Some of those affected by GDR injustice come forward with their pensions
30 years after the creation of his office, the State Commissioner for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship still receives more than 1000 inquiries a year. More and more people from West German states are also coming forward with their concerns, said the state commissioner Peter Wurschi to the German Press Agency in Erfurt. There are tens of thousands of people who were bought out as political prisoners by the FRG - and thus reached the West before reunification.
But other victims who now lived in West German states also came forward. "The baby boomer generation is now retiring and some of them have been absent for a year or two when they retire and are now starting to deal with it," said Wurschi. For example, some people only apply for rehabilitation when they reach retirement age, which can compensate for pension gaps and entitle them to certain social benefits.
A celebratory event was planned in the Thuringian state parliament on Thursday to mark the 30th anniversary of the state commissioner. "Democracy can only function with an awareness of the past," said State Parliament President Birgit Pommer in advance. The State Commissioner makes a decisive contribution to this. "By providing advice, he helps those affected to regain a life that was once determined by others and to find justice. By remembering, he makes a major contribution to peaceful coexistence," says Pommer.
Wurschi, who has been the state representative in Thuringia since 2018, said that the number of annual inquiries shows that there is still a great need for advice.
At the same time, he warned against "embellishing the dictatorship". This is a mandate for the state commissioners to use "fact-saturated knowledge" to shed light on the past. "We have to be specific. The contemporary witnesses help, the sources help," said Wurschi. He called for the many sources in the archives to be brought into contact with the reality of life today. This could lead to a discourse in which we realize "that other possibilities are available than in the past, so that the lie that we are living in a dictatorship becomes self-evident."
The historical circumstances of the GDR dictatorship continue to shape social affairs, as evidenced by the ongoing inquiries to the State Commissioner for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship. Retirees from the baby boomer generation are now seeking rehabilitation and pension compensation for their experiences under the previous regime.
Source: www.dpa.com
