English
Event: “No profits with our health!”
In the DDR, health care was not a commodity, but a right guaranteed in the constitution. What conditions were necessary for this and what experiences were made?
The Truth Behind the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact
With a resolution adopted on 23 January 2025, the European Parliament is again trying to rewrite history and present the Soviet Union as an accomplice of fascist aggression rather than a victim.
In memoriam Walter Heynowski
The well-known DDR filmmaker Walter Heynowski died in November 2024 at the age of 96. John Green, an English filmmaker who studied in the DDR and worked as a foreign correspondent for DDR television, wrote the following eulogy for Heynowski’s funeral.
Event: ZEF Public Lecture: Non-capitalist development in Africa and Asia – Lessons from the 20th century
This lecture will examine the development of the theory of “non-capitalist development” in socialist scholarship during the 20th century and highlight some concrete experiences in countries such as Mali, Congo-Brazzaville, Afghanistan, and Syria. When exploring both the successes and limitations of this strategy, we will also discuss how the collapse of the “Eastern bloc” in 1989 and the subsequent rise of China have influenced the prospects of independent development in the former colonies today.
Article: From Reconstruction to People’s Property
The economic problems and achievements of the anti-fascist-democratic transformation in East Germany (1945–1949)
Article: Ahead by a whole decade
75th anniversary of the DDR: What we can learn and preserve from women’s emanicpation in East Germany
Article: The most revolutionary upheavals took place in the countryside
75th anniversary of the DDR: The significance of the land reform and cooperative movement in East German agriculture
EVENT: Non-Alignment and Socialism
Today, many argue that a new Cold War has begun between the USA and China. Since February 2022, it also appears as if a new group of non-aligned states might be emerging. How do these developments compare to the Cold War and Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) of the 20th century? How did the socialist states’ approach to anti-imperialism and the NAM during the last century? On 7 July 2023 we will be discussing with Indian historian and communist Vijay Prashad how non-alignment and anti-imperialism relate to the struggle for socialism – both in the past and present.
Dossier: What happened on 17 June 1953 in the GDR?
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the unrest during 17 June 1953 in the German Democratic Republic (“East Germany”). With this dossier of translated article excerpts, we want to shed light on significant aspects of the events and make them accessible to an international audience.
