THE UNIVERSITY OF HULL Women’s Discontent in the German Democratic Republic During the Honecker Era being a Thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of Hull by Kate Elizabeth Boyce, BA, MA September, 2006 Acknowledgements I would like to thank the AHRC for their generous support in funding my PhD, without which this thesis would not have been possible. I would also like to thank the German Historical Institute for their scholarship, which funded two of my research trips. Thanks also to the staff at the German Language School in Berlin for helping me in my difficult quest to bring my A Level German up to standard. I am also very grateful to my friends in Berlin – especially Miriam and Marco, Esther and Eleanor who not only provided me with accommodation but also with great company! Louise Hope kindly checked some of my German translations for which I am very appreciative. A special thanks to my supervisor Dr. Peter Grieder, for his valuable suggestions and unwavering encouragement and also to Dr. Julian Haseldine, Director of Postgraduate Studies in the Department of History at the University of Hull, for his helpful advice. I am extremely grateful to my colleagues Judy Burg and Helen Roberts at Hull University Archives for their kindness and patience during the final stages of this PhD. Finally, my fiancé Ben, my Mum and Dad, sisters Fiona and Sam and my grandparents have been great sources of strength and inspiration and I would like to thank them for being there for me. CONTENTS Summary i List of tables ii Abbreviations iii Introduction 1 Aims and structure 1 Methodology 4 Historiographical Context and the Contribution of this Research 9 Introduction to Part I 13 Chapter 1: Women’s Equality in East Germany. Just how emancipated were women in the GDR? 15 Women’s Policies in the SBZ, 1945-1949 15 The Ulbricht Years, 1949-1971 18 Honecker’s Muttipolitik 20 Women in the Workplace 25 Women in the Home and the Family 39 The Provision of Childcare 47 Increasing the Birth Rate 54 Abortion 66 Women in the Party, the Mass Organisations and the Stasi 69 Conclusion 79 Chapter 2: Women’s Petitions in the German Democratic Republic 82 Petitions – an established German tradition and a modern historiographical debate 82 Housing Problems 85 Divorce and Separation 92 Consumer Goods 97 Travel 103 Other Issues 106 The State as Agony Aunt? 108 Petition Rhetoric 109 Conclusion 116 Introduction to Part II 121 Women’s Opposition groups 121 The Changing Climate: The Cold War in the 1980s 123 The Role of the Church 124 A Women’s Movement? 127 Summary 128 Chapter 3: Lesbians in the GDR during the 1970s and 1980s “To be a lesbian – is that a political issue?” 130 Homosexuality during the Ulbricht era 130 Establishing a Communication Network Between Lesbians in the Honecker Era 133 The Emergence of Homosexual and Lesbian Organisations 139 Lesbians ‘under the roof’ of the Protestant Churches 141 The Secular Homosexual Groups 148 Developing Lesbian Identities in the GDR 154 Expanding Networks in the Lesbian and Gay Communities 161 Conclusion 167 Chapter 4: Women Peace Activists in the German Democratic Republic “Matters of peace are, for us women, issues of the heart.” 170 Women’s Responses to the New phase of the Cold War 170 Women’s Opposition to the Military Service Law 176 Growing Support Amongst Women Brings a Collective Challenge 178 The Emergence of ‘Women for Peace’ 187 The Expansion of the Women’s Peace Groups 191 The Increasing Influence of the ‘Women for Peace’ 192 The Intervention of the State Security Service 196 Expanding Agendas and Feminist Visions 203 Forced into New Roles as Dissidents? 208 Conclusion 212 Conclusion 215 Bibliography 224 Archival Material 224 Books and Articles 227 Summary The aim of this study is to investigate the nature of women’s discontent in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) during the Honecker Era. It will focus on women’s experiences as a social group, using individual stories to reveal trends and developments in the outlooks and approaches of women living under the East German communist regime during the 1970s and 1980s. Women’s discontent in the GDR ranged from criticism of mundane matters that personally affected them and their families, to more fundamental critiques of the regime’s policies. This thesis incorporates all these different levels of discontent. The thesis is divided into two parts. Part 1 examines general discontent amongst women in the GDR. Chapter 1 aims to understand the true extent of women’s emancipation in East Germany by examining the effects of GDR women’s policies and evaluating women’s roles at work and in the home. Chapter 2 analyses women’s petitions, identifying the main themes and reflecting on the language used by women, in order to give an insight into the actual issues that affected women in their day-to-day lives. Part 2 concentrates on more specific, organised discontent amongst women in the GDR, particularly in the 1980s. Chapter 3 explores the experiences of lesbians in East Germany, focusing particularly on the development of homosexual and lesbian groups, organised both within and outside of the Church. Chapter 4 provides a comprehensive study of the formation and structure of women’s peace groups and their activities and changing principles, with particular emphasis on the East Berlin ‘Women for Peace’ organisation. Part 2 helps to illustrate the development of a new kind of women’s consciousness in the GDR and an understanding of the role of women’s opposition groups and women’s networks in the dissident movement in the build up to the Wende. Overall the broad analysis of aspects of women’s discontent in this thesis attempts to fill in gaps in current research on women in the GDR. But this study also hopes to make a wider contribution to GDR history as a whole. In this way, the assessment of women’s reactions to changing events in the public and private sphere, and in reverse, the state’s changing attitude towards women, should provide real clues to the nature of the GDR’s political framework. i List of Tables Table 1 - Expenditure of time for housekeeping activities in families where wife is employed full time, 1985 p. 41 Table 2 - Reasons why women choose part time employment, data compiled by Institute for Public Opinion Research in the GDR through questionnaires in 1970 and 1975 p. 46 Table 3 - Birth rate 1974 – 1981 p. 55 Table 4 - Number of children, 1978, Central Institute for Youth Research p. 59 Table 5 - Breakdown of female members and candidates of SED in 1981 p. 70 Table 6 - Evaluation of petitions received by Abteilung Frauen 1972-1984 p. 120 ii Abbreviations BArch - Bundesarchiv, Federal Archive BLA - Brandenburgisches Landeshauptarchiv, Berlin State Archive BLHA - Brandenburgisches Landeshauptarchiv, Brandenburg State Archive BPKK - Bezirks Partei Kontrollkommission, Local District Party Control Commission BRD – Bundesrepublik Deutschland DDR – Deutsche Demokratische Republic DFD – Demokratischer Frauenbund Deutschlands, Democratic Federation of Women FDGB - Freier Deutscher Gewerkshcaftsbund – Confederation of Free German Trade Unions FDJ – Freie Deutsche Jugend, Free German Youth Organisation FRG – Federal Republic of Germany GDR – German Democratic Republic GZ –Archiv Grauzone HSDVP - Hochschule Deutsche Volkspolizei MDA – Matthias Domaschk Archiv MfS – Ministerium für Staatssicheheit, Ministry of State Security PKK - Partei Kontrollkommission, Party Control Commission RHA – Robert Havememann Archiv SBZ (Sowjetische Besatzungszone), the Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany. SED – Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, Socialist Unity Party of Germany SAPMO - The Foundation for the Parties and Mass Organisations of the GDR Stasi – Staatsicherheitsdienst, State Security Service iii Introduction One of the most striking aspects of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) during the Honecker era,1 was the high percentage of women in the paid labour force, compared to women in other European industrialised countries.2 The East German administration had introduced comprehensive legislative measures designed to fully integrate women into the sphere of production, accompanied by loud rhetoric about women’s equality and emancipation from patriarchal constraints. From its foundation in 1949 the GDR had guaranteed equality in its constitution and from 1968 this was underlined with the added pledge that ‘the promotion of the woman, particularly in vocational qualifications, is a national and social task’.3 Aims and Structure But what was every day life really like for the women for whom this legislation was intended? Is it possible to uncover women’s attitudes in relation to the success of the above policies and indeed with regard to other aspects of day to day living in East Germany? This thesis aims to investigate the nature of women’s discontent in the GDR during the Honecker Era, 1971 – 1989. In this way it will focus on women’s experiences as a social group, using individual stories to reveal trends and 1 Erich Honecker was First Secretary of the Central Committee of the SED from 1971 and General Secretary and chairman of the Council of State (Staatsrat) from 1976 to 1989. 2 Including apprentices and students 91.1 % of women were in the labour force in the GDR in 1989. From statistics in Gunnar Winkler, Frauenreport ’90 (Berlin, 1990). In comparison 55 % of women were in the paid labour force in the FRG in 1988. According to statistics cited in Nancy Lukens & Dorothy Rosenberg (eds.) Daughter’s of Eve: Women’s Writing from the German Democratic Republic (Lincoln & London: University of Nebraska Press, 1993), p. 5 3 Verfassung der DDR, 1968, Art. 20,2. As cited in Renate Ellmenreich, Frauen bei der Stasi – Am Beispiel der MfS-Bezirksverwaltung Gera, Der Landesbeauftragte des Freistaates Thüringen für die Unterlagen des Staatssicherheitsdiensts der ehemaligen DDR informiert (Erfurt, 1999), p.