Im Abseits. Berufliche Diskriminierung und politische Dissidenz in der Honecker-DDR

Abstract

Work and the workplace held a crucial place in East German society: as a marker of status and respectability, a social space and a means of accessing services such as childcare and telephone connections. In theory at least, the constitution guaranteed the right to work, but those who defied the political orthodoxy often found that such rights were easily lost. Danuta Kneipp has set out to explore the experience of East Germans who faced politically motivated discrimination in the workplace. In addition to extensive archival research, she carried out twenty-five interviews not only with leading activists in the East Berlin opposition, such as Gerd Poppe and Gerold Hildebrand, but also with individuals who were targeted for isolated political acts or a failure to conform to SED norms. Kneipp uses the term ‘professional exclusion’ (berufliche Ausgrenzung) to underline the fact that, in many cases, dissidents did not lose their jobs straight away. The East German authorities wished to preserve the illusion that all citizens had the right to work and, after the high profile cases of Wolf Biermann and Robert Havemann, they feared bad publicity in the West. As a result, formal occupational bars or Berufsverbote were relatively uncommon in the 1980s. Although some dissidents were fired without warning, it was more common to find oneself gradually marginalized, to the point where it was impossible to continue in one's chosen career. Those affected retained the right to work, but jobs were hard to come by, and inevitably far below their qualifications and experience. Although this was often experienced and described by those affected as a Berufsverbot, it was difficult to prove, and even more difficult to appeal.