Christian Democratic Union of Germany (GDR)

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Party banner of the CDU of the GDR
Statute booklet of the GDR CDU

The Christian Democratic Union of Germany ( CDU ) - also known as the East CDU or CDUD for short - was a bloc party in the GDR . Founded in June 1945 as a non-denominational Christian political party in the Soviet Occupation Zone (SBZ), it had to submit to the SED in the first few years of its existence . It went on in 1990 in the all-German CDU .

Inner structure

The CDU passed its first statute in October 1952. This was replaced in October 1982 by a new statute, which was valid until the takeover of the party by the West CDU in 1990. The party was divided into local groups, district associations and district associations. The party members called themselves "Union Friends". The central organ of the party was the daily newspaper Neue Zeit from Union Verlag. In addition, five special newspapers were published for the districts of the GDR :

The officials received the monthly magazine "Union shares with". The central seat was the Otto-Nuschke-Haus in Berlin. The central educational establishment of the GDR CDU "Otto Nuschke" was in Burgscheidungen Castle on the Unstrut . In conjunction with the party leadership of the CDU, she published the “Hefte aus Burgscheidungen”. The " Otto Nuschke Decoration of Honor " was awarded to deserving party members .

District associations

The nearly 200 district associations played an important role between party leadership and simple membership.

Each district association had a full-time, d. H. paid district secretary. The other posts of the district executive committee were honorary. The task of the district secretary was on the one hand to implement the instructions of the higher party branches downwards ( see also: Democratic Centralism ). On the other hand, he should also be the mouthpiece of the grassroots. To this end, he delivered information reports to the district and party leadership once a month . In practice, however, the district secretaries did not fulfill the mediating function from bottom to top, so that meaningless and nicely colored reports were the rule. The chairmen of the party up to the district chairmen were selected within the SED nomenclature system.

The formally highest body of the district associations, the district delegate conference (KDK), met every two to three years.

After reunification it became clear that at the district level the density of the district offices and the employees there was much higher and financially unsustainable compared to the situation in West Germany. As a result, in the following years - also in the context of the current district amalgamation - district associations and especially district offices were massively merged and staff were employed on a voluntary basis.

District Associations

In each of the 15 districts of the GDR there was a separate CDU association. As with the district associations, the formally highest body, the District Delegate Conference (BDK), met here every two to three years.

Organs at GDR level

The highest organ of the CDU was the party congress. The main board was elected there. This in turn determined the presidium and the secretariat . The party congress has been convened every four years since 1960. From 1972 onwards, it only met every five years. The main board of the party met at least twice a year and, in addition to the party chairman and his deputies, comprised more than 100 members. The actual work therefore took place in the Presidium of the Main Board, which until 1960 was called the Political Committee, and above all in the Secretariat of the Main Board. The secretariat consisted of the party chairman, his deputies, the secretaries of the main board and some other functionaries. It had the statutory task of working with the leadership of the other bloc parties and with the state apparatus.

Since the mid-1980s, the seat of the main board has been the Otto-Nuschke -Haus, a building erected between 1981 and 1985 on Berlin's Gendarmenmarkt .

history

founding

2nd party congress for the Soviet-occupied zone in the Berlin State Opera, September 8, 1947

On June 10, 1945, earlier than the Western Allies , the Soviet Military Administration in Germany (SMAD) had approved the establishment of anti-fascist-democratic parties in the Soviet occupation zone in order to influence the party formation process in Germany. All party headquarters and the places of publication of the respective party newspapers were in the Soviet sector of Berlin , which, as a four- sector city, was the seat of the Allied Control Council . The Reich office of the CDU for the regional associations of the CDU in the Soviet Zone was located at Jägerstrasse 59/60 in Berlin-Mitte .

The CDU was founded on June 26, 1945 in Berlin. The founding members included a. Jakob Kaiser , Ernst Lemmer , Walther Schreiber and the resistance fighter against the National Socialists , Andreas Hermes , who was elected as the first chairman of the CDU in the Soviet Zone . At first, like its sister parties in the West, the CDU represented a Christian-social policy aimed at parliamentary and democratic conditions. She stood up for the reunification of Germany and was in constant dispute with the KPD / SED , which were supported in their claim to leadership by the SMAD.

An all-German CDU could not exist because of the licensing provisions of the occupying powers. At the Reich meeting of the CDU in Bad Godesberg in December 1945, an agreement was reached on the uniform name CDU (except Bavaria). Until the process of the Eastern CDU becoming a bloc party, the political work of the Union was coordinated throughout the Reich in the "Zone Liaison Committee". The CDU representatives of the SBZ were prevented from participating here by the SMAD.

Political adaptation to the SED

The possibilities to implement Christian-democratic politics in the Soviet Zone, however, were prevented after a short time. The first area of ​​conflict was the land reform carried out in autumn 1945 on the orders of the SMAD . The board of the CDU spoke out against this project. Hermes and Schreiber were then deposed as board members on the orders of SMAD. The same happened to his successor Jakob Kaiser a few months after taking office. Despite massive reprisals, he managed to set up a party organization in the Soviet Zone. During his tenure, the party had a never-before-seen number of 218,200 members.

Despite extensive obstacles and the non-approval of many local and district associations, the semi-free state elections in October 1946 managed to achieve 23.1 percent of the vote.

Since the SMAD was unable to achieve an absolute majority for the SED (which was forcibly united from the SPD and KPD ), it increased the pressure on the democratic parties. This included the denial of paper and printing options, the non-admission of party sections and candidates to elections, but also the expulsion and arrest of leading members.

With the dismissal of the democratically elected party executive on December 20, 1947, the CDU's ability to determine its own positions ended. This was preceded by Kaiser's sensational speech at the 2nd party congress of the CDU in Berlin on September 6, 1947, in which Kaiser demanded that the CDU should be a “breakwater of dogmatic Marxism and its totalitarian tendencies”.

The work of the CDU was hindered in many ways by the SMAD. All CDU events, including internal ones, required the approval of the SMAD. Texts of speeches or resolutions had to be submitted in advance. Resolutions were subject to SMAD approval. In many cases, SMAD also provided the resolution texts. The CDU only received a fraction of the paper and printing capacity allocated to the SED. The publications of the CDU were subject to censorship . There were numerous arrests and dismissals.

The CDU was gradually cleansed of so-called “reactionary elements”. The Politburo of the SED had already passed corresponding resolutions in 1949/1950. The aim of this differentiation policy of the SED was to drive a wedge between the adaptable functionaries and the staunch supporters of parliamentary democracy. In 1950, unruly CDU politicians such as Hugo Hickmann - state chairman in Saxony - and various CDU state ministers were eliminated. With them the last power of resistance of the Union was broken. At its 6th party congress in October 1952, the CDU “unreservedly” recognized the leading role of the SED. The acceptance of SED positions was largely complete. Associated with this rapprochement was a considerable decline in membership. Of approximately 200,000 members in 1947, a quarter had left by fleeing, resigning and expelling in 1950.

In 1950 there was another wave of persecution in connection with the forced resignation of the Saxon CDU chairman Hugo Hickmann . As a result, the number of CDU members who were arrested or who fled the GDR rose sharply. In 1950 the CDU East Office counted 118 arrests of CDU members for political reasons compared to 61 in the previous year. In the years that followed, the number of arrests remained at the level of 1950. In 1949, an average of 20 party members fled to the West every month, compared to over 100 in 1950. The increasing repression also showed the effect of continuously increasing numbers of refugees in the following years. The peak of the refugee movement was reached in March 1953 when 691 CDU members fled to the West. This flight also contributed to cementing the proximity to the SED. Followers and the resigned stayed in the GDR.

resistance

A large number of local illegal resistance groups formed from within the ranks of the Union in the late 1940s. Alone or in cooperation with the East Office of the CDU , attempts were made to counteract the communists' monopoly of power and opinion. The price of these activities was the arrest of many Democrats. Günther, letter 2,283, exemplifies victims of these persecutions in short biographies.

On March 9, 1972, the People's Chamber of the GDR passed the law on the interruption of pregnancy . The vote was the first and only time in the history of the People's Chamber to vote against. Following the concerns of the churches, 14 members of the CDU - around a quarter of the parliamentary group members - voted against the law, eight members abstained.

CDU in exile and Eastern Bureau

Since free party work in the SBZ was no longer possible after the CDU joined the bloc, the CDU in exile was formed , an organization of the CDU members of the SBZ who had fled to West Germany . This was seen by the Federal CDU as a representative of the Christian Democrats in the GDR and was treated as a regional association.

Of the 14 elected members of the main board of the SBZ-CDU alone, 10 had gone to the West. They invited the delegates of the 2nd party congress of 1947 to the 1st party congress of the CDU in exile on September 24 and 25, 1950 in Berlin. Over 200 Christian Democrats who had emigrated from the GDR took part.

The CDU in exile existed until reunification .

The operational work of the CDU in exile was carried out by the CDU's east office. It was formed from Jakob Kaiser's West Berlin office, which he kept in Adenauer's cabinet even after he joined Adenauer's cabinet as Federal Minister for All-German Issues . In addition to organizing the CDU in exile, a major part of the work consisted of supporting the resistance in the GDR and supporting the democratic forces in the GDR CDU. From 1949 to 1959 the east office was headed by Werner Jöhren . After his death and the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, the office lost its importance.

Contacts with the CDU's east office were strictly forbidden in the GDR. A large number of arrests and show trials took place on allegations of cooperation with the Eastern Bureau. a. also that of the GDR Foreign Minister Georg Dertinger .

Bloc party

11th party convention of the CDU in Erfurt, 1964

As a result of the policy of the Soviet Union, there was a gradual transformation of this bloc party . The 6th party congress in October 1952 confirmed the pro-communist course of “Christian realism” and the Eastern CDU defined itself as “a socialist party without restrictions” (Otto Nuschke). In the 22 “Theses of Christian Realism”, the Eastern CDU committed itself to “socialist society” (2nd version, 1952). With reference to the “exemplary realization” of the “doctrine for building a new, better social order” developed by Karl Marx in the Soviet Union, it was also emphasized that socialism for Christians today is “the best way of realizing the demands of Christ and practicing them Christianity ”. The party recognized the socialist development since the 6th party congress expressly "as historically necessary and logical".

Despite all the efforts of the SED to bring the Eastern CDU into line, there were still signs of resistance from individual members within the party in the 1950s and 1960s. Contrary to the wishes of the party leadership, it was not possible to force the internal opposition out of the Eastern CDU or to exclude it. Members protested repeatedly against individual measures taken by the government or their own party. A central point of criticism was the indifferent attitude of the party leadership towards the introduction of youth consecration in the GDR. It is precisely on this question, which is central for a Christian party, that many members would have liked more resistance to the efforts of the SED.

Dresden Party Congress 1982
Jakob-Kaiser-Haus, previously Otto-Nuschke-Haus (Charlottenstrasse 53/54), headquarters of the Eastern CDU, built 1981–1985

The CDU established party structures similar to the SED, the party's assets and the political course were controlled by a few general secretaries and the members were integrated into the socio-political structures of the GDR. There were around 30,000 members in the committees and working groups of the National Front , over 15,000 as members of parliament and successor candidates in various elected representations and 52 members of the People's Chamber . The CDU was represented in the Presidium of the People's Chamber , in the Council of State , in the Council of Ministers and its Presidium, as well as in the local councils ( City Council, Council of the Municipality, Council of the City District, Council of the District ) of the GDR . This change of course was associated with a drastic decrease in membership numbers (1947: 218,189 , around 1958: 99,372 ).

The comparatively smaller numbers, however, also meant that some believed that "it would be particularly smart not to join the SED, but a block party." Membership in the CDU therefore attracted a very special clientele: “The block party members (appeared) even more insincere than the average comrades, because they were even more unscrupulous than those in favor of the small advantages that they exchanged for the functioning of GDR society was so important ”. The vernacular mockingly referred to the CDU and the other block parties as "recorders". They were endowed with assets.

As a bloc party, the CDU also justified the building of the Wall in 1961. Author collectives close to the party carried out political propaganda directed against the Western CDU, for example the title of a book from 1968: " CDU / CSU : Crusaders of Capital."

1989/1990

At the end of 1989, with the turnaround and peaceful revolution in the GDR , the Eastern CDU gave up its role as a bloc party . Long-time party leader Gerald Götting resigned on November 2, 1989.

At their special party conference on 15./16. December 1989 the GDR CDU committed itself - contrary to its previous longstanding confessions as the "party of socialism" and block party and in agreement with the western CDU - to the market economy and the "unity of the nation".

Under her newly elected chairman Lothar de Maizière on November 10, 1989 , she emerged as the winner of the 1990 Volkskammer election in the “ Alliance for Germany ” together with the Democratic Awakening (DA) and the German Social Union (DSU) (together 48%) . The CDU received 40.8% of the vote and thus 163 of the 400 seats in the People's Chamber . In the districts of Erfurt (56.3%) and Suhl (50.6%) it achieved an absolute majority of votes. It came off worst in Berlin with 18.3%.

De Maizière was elected Prime Minister of the GDR and formed a grand coalition with the SPD , the Bund Free Democrats and the alliance partners DSU and DA. With Sabine Bergmann-Pohl , the CDU provided the last President of the People's Chamber and thus the last head of state of the German Democratic Republic. On October 1 and 2, 1990, the party united with its sister party, the West CDU . Lothar de Maizière became the first deputy CDU chairman.

After reunification, the Eastern CDU also formed the CDU associations, including the Young Union , which emerged from parts of the church's youth and the senior citizens' union . At the founding event of the SU on April 18, 1990 in the headquarters of the East CDU in Berlin-Mitte , which had since been renamed the Jakob-Kaiser-Haus, Gisela Krüger , a theologian from Schwerin , was elected first chairperson. At the beginning of December, the associations of the Seniors' Union of the new federal states joined the federal association. The Federal Executive was Ulrich Braun from Eberswalde elected as vice chairman with responsibility for new federal states.

Assets of the Eastern CDU

A key issue in 1990 was how to deal with the assets of parties and mass organizations in the GDR .

While it was largely undisputed that they should only keep the "constitutionally acquired" assets, it was naturally difficult to determine what this consisted of.

At the beginning of 1990, the board of directors of the Eastern CDU had decided to part with the assets that were not acquired under the rule of law, without being able to state what it was. The implementation was therefore also criticized in the press. B. the "mirror":

“Formally, the CDU separated from its party assets at the beginning of 1990 . But 'cleaning up' (Korbella) has actually not changed anything in terms of ownership. Instead of the VOB Union (VOB = Association of Organizational Owners ), a 'Union GmbH' now manages the property […] VOB General Director Wolfgang Frommhold also remained head of Union GmbH, and the main shareholder - of course - the CDU. "

- Der Spiegel, 22/1990

The article goes on to say: “The SED successor, the PDS, and the turned bloc parties have inherited so much landed property and other amenities that they have every reason to abandon the sensitive issue. The Bonn sisters, CDU and FDP, who would be the laughing co-heirs in a union, leave it to strong words. Only the parties that either did not yet exist in the SED state or only existed underground could benefit from the public discussion: Social Democrats, Greens, Alternative - the falling behind the leaders of the autumn revolution, who have neither land nor party houses, neither publishers nor newspapers . "

In autumn 1990 the CDU finally renounced the assets of the Eastern CDU and the DBD that had not been acquired under the rule of law . This part of the property was returned to the previous owners or used for charitable purposes in the new federal states. On the other hand, according to the final report of the Independent Commission for the Review of the Assets of the Parties and Mass Organizations of the GDR (UKPV) of July 5, 2006 , the CDU did not renounce the liquid assets of the Eastern CDU in the amount of 11.2 million euros. With the accession of the regional associations of the CDU of the GDR to the CDU of Germany, their funds were transferred to it (about 8.1 million DM = about 4 million €). The funds of the board of directors of the GDR CDU (around DM 14.7 million = € 7.2 million) transferred to it by the German CDU in a trust settlement fund (TAS), which is managed as an independent, demarcated estate has been. Personnel processing measures and the technical equipment of the regional and district offices were financed from the TAS.

So she was able to keep part of the party offices and the infrastructure to conduct future election campaigns. Due to the financial situation after the property waiver, the party apparatus had to be greatly reduced in size.

Eastern CDU and State Security

Like the other organizations, the CDU was also monitored by the Ministry for State Security (MfS). From 1950 to the summer of 1952, Department VI and from autumn 1952 Department V (headed by Bruno Beater and Fritz Schröder ) in the MfS were responsible for this. In November 1953, the control of the "bourgeois parties" (in addition to the CDU, the LDPD, NDPD and DBD) was carried out by the main department V / 3. In addition to monitoring the bloc parties, it was also responsible for monitoring the West CDU, the CDU in exile and the CDU East Office . Erich Mielke stipulated in service instruction 1/51 that he should receive monthly reports on the CDU state boards. In the summer of 1981, the working area block parties and mass organizations was incorporated as Section III in the main division XX / 1.

At the last meeting of the freely elected People's Chamber on September 28, 1990, the distribution of the unofficial employees (IM) of the MfS among the MPs became known: the CDU led by a long way (35), followed by the FDP and PDS (11) and the Greens (2). The historian Christoph Wunnicke emphasizes the intensive spying activity of the CDU for the SED and the MfS against their specific clientele: the churches and the opposition they are home to, compared to other bloc parties.

Party congresses of the Eastern CDU

Commemorative medal for the 5th party congress of the CDU in Berlin 1950
15th party congress in Dresden 1982
CDU special party conference in Berlin in December 1989
  1. Party congress June 15-17, 1946 in Berlin
  2. Party congress September 6-8, 1947 in Berlin
  3. Party congress September 18-20, 1948 in Erfurt
  4. Party congress November 12-13, 1949 in Leipzig
  5. Party congress September 15-17, 1950 in Berlin
  6. Party congress October 16-18, 1952 in Berlin
  7. Party congress September 21-25, 1954 in Weimar
  8. Party congress September 12-15, 1956 in Weimar
  9. Party conference September 30 - October 3, 1958 in Dresden
  10. Party congress June 22-25, 1960 in Erfurt
  11. Party conference September 30 - October 3, 1964 in Erfurt
  12. Party conference October 2-5, 1968 in Erfurt
  13. Party conference October 11-13, 1972 in Erfurt
  14. Party congress October 12-14, 1977 in Dresden
  15. Party congress October 13-15, 1982 in Dresden
  16. Party congress October 14-16, 1987 in Dresden
  17. Party congress December 15-16, 1989 in Berlin

people

Party leader

General Secretaries

  • 1946–1949 Georg Dertinger
  • 1949–1966 Gerald Götting
  • 1966–1989 no general secretary (after the death of August Bach the offices of general secretary and chairman were merged, the office of general secretary was only reintroduced with the fall of the Wall)
  • 1989–1990 Martin Kirchner

CDU members in the GDR Council of Ministers

See also

literature

  • Johann Baptist Gradl: Beginning under the Soviet star. The CDU 1945–1948 in the Soviet zone of occupation in Germany. Verlag Wissenschaft und Politik, 1981, ISBN 3-8046-8584-6 .
  • Ralf Thomas Baus: The Christian Democratic Union of Germany in the Soviet-occupied zone 1945 to 1948. Foundation - program - politics. (Research and sources on contemporary history, Volume 36). Droste, Düsseldorf 2001, ISBN 3-7700-1884-2 .
  • Jürgen Frölich (Ed.): "Bourgeois" parties in the Soviet Zone, GDR. On the history of the CDU, LDP (D), DBD and NDPD from 1945 to 1953 . Verlag Wissenschaft und Politik, Cologne 1995, ISBN 3-8046-8813-6 .
  • Michael Richter : The Eastern CDU 1948–1952. Between resistance and synchronization. (Research and sources on contemporary history, Volume 19). 2nd corrected edition, Droste, Düsseldorf 1991, ISBN 3-7700-0917-7 .
  • Michael Richter, Martin Rißmann (ed.): The East CDU. Contributions to their creation and development (=  writings of the Hannah Arendt Institute for Research on Totalitarianism . Vol. 2). Weimar [u. a.] 1995, ISBN 3-412-07895-6 .
  • Bertram Triebel: The Thuringian CDU in the SBZ / GDR - block party with self-interest. Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung eV, Sankt Augustin / Berlin 2019, ISBN 978-3-95721-569-7 .
  • Christian v. Ditfurth: Recorders - How the CDU is suppressing its real socialist past. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1991, ISBN 3-462-02179-6 .
  • Manfred Wilde: The SBZ-CDU 1945-1947. Between the end of the war and the cold war . Herbert Utz Verlag, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-89675-322-3 .
  • Jürgen Schmidt-Pohl: Christian Democratic Union of Germany - Visible and secret party transformation of the CDUD in the Soviet Zone and joint responsibility dictatorship of the GDR. Volume 1 + 2, Black Book Archive, Schwerin 2003. (Diss.)
  • Hans-Joachim Veen , Peter Eisenfeld, Hans Michael Kloth, Hubertus Knabe, Peter Maser , Ehrhart Neubert, Manfred Wilke (eds.): Opposition and resistance in the SED dictatorship. (Lexicon) Propylaen-Verlag, Berlin / Munich 2000.
  • Christoph Wunnicke : The block parties of the GDR. Continuities and Transformation 1945–1990, Berlin 2014, series of publications by the Berlin State Commissioner for the Documents of the State Security Service of the former GDR, Volume 34, https://www.berlin.de/aufteilung/veroeffnahmungen/schriftenreihe/mdb-lstu-schriftenreihe-bd34_2014. pdf
  • Christoph Wunnicke: “In search of life.” The MfS, the western media, the CDU and also a little peace movement. The Kirchentag in Stralsund from June 16 to 18, 1978. In: Contemporary history regional. ISSN  1434-1794 , Vol. 8 (2004), 1, pp. 72-76.
  • Christoph Wunnicke: Personal continuity and elite change in the parties in Brandenburg - From the block parties to the CDU and FDP. Expert opinion for the Enquete Commission "Dealing with the history and coping with the consequences of the SED dictatorship and the transition to a democratic constitutional state in the state of Brandenburg", landtag.brandenburg.de (PDF)
  • Christoph Wunnicke: The processing of the history of the block parties by their successor parties. In: The image of the GDR today. To deal with the SED injustice in a united Germany. 26th Bautzen Forum of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Saxony Office, May 28 and 29, 2015.
  • Stephan Zeidler: On the way to becoming a management party? On the role of the East CDU in the internal development of the GDR 1952–53. Kovač, Hamburg 1996.
  • Stephan Zeidler: The CDU in the GDR before the Wall was built (1953–1961). Holos-Verlag, Bonn 2001.
  • Sebastian Stude: The CDU in the late GDR. To the work of the district associations Magdeburg and Halle. (Booklets on DDR history, Book 114). Helle Panke e. V., Berlin 2009.
  • Peter Hermes: The Christian Democratic Union and the land reform in the Soviet zone of occupation in Germany in 1945. Verlag der Saarbrücker Zeitung, Saarbrücken 1963, 170 pp.
  • Rigobert Wenzel: The early years of the CDU in Thuringia and on the Eichsfeld (1945-1950): A documentation. Verlag Mecke Duderstadt 2001

Web links

Commons : Christian Democratic Union of Germany (GDR)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Christian Democratic Union of Germany uses the same notation in the short version of its basic program of 2007 . See: Short version of the basic program of the CDU (PDF; 598 kB) ( Memento from December 20, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ^ "Booklets from Burgscheidungen" in the library of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung
  3. ^ JB Gradl : Beginning under the Soviet star. The CDU 1945-1948 in the Soviet zone of occupation in Germany . Science and Politics, Cologne 1981, ISBN 3-8046-8584-6 , p. 17 ff.
  4. ^ Manfred Wilde: The SBZ-CDU 1945-1947. Between the end of the war and the cold war . Herbert Utz, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-89675-322-3 , p. 109
  5. ^ Poster of the CDU from 1946, Figure 12 in: JB Gradl: Beginning under the Soviet star. The CDU 1945-1948 in the Soviet zone of occupation in Germany . Science and Politics, Cologne 1981, ISBN 3-8046-8584-6 , p. 17 ff.
  6. ↑ Uwe Müller , Grit Hartmann: Forward and forget! Cadres, informers and accomplices: The dangerous legacy of the SED dictatorship , Rowohlt Berlin, Berlin 2009, ISBN 3-87134-623-3 , p. 111
  7. ↑ Richter: Die Ost CDU , pp. 88–90.
  8. ^ Ehrhart Neubert: A political duel in Germany. Freiburg 2002, ISBN 3-451-28016-7 , pp. 36–37
  9. ^ Richter: The East CDU. Pp. 403-405.
  10. ^ Günther letter (Ed.): Persecuted and disenfranchised. The elimination of Christian Democrats under Soviet occupation and GDR rule 1945–1961. 1998, ISBN 3-7700-1086-8 .
  11. ^ Daniela Stoltenberg: SED regime: only once there were dissenting votes in the People's Chamber. In: The world online. March 9, 2012, accessed December 16, 2014 .
  12. ↑ Werner Weidenfeld, Karl-Rudolf Korte: Handbook on German Unity, 1949–1989–1999. Campus Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1999, ISBN 3-593-36240-6 , p. 181.
  13. ↑ Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) [East] by Ralf G. Jahn .
  14. ↑ Federal Agency for Civic Education, Stefan Wolle , Bonn 1999.
  15. ↑ Federal Agency for Civic Education, Stefan Wolle, Bonn 1999, p. 111.
  16. ↑ CDU / CSU crusaders of capital. A blue book, published by the secretariat of the main board of the Christian-Democratic Union of Germany Berlin. Collective of authors; Secretariat of the main board of the Christian Democratic Union (ed.) 1968.
  17. ^ Annual chronicle 1990. LeMO ( DHM and HdG )
  18. ↑ a b SED assets: From the very top . In: Der Spiegel . No. 22 , 1990, pp. 98 f . ( online ).
  19. ↑ See BT-Drs. 12/622 first and BT-Drs. 12/6515 Second interim report of the Independent Commission to review the assets of the parties and mass organizations of the GDR (UKPV)
  20. ^ Final report of the UKPV of July 5, 2006, p. 39 (PDF)
  21. ↑ Thomas Auerbach, Matthias Braun, Bernd Eisenfeld, Gesine von Prittwitz, Clemens Vollnhals: Main Department XX: State apparatus, bloc parties, churches, culture, "political underground" (MfS manual). Ed. BStU. Berlin 2008. p. 81 ff. ( Online ).
  22. ↑ Instructions 1/51 Secretary of State Mielke v. November 15, 1951 concerning regional boards of the LDP, CDU, NDPD, DBD, FDJ, DS, VdgB; BStU, MfS, BdL / Doc. 002062.
  23. ↑ TAZ No. 3223 page 2 of September 29, 1990 173 lines from TAZ report petra bornhöft
  24. ↑ Cf. Christoph Wunnicke: The processing of the history of the block parties by their successor parties, in: The image of the GDR today. To deal with the SED injustice in a united Germany. 26th Bautzen Forum of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Saxony Office, May 28 and 29, 2015, pp. 44f.
  25. ^ Excerpt from the minutes of the presidium meeting of the CDUD main board on April 19, 1966