of the SPD from ager of the federal office of the party Die 1972 to 2004, and from 2005 to 2007 was the Linke. She studied Theology, Ethnology, and managing director and federal treasurer of the German Philology in Göttingen and, in her WASG, which merged with the PDS in 2007 capacity as a mediator and organizational to become the party Die Linke. From 2009 to consultant, oversaw the organizational 2019, he was a left-wing representative in the development of the Linkspartei, as well as European Parliament and chairperson of the the process of the party’s merger with the employment committee. From 1979 onwards, WASG. She was the party executive of the he worked on the executive board of IG Metall PSD from 1991 to 1997 and is a member of and was the general manager of the IG Metall the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung. in Fürth from 1987 to 2012.

Christine Gohsmann, born in 1962, is a Bernd Hüttner, born in 1966, is a political certified archivist. She has worked with scientist and works as an advisor for con- archives in Berlin and Brandenburg since temporary history and politics of memory at 1985, and has been employed by the Ro- the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung. In 1999, he sa-Luxemburg-Stiftung since 1999, where founded the Archive of Social Movements she worked as archive director and acting in Bremen. He is a member of the Historical archive director until 2016. She has been a Commission on the federal executive board research assistant at the Historical Centre of the party Die Linke, of the international

124 advisory board of the International Con- Dr Anja Kruke manages the Archives of ference of Labour and Social History (ITH), Social Democracy of the Friedrich-Ebert- and of the executive board of the German Stiftung, which also includes the house Labour History Association. where Karl Marx was born, where a new permanent exhibition has been on display Urs Kälin, born in 1959, studied History, since 2018. She is an historian and pub- Modern German Literature, and Political The- lishes content on different topics from the ory at the University of Zurich and completed 19th and above all the 20th century. his doctorate in 1991 with Rudolf Braun. From 1992 to 1996, he was a research as- Andreas Marquet manages the depart- sociate of the Swiss University Conference ment of digital transformation of the Archive in Bern, and since 1996 he has been the of Social Democracy as Chief Digital Officer. vice-director of the Swiss Social Archives As an historian and information scientist, his in Zurich. He is an executive politician and is focusses of interest lie in contemporary his- the mayor of Altdorf in the canton of Uri. tory and the points of intersection between digital methods of research and archiving. Prof Dr Christian Koller was born in 1971 and studied History, Economics, and Political Uwe Michel, born in 1962, studied Liter- Science. He worked as a lecturer at the Ban- ary Studies and Philosophy in Perugia, Italy. gor University in the UK from 2007 to 2014, He trained to become a librarian at the Freie was a fellow of the Royal Historical Society Universität Berlin and has been responsible from 2010, and was also an honorary pro- for the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung’s library fessor of Modern History at the University of since 2001. He also supervises the series Zurich. He has been the director of the Swiss of events titled Linke Literatur im Gespräch Social Archives since 2014. He has contrib- (Discussing Left-Wing Literature) and works uted to numerous publications pertaining closely with the archivists from the Archives to the history of nationalism and racism, for Democratic Socialism. historical semantics, sports history, social movements, industrial relations, history of Petra Pau was born in Berlin 1963. She was violence, military history, history of intercul- a member of the SED and joined the PDS in tural contact and cultures of memory. 1990, where she held the position of state party leader for Berlin for ten years and was Jan Korte, born in 1977, studied Political the vice-chairperson at the turn of the mil- Science, History, and Sociology at the Uni- lennium. In 1990, she was elected to the versity of Hannover. He has been a mem- Hellersdorf district assembly and, in 1995, ber of the German Bundestag since 2005 was elected to the Berlin House of Repre- and has belonged to the executive board sentatives. Since 1998, she has won six direct of the Die Linke parliamentary group since mandates for the German Bundestag and has 2009; he has also been its party manager been its vice-president since 2006. As a politi- since 2017. In 2014, he was elected to cian focussing on internal affairs, she fights for the executive board of the Rosa-Luxem- civil rights and democracy, and against right- burg-Stiftung wing extremism, racism, and antisemitism.

125 Bernd Riexinger, born in 1955, trained as Dr Andrey K. Sorokin was born in 1950 a banker and was trade union secretary in and is an historian. In 1991, he founded the the Baden-Württemberg regional manage- Rosspen publishing house, or Political Ency- ment of the Gewerkschaft Handel, Banken clopedia Publishers. In 2008, he launched und Versicherungen (Trade, Banking and the project Geschichte des Stalinismus (His- Insurance Union) from 1991, and was later tory of Stalinism), a collection of relevant the managing director of the ver.di district publications in 100 volumes. He is a mem- of Stuttgart and the region. He became a ber of the Academic Council of the Russian co-founder of the WASG in response to the Federal Archives and director of the Rus- Agenda 2010 issued by Gerhard Schröder’s sian State Archive of Socio-Political History federal government and was the WASG’s (RGASPI). state spokesperson for Baden-Württemberg until its amalgamation with the PDS in 2007. Andreas Steigmeier, born in 1962, is an Together with Katja Kipping, he has chaired historian, archivist, and business econo- the party Die Linke since 2012 and has been mist. He founded the Docuteam GmbH in a member of the German Bundestag since Baden, Switzerland together with Tobias 2017. Wildi in 2003 and is its co-director. With al- most 40 employees, Docuteam provides ar- Dr Albert Scharenberg, born in 1965, chiving services and advises organizations is an historian and political scientist who of all kinds on the lifespan of their business is the director of the Historical Centre for records. Prior to that, Andreas worked for a Democratic Socialism of the Rosa-Luxem- long time as a freelance historian and was burg-Stiftung. Prior to that, he was the co-di- also the founder and partner of a non-fiction rector of the RLS’s New York office and edi- publishing house publishing content in the tor and associate of the Journal for German field of history. and International Politics. Tom Strohschneider trained as an histo- Dr Jörn Schütrumpf was born in 1956 rian and has worked as a journalist for many and is an historian and editor. From 2003 to years. Among other things, he was the ed- 2017, he was the manager of the Karl Dietz itor in chief of the daily newspaper neues Verlag Berlin and currently heads the “Fok- deutschland (New Germany). His most usstelle Rosa Luxembug” (Rosa Luxemburg recent publication (as an editor) is Eduard Research) in the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung. Bernstein oder: Die Freiheit des Andersden- His publications include Freiheiten ohne kenden (Eduard Bernstein, or: The Freedom Freiheit: Die Deutsche Demokratische Repu- of the Dissenters, 2019). blik (2010); as an editor, Angelica Balabanoff: Lenin – oder: Der Zweck heiligt die Mittel Marga Voigt was born in 1953 and is (2013); Paul Levi, Ohne einen Tropfen Lakai- a Slavist and librarian. She was the li- enblut: Schriften, Reden, Briefe (2016–2018, brary director at the Zentrales Haus der four volumes so far); Rosa Luxemburg – or: Deutschen-Sowjetischen Freundschaft in The Price of Freedom (third, revised and sup- Berlin (Central House of German-Soviet plemented edition, 2018). Friendship) until 1990. Since 2001, she has

126 worked on a freelance basis on editorial, ing the Second World War. He has worked proofreading, and her own political edu- for the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung in Berlin cation projects within the RLS’s network since 1999 and has been its managing direc- of foundations. She is a member of the tor since 2008. Förderkreis Archive und Bibliotheken zur Geschichte der Arbeiterbewegung (Society Dr Tobias Wildi, born in 1973, is an his- for the Promotion of Archives and Libraries torian, information scientist, and archivist. on the History of the Labour Movement) and He founded Docuteam GmbH in 2003 and the Förderverein der Clara-Zetkin-Gedenk- has been its co-director since then. Among stätte (Society for the Promotion of the Clara other things, Docuteam operates and Zetkin Memorial) in Birkenwerder. She is the oversees long-term archives and develops editor of the three-volume edition of Clara open-source software for this purpose, Zetkin’s War Letters (vol. 1: 2016). which is used in Germany, France, and Switzerland. In 2016, the Swiss Executive Dr Sahra Wagenknecht, born in 1969, Federal Council elected Tobias Wildi as the studied Philosophy and Modern German Lit- president of the Eidgenössische Kommis- erature and completed her doctorate as an sion für Kulturgüterschutz (Swiss Agency economist and author. She was a member of for the Protection of Cultural Property). In the European Parliament from 2004 to 2009 this capacity, he is involved in developing and has been a member of the German Bun- a national repository for digital cultural as- destag since 2009. From 2015 to 2019, she sets. He is a member of the Expert Group was the chairperson of the Die Linke parlia- on Archival Description of the International mentary group. From 1991 to 1995 and from Council on Archives. 2000 to 2014, she was a member of the ex- ecutive board of the PDS party, or rather the Dr Evelin Wittich, born in 1950, was a Linkspartei.PDS and the party Die Linke. member of the Geschäftsführender Auss- chuss der Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung (Ex- Dr Jochen Weichold, born in 1948, stud- ecutive Committee; until 1999 known as ied History and German Language and Liter- Gesellschaftsanalyse und politische Bildung ature and subsequently worked as a political e.V., or Societal Analysis and Political Educa- scientist for many years. He was the director tion) from 1990 to 2003, its sole managing of the Archives for Democratic Socialism at director from 2003 to 2008, and director of the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung from 1999 to the Academy for Political Education, where 2013. Today, he is primarily concerned with she also managed the “Fokusstelle Rosa the development of green parties and with Luxemburg” (Rosa Luxemburg Research). issues of European policy. Prior to that, she worked as a structural en- gineer and problems analyst at the GDR’s Dr Florian Weis was born in Hamburg in Bauakademie (school of architecture) and 1967 and is an historian who wrote his doc- vice-manager of Podium Progressiv, the toral thesis on the British Labour Party dur- PDS’s educational institution.

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Published by the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung First edition 2019 Liable in accordance with German press laws: Alrun Kaune-Nüßlein und Ulrike Hempel Straße der Pariser Kommune 8A · 10243 Berlin · www.rosalux.de ISBN 978-3-948250-08-9 · Copy deadline: November 2020 Photos: cover image istock/blackred; p. 14 shutterstock/nullplus; p. 68 shutterstock/goir; p. 88 istock/scanrail; p. 14, p. 68, p. 88 Kim Nalleweg + Trujillo Architekten [M] Editor: TEXT-ARBEIT, Berlin Layout and typesetting: MediaService GmbH Druck und Kommunikation Translation: Hunter Bolin and Louise Pain for Gegensatz Translation Collective, Berlin

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“Archives record decisions, actions and memories. Archives are a unique and irreplaceable heritage passed from one generation to another. Archi- ves are managed from creation to preserve their value and meaning. They are authoritative sources of information underpinning accountable and transparent administrative actions. They play an essential role in the deve­ lopment of societies by safeguarding and contributing to individual and community memory. Open access to archives enriches our knowledge of human society, promotes democracy, protects citizens’ rights and enhan- ces the quality of life.”

Excerpt from UNESCO’s Universal Declaration on Archives 10 NOVEMBER 2011