German-French Society of the GDR
The German-French Society of the GDR (Deufra) was founded in February 1962 as an East German partner organization of the Échanges franco-allemands (EFA) by resolution of the SED . It was their task to shape relations between the GDR and France .
history
The founding of Deufra was a reaction to the increased cooperation between France and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in the course of the 1960s and at the same time also part of the paradigm shift in foreign policy within the SED. In the 1950s, the aim was to prevent the FRG from being integrated into the West by means of its French policy, now the goal was diplomatic recognition of the GDR by France. One of the most important goals of Deufra was therefore to restrict the effectiveness of the Elysée Treaty of 1963.
By replacing the first Deufra President Georg Mayer , Rector of the University of Leipzig , with Franz Dahlem , an emigrant from France, in the summer of 1964, the SED tried to establish “a stronger politicization of society and broader contacts with the French resistance fighters”. From then on, the company coordinated contacts with former members of the Resistance with the committee of anti-fascist resistance fighters in the GDR.
Other activities included the preparation of propaganda material and the organization of GDR events in France.
However, the Deufra could never build on the success of the Franco-German societies in the FRG and therefore disappeared together with the GDR. This may also have been due to the lack of publicity, because the SED occupied the Presidium according to a certain predetermined key and thus also retained control of the institution. Society could never become a forum for a free binational dialogue.
literature
- Ulrich Pfeil : German-French Society of the GDR , in: Ulrich Pfeil et al. (Ed.): Lexicon of German-French cultural relations after 1945. Tübingen, 2013. pp. 179–180.
Individual evidence
- ^ Ulrich Pfeil: Centralization and instrumentalization of the foreign cultural policy of the GDR. Another aspect of the French policy of the GDR 1949-1973. , in: Timmermann, Heiner (ed.): The GDR - Analyzes of an abandoned state. Berlin, 2001. p. 639.
- ^ Arrow: German-French Society of the GDR , 2013. p. 180.