Mariam Lau on the portrayal of GDR history

The subject of how to deal with GDR history is currently fuelling a heated debate in Germany. The main point at issue is whether, in addition to the mechanisms of the communist dictatorship, everyday life should also be portrayed, as a panel of experts led by historian Martin Sabrow recommends. Mariam Lau favours Sabrow's approach. "If you only show the oppression and portray the GDR as a state entirely under Stasi control, you're robbing the civil rights movement of its history, too. Wasn't the Christian who remained true to his religion, even though it cost him his career, also part of the resistance movement?... Many people were susceptible to the SED leaders' 'anti-fascist' rhetoric. Now we know that they were mistaken, but does that make them all Stalinists?

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