"
Republikflucht" and "
Republikflüchtling(e)" were the terms used by authorities in the
German Democratic RepublicThe German Democratic Republic was a Communist state that originated from the Soviet Zone of occupied Germany and the Soviet sector of occupied Berlin...
(GDR - East Germany) to describe the process of and the person(s) leaving the GDR for a life in
West GermanyWest Germany is a common English name for the period of the Federal Republic of Germany between its' formation in May 1949 to German reunification in October 1990, when the German Democratic Republic was dissolved and the five states on its territory joined the Federal Republic of Germany,...
or any other Western (non-
Warsaw PactThe Warsaw Pact is the informal name for the mutual defense Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance subscribed by eight Communist states in Eastern Europe, that was established at the USSR’s initiative and realised on 14 May 1955, in Warsaw, Poland...
) country.
The term applies both to the mass desertion of millions who could leave the GDR rather easily before the
Berlin Wall|-||-||-||-||}The Berlin Wall was a physical barrier erected by the German Democratic Republic completely encircling West Berlin, separating it from East Germany, including East Berlin. The longer inner German border demarcated the border between East and West Germany...
was erected on 13 August 1961, as well as those few thousands who made a dangerous attempt to cross over the
Berlin Wall|-||-||-||-||}The Berlin Wall was a physical barrier erected by the German Democratic Republic completely encircling West Berlin, separating it from East Germany, including East Berlin. The longer inner German border demarcated the border between East and West Germany...
and the Inner German border (or who managed to obtain temporary exit visas and subsequently didn't return) from 1961 to 1989.
Some estimates put the number of those who left the
Soviet occupation zoneThe Soviet Occupation Zone was the area of central Germany occupied by the Soviet Union from 1945 on, at the end of World War II...
and the GDR between 1945 and 1961 between 2.5 and 3 million.
The numbers leaving the GDR following the construction of the Wall dropped sharply to several hundred a year as an attempt to flee the GDR via its fortified borders involved considerable personal risk of injury or death.
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"
Republikflucht" and "
Republikflüchtling(e)" were the terms used by authorities in the
German Democratic RepublicThe German Democratic Republic was a Communist state that originated from the Soviet Zone of occupied Germany and the Soviet sector of occupied Berlin...
(GDR - East Germany) to describe the process of and the person(s) leaving the GDR for a life in
West GermanyWest Germany is a common English name for the period of the Federal Republic of Germany between its' formation in May 1949 to German reunification in October 1990, when the German Democratic Republic was dissolved and the five states on its territory joined the Federal Republic of Germany,...
or any other Western (non-
Warsaw PactThe Warsaw Pact is the informal name for the mutual defense Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance subscribed by eight Communist states in Eastern Europe, that was established at the USSR’s initiative and realised on 14 May 1955, in Warsaw, Poland...
) country.
The term applies both to the mass desertion of millions who could leave the GDR rather easily before the
Berlin Wall|-||-||-||-||}The Berlin Wall was a physical barrier erected by the German Democratic Republic completely encircling West Berlin, separating it from East Germany, including East Berlin. The longer inner German border demarcated the border between East and West Germany...
was erected on 13 August 1961, as well as those few thousands who made a dangerous attempt to cross over the
Berlin Wall|-||-||-||-||}The Berlin Wall was a physical barrier erected by the German Democratic Republic completely encircling West Berlin, separating it from East Germany, including East Berlin. The longer inner German border demarcated the border between East and West Germany...
and the Inner German border (or who managed to obtain temporary exit visas and subsequently didn't return) from 1961 to 1989.
Some estimates put the number of those who left the
Soviet occupation zoneThe Soviet Occupation Zone was the area of central Germany occupied by the Soviet Union from 1945 on, at the end of World War II...
and the GDR between 1945 and 1961 between 2.5 and 3 million.
The numbers leaving the GDR following the construction of the Wall dropped sharply to several hundred a year as an attempt to flee the GDR via its fortified borders involved considerable personal risk of injury or death. Several hundred
Republikflüchtlinge were shot; about 75,000 were caught and imprisoned.
A propaganda booklet published by the
Socialist Unity Party of GermanyThe Socialist Unity Party of Germany was the governing party of the German Democratic Republic from its formation on 7 October 1949 until the elections of March 1990. The SED was a Communist political party with a Marxist-Leninist ideology...
(SED) in 1955 for the use of party agitators outlined the seriousness of 'flight from the republic':
Literature
- Volker Ackermann: Der „echte“ Flüchtling. Deutsche Vertriebene und Flüchtlinge aus der DDR 1945 - 1961, Osnabrück 1995 (= Studien zur historischen Migrationsforschung 1).
- Henrik Bispinck: „Republikflucht“. Flucht und Ausreise als Problem der DDR-Führung, in: Dierk Hoffmann, Michael Schwartz, Hermann Wentker (Hrsg.): Vor dem Mauerbau. Politik und Gesellschaft der DDR der fünfziger Jahre, München 2003, S. 285-309.
- Henrik Bispinck: Flucht- und Ausreisebewegung als Krisenphänomene: 1953 und 1989 im Vergleich, in: ders., Jürgen Danyel, Hans-Hermann Hertle, Hermann Wentker (Hrsg.): Aufstände im Ostblock. Zur Krisengeschichte des realen Sozialismus, Berlin 2004
- Bettina Effner, Helge Heidemeyer (Hrsg.): Flucht im geteilten Deutschland, Berlin 2005
- Helge Heidemeyer: Flucht und Zuwanderung aus der SBZ/DDR 1945/49-1961. Die Flüchtlingspolitik der Bundesrepublik Deutschland bis zum Bau der Berliner Mauer, Düsseldorf 1994 (= Beiträge zur Geschichte des Parliamentarismus und der politischen Parteien 100).
- Damian van Melis, Henrik Bispinck (Hrsg.): Republikflucht. Flucht und Abwanderung aus der SBZ/DDR 1945-1961, München 2006.
External links
- http://www.history.ac.uk/ihr/Focus/cold/articles/major.html
- http://www.refugee.org.nz/Headnotes/thes.html#R
- http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=109649