Union of Victims' Associations of Communist Tyranny

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The Union of Victims' Associations of Communist Tyranny ( UOKG ) is an umbrella organization formed in 1992 of almost 40 organizations of victims of the real socialist dictatorship . The UOKG sums up its current self-image as follows: "In public and in politics, we are committed to ensuring that justice is done to the victims of the SED dictatorship in today's constitutional state . Justice includes rehabilitating those wrongly convicted and receiving compensation for them A dignified life is allowed. Damage to body and soul suffered in the SED state must be adequately taken into account by the pension offices. "

History and tasks

The UOKG was founded in 1992 as an all-German umbrella organization with almost forty associations and initiatives of those politically persecuted by Stalinism and real socialism .

The first member associations of the UOKG include camp communities of victims of Soviet special camps (inter alia, Arbeitsgemeinschaft Fünfeichen , Arbeitsgemeinschaft Lager Sachsenhausen 1945–1950 , Initiativgruppe Lager Mühlberg ) and the Vorkuta / Gulag Soviet Union camp community . In addition, there were interest groups of political prisoners from the GDR ( Cottbuser inmate community , Süddeutscher Freundeskreis Hoheneckerinnen , interest group of former Brandenburg inmates ) and other victim groups ( Doping-Victim-Aid eV , persecuted schoolchildren and students , interest group of the forcibly evacuated from the inner-German border , initiative group NKVD camp Tost ) .

The oldest associations of victims include the Association of Victims of Stalinism (VOS), founded in 1950, and the Association of Former Rostock Students (VERS) , established in 1957, both of which are members of the UOKG.

One of the early tasks of the UOKG was to counter the "closing line debate", which flared up very early in the unified Germany, and to demand clarification about the whereabouts of thousands of victims from the special camps. In the first statute, the focus was on "establishing and securing mass graves" from the time of the Soviet occupation zone and the early GDR, which the UOKG operated together with the associations and processing initiatives. The commitment of contemporary witnesses and the education of the public was very pronounced during this time. To this end, events were held with contemporary witnesses in public and at schools. Before that, many victims had to learn again to talk about their traumatic experiences. This was a step that was consciously practiced in the prison community. This work was also carried out by other institutions in the period that followed. As the victims got older, it turned out that many of them suffered extreme physical and psychological consequences of the repression. This knowledge resulted in legal, social and psychological advice that continues to this day. Based on this practical activity, the UOKG developed a series of research projects that were trend-setting for current GDR research ( home education in the GDR , forced labor of political prisoners , forced adoption in the GDR , sexual abuse of children and young people ). The UOKG has thus established itself as a competent discussion partner for politics, science and political education institutions. Once a year, the UOKG invites you to a congress at which a topic that is important from the victim's perspective is scientifically processed and published in a publication. The last topics were for example:

  • 2018: Forgotten Children? Descendants of politically persecuted people
  • 2016: Ways to Improve Assessment of Victims of Detention and Repression
  • 2015: Entrückte Biographien - politically ordered child abduction in the unjust state of the GDR
  • 2013: Deficits in the rehabilitation and compensation of victims of the Soviet Occupation Zone in the GDR

As a representative of the interests of the victims' associations, the UOKG is committed to reducing a wide range of gaps and "gaps in justice". In order to be able to implement these tasks effectively, the UOKG demands the establishment of the office of an independent victim commissioner of the Bundestag, who can in future take on the role of the former Stasi commissioner Roland Jahn.

The UOKG is in an intensive exchange of experience with victims' associations and prisoner organizations at international level. She is a member of the International Association of Former Political Prisoners and Victims of Communism , the umbrella organization of the victims' associations of victims of communism in Europe, and of the European Memory and Conscience .

In the view of the associations, both negligent public handling of these issues and the unsatisfactorily resolved problem of compensation payments for injustice suffered and forced labor in the GDR are criticized by the UOKG and addressed in discussions and contacts with political bodies.

The UOKG opposes political extremism of all forms and has anchored this in its statutes since August 2006. This is also a prerequisite for all member associations. It is emphasized that anti-Semitism in particular has no place in the umbrella organization, which consists of a wide variety of associations. It is also complained that the victims of the National Socialist dictatorship and those of the communist tyranny are mostly foreign to each other.

The current chairman of the UOKG is Dieter Dombrowski . The chairmanship is honorary. Dombrowski (* 1951 in East Berlin) was sentenced to four years in prison for "illegally crossing the border", of which he served 20 months. He was rehabilitated in 1994.

The UOKG publishes the members' magazine Der Stacheldraht in Berlin in cooperation with the BSV support association for advice . The paper, which bears the subtitle For Freedom, Law and Democracy and has a circulation of almost 10,000 copies 9 times a year, was founded in 1991 by the Berlin Regional Association of the Union of the Persecuted of Stalinists (BSV).

Federal Chairperson

  • Lothar Brauer (October 1991 to March 1992)
  • Roland Bude (March 1992 to November 1994)
  • Gerhard Finn (November 1994 to December 2001)
  • Horst Schüler (January 2002 to July 2007)
  • Rainer Wagner (July 2007 to October 2015)
  • Dieter Dombrowski (since October 2015)

Publications

Own representation

  • Christian Sachse: 20 Years Union of Victims' Associations of Communist Tyranny - Review and Outlook , Berlin, 2011.
  • Christian Sachse: 25 years of the Union of Victims' Associations of Communist Tyranny eV - Festival Berlin, February 2017.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ UOKG • About us . In: UOKG . ( uokg.de [accessed August 1, 2018]).
  2. ↑ http://www.uokg.de/verein/ueber-uns//
  3. ↑ http://www.uokg.de/verein/verbindungenverbaende/
  4. ↑ http://www.uokg.de/lösungen/sueddeutscher-freundeskreis-hoheneckerinnen/
  5. ↑ http://www.uokg.de/kontakt/beratungsstellen/
  6. ↑ Forgotten children? The descendants of politically persecuted people. Contributions to the UOKG Congress on November 3, 2018. Ed .: Union of Victims' Associations of Communist Tyranny, Berlin 2018
  7. ↑ Ways to improve the assessment of victims of imprisonment and repression during the SED dictatorship. UOKG Congress on October 8, 2016. Published by Union of Victims' Associations of Communist Tyranny, Berlin 2016.
  8. ^ Entrückte biographies - politically ordered child abduction in the unjust state of the GDR. UOKG Congress on November 7, 2015 in Berlin. Ed .: Union of Victims' Associations of Communist Tyranny, Berlin 2015.
  9. ↑ Deficits in rehabilitation and compensation for SBZ / GDR victims Contributions to the UOKG Congress on October 26, 2013 in Berlin. Ed .: Union of Victims' Associations of Communist Tyranny, Berlin 2013.
  10. ↑ Deutschlandfunk Kultur • The future of the Stasi files . ( deutschlandfunkkultur.de ).
  11. ↑ http://www.interasso.de/
  12. ↑ https://www.memoryandconscience.eu/
  13. ↑ Demands for the rehabilitation of GDR injustice and compensation payments ( Memento of the original from December 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.uokg.de
  14. ↑ Demands on GDR forced labor in custody ( memento of the original dated December 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.uokg.de
  15. ^ Articles of Association of the UOKG
  16. ^ Membership magazine Der Bareldraht
  17. ↑ Festschrift Union of Victims' Associations of Communist Tyranny. Retrospect and Prospect. Published by UOKG eV, Berlin 2012.