Stasi hell or workers' paradise? : socialism in the German Democratic Republic : what can we learn from it?

An insiders' account of what life in the German Democratic Repubic (East Germany) was really like. The book offers an anti-dote to the plethora of 'Stasi state' books, filmes and articles, but at the same time presents no rosy-tinted view of some of the genuine deformations of that part of Germany. CONTENTS 5 Preamble 7 How the GDR came into being 11 A more egalitarian society 12 Social ethos 14 Workers’ rights and care of the workforce 17 Social wage 19 Economy 20 Farming and co-operatives 22 Women’s rights 24 Childcare 25 Young people 26 Health service 27 Education 30 Culture 32 Freedom and democracy 34 Justice and legal rights 36 Religious freedom 37 Internationalism 38 1990 – demise of GDR socialism 44 Conclusion 49 Notes Socialism in the German Democratic Republic - what can we learn from it? This book counteracts the picture of the GDR as simply a Stasi-run state with an oppressed people. It doesn't suggest that the GDR was a workers' paradise either, but it attempts to inject some balance into the assessment of what the GDR was and wasn't and what it did and didn't achieve.