A 1AO Gordon Charles Ross

The Swastika in Socialism

Right-Wing Extremism in the GDR

Verlag Dr. Kovac Contents

Preface vii Tables and Documents • ix Abbreviations x

Introduction

PART I: THE RESEARCH PROJECT

1 A Shifting and Incomplete Picture 9

1.1 Introduction 9 1.2 Current state of research 12 1.3 Explanatory theories of right-wing extremism 16 1.3.1 Applied to right-wing extremism generally 17 1.3.2 Applied to right-wing extremism in the GDR 19 1.3.2.1 The authoritarian East German personality thesis 19 1.3.2.2 The protest thesis 22 1.3.2.3 The victors of history and proscribed anti-fascism theses 23 1.3.2.4 The harbingers of the system-crisis thesis 25 1.3.2.5 Multi-causal explanations 25 1.3.2.6 Official GDR explanations 26 1.3.2.7 Critical observations 28 1.4 Theoretical approaches to the GDR 32 1.5 Conclusions 36

2 Interpretative Framework 37

2.1 Introduction 37 2.2 What is right-wing extremism? 37 2.2.1 The definitional 'jungle' 38 2.2.2 A nexus of salient characteristics 39 2.2.3 Between 'gutter racism' and neo-Nazism 40 2.2.4 Political ideology and movement 42 2.2.5 Ethno-nationalism in right-wing ideology 44 2.2.6 Right-wing extremism in state-socialism 46 2.3 Interpretative framework and theoretical underpinning 47 2.3.1 Political culture and 'thick description' 47 2.3.2 Nation-building, ethnicity and citizenship 51 2.3.3 Legitimacy and legitimacy crisis 54 2.4 Primary empirical sources 55 2.4.1 The Stasi files 56 2.4.2 The SED/FDJ and BPA files 57 2.4.3 The interviews and interviewees 59 2.5 Secondary empirical sources 61 2.6 Methodology and methodological problems 61 2.7 Conclusions 67

PART II: THE SWASTIKA IN SOCIALISM

3 Numbers, Organisation and Structures 69

3.1 Introduction 69 3.2 Numbers 69 3.3 The GDR right-wing subculture in the 1980s 71 3.4 Organisational structures and planning 76 3.5 National and international contacts 79 3.6 The situation after the Wende 82 3.7 Conclusions 84

4 Incidents 85

4.1 Introduction 85 4.2 Right-wing extremism in the GDR before 1980 86 4.3 Right-wing extremism in the GDR 1980-1990 88 4.4 The attack on the Zionskirche - a reconstruction of a right-wing incident 95 4.5 Conclusions 97

5 Who Were the GDR Right-Wing Extremists? . 99

5.1 Introduction 99 5.2 Age-structure and gender 99 5.3 Socio-economic composition and level of social marginalisation 101 5.4 Case-study 1 - Potsdam skinheads 107 5.5 Case-study 2 - the Zionskirche incident 107 5.6 Case-study 3 - the Wehrsportgruppen 110 5.7 Conclusions 111

6 Motivation, Ideology, Aims and Objectives 112

6.1 Introduction 112 6.2 An analysis of extreme right-wing target groups 113 6.3 Defending 'Germanness' - ethno-nationalist motivation 114 6.4 'Prussian' values 119 6.5 Motivation from the National Socialist past 121 6.6 The situation between Wende and unification 123 6.7 The GDR right-wing 'protest' revisited 123 6.8 Conclusions 127

7 Reactions and Responses 128

7.1 Introduction 128 7.2 Responses from above 129 7.2.1 Responses from the leadership 129 7.2.2 The Stasi strikes back - responses from the Ministerium fur Staatssicherheit (MfS) 131 7.2.3 Responses from the Deutsche Volkspolizei (DVP) and the Ministerium des Innern (Mdl) 135 7.2.4 In the courts - legal and judicial responses 137 7.2.5 In the papers - reactions in the state-run media 139 7.2.6 The radicalisation of the skinheads 141 7.3 Responses from below 142 7.3.1 Reactions from the public 142 7.3.2 Reactions from the Church 144 7.3.3 The mobilisation of autonomous anti-fascist groups 145 7.4 Responses to the Zionskirche incident - a case-study 146 7.5 Responses and reactions after the Wende 150 7.6 Conclusions 151

PART III: SOCIALISM IN ONE COUNTRY

8 Socialism with a Prussian Face 155

8.1 Introduction 155 iii 8.2 Socialism with a Prussian face 156 8.3 Socialism with a Prussian face in political and cultural structures 162 8.4 Provincialism, racism and the situation of foreigners 165 8.5 Mono-culturalism and the situation of the Sorbs 168 8.6 Right-wing'ostalgia' 170 8.7 Conclusions 170

9 Socialism in One Country 172

9.1 Introduction 172 9.2 Socialism in one country in Eastern Europe 173 9.3 Socialism in one country in the GDR 175 9.4 The definition and function of citizenship in the GDR 179 9.5 The attempted mobilisation of ethnic-nationalism by the leadership 181 9.5.1 Creating the 'better Germany1 181 9.5.2 'Socialism in the Colours of the GDR' - the revived nation discourse in the 1980s and the legitimacy crisis 186 9.6 Conclusions 192

10 Conclusions and Perspectives 193

Chronology 202 Appendices 210 Bibliography and Sources 226