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Behind the Berlin Wall.Pdf BEHIND THE BERLIN WALL This page intentionally left blank Behind the Berlin Wall East Germany and the Frontiers of Power PATRICK MAJOR 1 1 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York Patrick Major 2010 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2010 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose the same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Major, Patrick. Behind the Berlin Wall : East Germany and the frontiers of power / Patrick Major. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978–0–19–924328–0 1. Germany (East)—History. 2. Germany (East)—Politics and government. 3. Germany (East)—Social conditions. 4. Power (Social sciences)—Germany (East)—History. 5. Berlin Wall, Berlin, Germany, 1961–1989. 6. Walls—Social aspects—Germany (East)—History. 7. Boundaries—Social aspects—Germany (East)—History. 8. Germany (East)—Boundaries—Germany (West) 9. Germany (West)—Boundaries—Germany (East) 10. Cold War. I. Title. DD282.M35 2009 943 .1087—dc22 2009026991 Typeset by Laserwords Private Limited, Chennai, India Printed in Great Britain on acid-free paper by MPG Books Group, Bodmin and King’s Lynn ISBN 978–0–19–924328–0 13579108642 To my father, John Major (1936–2009), my first historian Acknowledgements My thanks go to the many people who have helped in the archives on this long project, above all Volker Lange of the Bundesarchiv Berlin, whose untimely death saddened me greatly. I wish also to thank the Nuffield Foundation and the University of Warwick’s Humanities Research Centre for their financial support, as well as colleagues Colin Jones and Margot Finn for reading the manuscript, and Leo Schmidt for checking one chapter. Various German friends put up with the Wall, and put me up too, including Ralf Haselow and Katrin Rump, Susanne and Johannes Gaebler, Ute Engelhardt, and Katrin and Annika Eickmann. I wish also to thank all those who agreed to interviews, but appear here anonymized. Throughout, my parents, John and Rosemary, have followed the project with interest and been a pillar of support. Above all, I thank my wife Jennifer, who helped me over the final wall. Contents List of Illustrations viii Abbreviations ix 1. Introduction: The Frontiers of Power 1 PART I. BEFORE THE WALL, 1945–61 2. East Germany’s Dual Crisis: Politics and Economics on the Eve of the Wall 23 3. Crossing the Line: Republikflucht between Defection and Migration 56 4. Holding the Line: Policing the Open Border 89 PART II. BEHIND THE WALL, 1961–89 5. Walled in: 13 August 1961 119 6. In the Shadow of the Wall: Coming to Terms with Communism 155 7. Wanderlust: Travel, Emigration and the Movement 194 PART III. BEYOND THE WALL 8. The Fall of the Wall: 9 November 1989 227 9. Seeking Closure: Remembering the Wall 258 Bibliography 295 Index 317 List of Illustrations 1. Cold War Berlin. xiv 2. Republikflucht by area, 1950–61 (as percentage of regional populace). 60–61 3. Republikflucht by age and sex, 1952–60 (monthly). 63 4. Movements across the open border, 1949–61 (monthly). 64 5. Republikflucht among the intelligentsia, 1953–61 (monthly). 68 6. Republikflucht by social group, 1952–61 (monthly percentages). 73 7. Visas, Republikflucht and petitions, 1950–61 (monthly). 101 8. Republikflucht via Berlin and the Demarcation Line, 1950–61 (monthly). 105 9. GDR tourist trips to the eastern bloc, 1960–89. 197 10. Travel and emigration from East to West Germany, 1961–88. 205 11. Emigration applicants by area, 1984–89 (as percentage of local population). 213 Abbreviations AZKW Amt fur¨ Zoll und Kontrolle des Warenverkehrs (Office of Customs and Excise) BAB Bundesarchiv Berlin BAK Bundesarchiv Koblenz BArch Bundesarchiv (Federal Archive) BDVP Bezirksbehorde¨ der Deutschen Volkspolizei (Regional Authority of the German People’s Police) BfV Bundesamt fur¨ Verfassungsschutz (Federal Office to Defend the Constitution) BL Bezirksleitung (Regional Leadership) BLHA Brandenburgisches Landeshauptarchiv (Brandenburg State Main Archive) BMG British Military Government BMfgF Bundesministerium fur¨ gesamtdeutsche Fragen (Federal Ministry of All-German Affairs) BMfIB Bundesministerium fur¨ innerdeutsche Beziehungen (Federal Min- istry of Inner-German Relations) BPA Bezirksparteiarchiv (Regional Party Archive) BPKK Bezirksparteikontrollkommission (Regional Party Control Commis- sion) BPO Betriebsparteiorganisation (Works Party Organization) BStU Bundesbeauftragte/r fur¨ die Unterlagen des Staatssicherheitsdienstes der ehemaligen DDR BT Bezirkstag (Regional Parliament) BuVo Bundesvorstand (Federal Executive) BV Bezirksverwaltung/Bezirksvorstand (Regional Administration/ Executive) DBM Dokumentationszentrum Berliner Mauer x Abbreviations DDR Deutsche Demokratische Republik (German Democratic Republic) DVP Deutsche Volkspolizei (German People’s Police) EZA Evangelisches Zentralarchiv FDGB Freier Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (Free German Trade Union Federation) FDJ Freie Deutsche Jugend (Free German Youth) HU Humboldt-Universitat¨ (Humboldt University) HV Hauptverwaltung (Main Administration) HVDVP Hauptverwaltung der Deutschen Volkspolizei (Main Administration of the German People’s Police) IA Innere Angelegenheiten (Internal Affairs) KL Kreisleitung (District Leadership) KMS Karl-Marx-Stadt (now Chemnitz) KMU Karl-Marx-University Leipzig KPKK Kreisparteikontrollkommission (District Party Control Commis- sion) LAB Landesarchiv Berlin (State Archive Berlin) LAM Landesarchiv Merseburg LPO Leitende Parteiorgane (Leading Party Organs) MdI Ministerium des Innern (Ministry of the Interior) MdJ Ministerium der Justiz (Ministry of Justice) MfHV Ministerium fur¨ Handel und Versorgung (Ministry of Trade and Supply) MfK Ministerium fur¨ Kultur (Ministry of Culture) MfS Ministerium fur¨ Staatssicherheit (Ministry of State Security) MLHA Mecklenburgisches Landeshauptarchiv (Mecklenburg State Main Archive) MZAP Militargeschichtliches¨ Zwischenarchiv Potsdam (Military History Interim Archive Potsdam, now housed at Freiburg) NF Nationale Front Abbreviations xi NVA Nationale Volksarmee (National People’s Army) NVR Nationaler Verteidigungsrat (National Defence Council) PB Politburo¨ PdVP Prasidium¨ der Volkspolizei (Presidium of the People’s Police) PI Parteiinformation (Party Information) PL Parteileitung (Party Leadership) PM Paß- und Meldewesen (Pass and Registration) PO Parteiorgane (Party Organs) RdB Rat des Bezirkes (Regional Council) RdK Rat des Kreises (District Council) RdSB Rat des Stadtbezirkes (Borough Council) RIAS Radio in the American Sector SachsHStA¨ Sachsisches¨ Hauptstaatsarchiv (Saxon Main State Archive) SAPMO Stiftung Archiv der Parteien und Massenorganisationen der DDR (Archive Foundation of Parties and Mass Organizations of the GDR) SdM Sekretariat des Ministers (Minister’s Secretariat) SED Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (Socialist Unity Party of Germany) Sek. Sekretariat (Secretariat) SfHF Staatssekretar¨ fur¨ Hoch- und Fachschulwesen (Secretary of State for Higher and Further Education) SKK Sowjetische Kontrollkommission (Soviet Control Commission) SL Stadtleitung (City Leadership) SMAD Sowjetische Militaradministration¨ in Deutschland (Soviet Military Administration in Germany) SPD Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (Social Democratic Par- ty of Germany) SPK Staatliche Plankommission (State Planning Commission) STA Stadtarchiv (City Archive) xii Abbreviations StAC Staatsarchiv Chemnitz (State Archive Chemnitz) StAL Staatsarchiv Leipzig (State Archive Leipzig) TH Technische Hochschule (Technical Highschool) ThHStAW Thuringisches¨ Hauptstaatsarchiv Weimar (Thuringian Main State Archive Weimar) TNA The National Archives (London, Kew) TRO Transformatorenwerk (Transformer Works) VEB Volkseigener Betrieb (People’s Owned Factory) ZAIG Zentrale Auswertungs- und Informationsgruppe (Central Evalua- tion and Information Group) ZERV Zentrale Ermittlungsstelle fur¨ Regierungs- und Vereinigungskrim- inalitat¨ (Central Investigation Agency for Governmental and Organized Criminality) ZK Zentralkomitee (Central Committee) ZKG Zentrale Koordinierungsgruppe (Central Coordination Group) ZR Zentralrat (Central Council) ZS Zentraler Stab (Central Staff) ZV Zentralvorstand (Central Executive) This page intentionally left blank Figure
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