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> My sources are mostly the 4-part netflix drama[...] Seriously!?

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
choeger 6y ago
Still, they are correct. I can tell you from first-hand experience that this is what happened to many east Germans. Mass unemployment, deserted cities and rural areas, general loss of perspective lead to many social problems, right-wing extremism one of them. I don't think, that western Germany is solely to blame, though. If you look into the "Klassenfeind" in eastern Germany, that is entrepreneurs, bourgeoise, Christians, even just small-scale craftsman, they all did rather well after a short transition. But they did so in a very difficult environment: The masses of workers, educated to be lead by and taken care of, by the state were now completely on their own. Underqualified faced an especially dire situation: In eastern Germany even the most inept would have some payed position, even though they were completely useless there. It was basically an alternative to unemployment. Now these, say, 5% of the workforce never had been told that they should have some qualification to get some work. They simply expected some simple position to be created for them (I personally met some of these people, btw.). These people never faced a chance on the labor market.
- inglor_cz 6y ago
  Prior to Covid, I visited former GDR several times. Places like Hoyerswerda are the worst German-speaking communities I ever saw, the spirit of hopelessness permeates everything. Even in cities like Görlitz that were restored to their original beauty, the loss of population has been so enormous that entire building blocks are empty, the windows blinded by years of dust. Ghost neighbourhoods, very untypical for Europe. Zittau on the Czech border has lost like a third of population within thirty years. Many of the remaining residents are over 70.
acheron 6y ago
Given how many Internet commenters think they’re experts on Chernobyl now, it’s not like he’s alone.
freeflight 6y ago
A lot of these topics don't even get that much mainstream coverage in the German language sphere because there's no real common ground to be found. The Treuhandgesellschaft and Kohl are topics you will come across extremely polarized opinions from "Best thing ever" to "Worst thing ever", but these kind of controversies rarely make it out of the German language sphere, as they require a fair bit of deeper understanding not just about German history, but also about German political culture. In that context The Perfect Crime on Netflix is a pretty good piece of documentary shining a light on parts of German history that, particularly West Germans, just love to gloss over but have in East Germany lead to deep scars lasting to this day.
- someguydave 6y ago
  From my American perspective I think the reason nobody talks about it in West Germany is because honest talk about German history has been ruthlessly suppressed by nearly all the institutions of the German state, including the state media. This is not healthy, people should be exposed to the best of all different perspectives.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

Still, they are correct. I can tell you from first-hand experience that this is what happened to many east Germans. Mass unemployment, deserted cities and rural areas, general loss of perspective lead to many social problems, right-wing extremism one of them. I don't think, that western Germany is solely to blame, though. If you look into the "Klassenfeind" in eastern Germany, that is entrepreneurs, bourgeoise, Christians, even just small-scale craftsman, they all did rather well after a short transition. But they did so in a very difficult environment: The masses of workers, educated to be lead by and taken care of, by the state were now completely on their own. Underqualified faced an especially dire situation: In eastern Germany even the most inept would have some payed position, even though they were completely useless there. It was basically an alternative to unemployment. Now these, say, 5% of the workforce never had been told that they should have some qualification to get some work. They simply expected some simple position to be created for them (I personally met some of these people, btw.). These people never faced a chance on the labor market.

inglor_cz 6y ago
Prior to Covid, I visited former GDR several times. Places like Hoyerswerda are the worst German-speaking communities I ever saw, the spirit of hopelessness permeates everything. Even in cities like Görlitz that were restored to their original beauty, the loss of population has been so enormous that entire building blocks are empty, the windows blinded by years of dust. Ghost neighbourhoods, very untypical for Europe. Zittau on the Czech border has lost like a third of population within thirty years. Many of the remaining residents are over 70.

acheron 6y ago

Given how many Internet commenters think they’re experts on Chernobyl now, it’s not like he’s alone.

freeflight 6y ago

A lot of these topics don't even get that much mainstream coverage in the German language sphere because there's no real common ground to be found. The Treuhandgesellschaft and Kohl are topics you will come across extremely polarized opinions from "Best thing ever" to "Worst thing ever", but these kind of controversies rarely make it out of the German language sphere, as they require a fair bit of deeper understanding not just about German history, but also about German political culture. In that context The Perfect Crime on Netflix is a pretty good piece of documentary shining a light on parts of German history that, particularly West Germans, just love to gloss over but have in East Germany lead to deep scars lasting to this day.

someguydave 6y ago
From my American perspective I think the reason nobody talks about it in West Germany is because honest talk about German history has been ruthlessly suppressed by nearly all the institutions of the German state, including the state media. This is not healthy, people should be exposed to the best of all different perspectives.