Soviet Experience on German Land: Cultural Transformations in East Germany 1945—1955

Abstract

At the Potsdam Conference of 1945, the victorious powers committed themselves to denazification in the occupied zones in order to destroy the consequences of National Socialism. This is directly related to culture, education, science, art. In the Soviet occupation zone (SOZ), the main tasks of denazification, among others, were performed by the SMAG, which included structures with a large staff, whose responsibility was to update the ideology and culture in SOZ. The work was huge and responsible. Therefore, specialists were sent to East Germany from the USSR, who, interacting with left-wing parties, German communists, anti-fascists, representatives of education, science, culture, actually, even before the creation of the GDR, predetermined its socialist choice. There were difficulties, problems, as shown in the article on the example of restructuring of school and higher education, the activities of writing, theater and other unions and organizations. There is still a debatable problem — the degree of “Sovietization” of German culture. The fact that the experience of the “cultural revolution” in the USSR was used on German soil is undeniable. But what concrete results did this bring to German culture? The certain influence of Soviet culture on the cultural life of the GDR should not be denied. At the same time, it remained a “German country”, having achieved impressive achievements in economic, social and cultural development over the forty years of its existence. Her disappearance is due to other factors, causes and circumstances.