CDU in exile
The CDU in exile was a regional association of the CDU from 1950 to 1990 . She represented CDU members who had fled or expelled from the Soviet occupation zone or the GDR .
background
From the beginning, the work of the democratic parties in the Soviet occupation zone was severely hindered. As early as 1945, the elected chairman of the Eastern CDU, Andreas Hermes, was deposed by the occupation authorities. The attempts of the last freely elected chairman of the Eastern CDU, Jakob Kaiser , to preserve political freedom for the party were unsuccessful. 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 the Berlin State Opera Unter den Linden on September 6, 1947, in which Kaiser demanded that the CDU should be a “breakwater of dogmatic Marxism and its totalitarian tendencies”.
Foundation of the CDU in exile
Since free party work in the Soviet Zone was no longer possible after the CDU was brought into line, the CDU in exile was formed. Of the 14 members of the main board of the SBZ-CDU democratically elected at the last free party congress on September 7, 1947, ten 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 the Titania-Palast in West Berlin . Over 200 Christian Democrats who had emigrated from the GDR took part. Jakob Kaiser and Ernst Lemmer were confirmed in their board positions.
Since after December 20, 1947, the free board elections required by the statutes were no longer possible in the eastern zone, the CDU in the west regarded the last freely elected board as the legitimate representative of the party in the east.
Organization and work
The CDU in exile was treated by the federal party as a regional association. It had eight representatives on the federal party committee and delegates at the federal party conferences.
The operational work of the CDU in exile was carried out by the CDU's east office. It practically formed the general secretariat of the CDU in exile.
It was divided into five regional groups for the five countries of the GDR. A party congress of the exiled CDU was held every two years.
The number of members, which at the beginning of the 1950s was almost 90,000, steadily declined due to the fact that no new members could be added and ended up at 6,000 members. The CDU in exile maintained informal contacts with the Christian Democrats in the GDR (which was punishable as “illegal contact” in the GDR). However, there were no official contacts with the Eastern CDU.
The CDU in exile existed until reunification .
Chairperson
- Jakob Kaiser (1950–1961)
- Ernst Lemmer (1961–1970)
- Johann Baptist Gradl (1970–1987)
- Siegfried Dübel (1987–1990)
literature
- Hans-Otto Kleinmann : History of the CDU 1945–1982 , Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-421-06541-1 ; Pages 235–237, page 480.
