Voting in the GDR: Fold notes, keep your mouth shut

"It has to look democratic, but we have to have everything in our hands." This statement by Walter Ulbricht, who installed Stalinism in the Soviet occupation zone after 1945 and had the wall built in 1961, handed down Wolfgang Leonhardim's book "Die Revolution dismisses her children".

My first "democratic" election came in 1971, when I was 18 years old, and was welcomed as a first voter with a bouquet of flowers. The turnout and the votes in favor of the People's Chamber election were given as 98.48 and 99.85 percent, respectively. In view of what people talked about on a daily basis, this information was doubtful.

Regularly every five years, the GDR conducted Volkskammer and municipal elections. On public buildings, streets and squares wafted flag decorations. Black red gold with hammer, compass and ear-wreath stood for the German Democratic Republic, which was German, but neither democratic nor a republic. Red flags represented the working class. The blue with the yellow rising sun symbolized the future of the state organized in the Free German Youth, which officially described itself as the "dictatorship of the proletariat".

In the shops marked by the socialist economy of shortage goods previously withheld were fed in. They should make the population feel that socialism is going upright. But elections in the GDR were also a good time to talk carefully about abuses right up to the government. The tone of the complaints sounded mostly submissive. Everyone knew that after the election, everyday life returned and the government agencies had a good memory.

photo gallery

28 pictures

The heads of the state trade organizations had the task to decorate the shop windows with wink and propaganda elements. There was never any shortage in the socialist economy of scarcity. Posters with socialist messages promoted "Your vote the candidate of the National Front!" The posters were small, almost inconspicuous. Every citizen had understanding, paper was generally scarce.

But more would have been a waste.

Election campaign not necessary

It was unnecessary for the candidates to prevail in an election campaign. They were appointed by the election commission of the "National Front", the union of all state parties and mass organizations, according to their supposed suitability. As a result, representatives of each of these organizations were available as voting cattle. The bogus elections were cleverly camouflaged. As a working collective, we even had to agree to the candidacy of our state head of town council for the district town, which we did.

The reasoning behind it: According to his election, would be in the newspaper, when he does not appear on the job. That meant elementary benefits to the private interests of the working class, so to us. The suitability as a representative was incidental, because anyway it was clear that our boss in the panel could neither do any harm nor a benefit followed.

A colleague was even people's chamber deputy, for the CDU. Before the SED could reach out to him during his engineering studies, he joined the bloc party, which had fixed seats in the hall of the Republic Palace. He had a free ticket for all public transport in the GDR. When I asked him if he had ever voted against, he just replied, "I'm not tired of life."

Flag holder as standard

After a long wait, my wife and I had been able to move in together to a prefabricated flat when, prior to the municipal election in 1984, the head of the household - at the same time a member of the People's Police and a section representative - summoned representatives of all 16 families to the assembly room. There were no problems to be discussed, because the household did the house cleaning and greenery care exemplary. So he announced, as he imagined the flagging on election Sunday: The apartments left and right with a balcony should attach the state flag of the GDR, the balconyless apartments in the middle of the red flag of the working class. Flag holder had already been installed as standard in the construction of the prefabricated building.

This forced confession of system loyalty on the orders of a people's policeman was repugnant to me. However, I could also vividly imagine which signal would send a Nichtbeflaggung. That gave me a headache.

The Section representative also suggested that the House Community go to the election office at 10am on election Sunday. Upon request, almost all the inhabitants tentatively raised their hands; I was happy to stand behind a man who was over 1.90 meters tall and quite wide. Worrying again.

On Friday before the closing time at 16.15 asked the master, head of my collective, in a final round of each colleague: "Do you go to the election on Sunday?" That was his party assignment. A "no" would have been meaningless. Everyone knew the unpleasant consequences. Nevertheless, the conscience answered and asked if it was right, what they did. It already took courage to hang a flag out of the window in a model household community.

The missing 0.2 percent

For decades, on Monday after the election, the SED newspaper "Neues Deutschland" as well as all 15 "district organs" proclaimed in large format that the population of the GDR almost completely confessed to peace and socialism. The yes votes were generally stated with over 99.8 percent.

That it was not equal to 100 percent, was due to citizens like my father, who did not go to the elections in principle. Workers with experiences from 1953 were another punch people and nevertheless indispensable for the national economy. Many were already in the West as pensioners or applicants for a relocation to the Federal Republic anyway. Therefore, these "elements" were considered less than 0.2 percent in the statistics. Otherwise, the fake would have been too obvious.

The polling stations opened at 8 o'clock, the gardeners brought the procedure first behind. The population had been educated for decades to vote until noon. In the hours up to 18 o'clock the electoral assistants had to wait for the 0.2 percent of the citizens with the certainty that these would not come anyway.

At about 3 pm, boredom was unbearable, and now the helpers were ringing the ballot boxes of the obstinate people with the ballot box under their arms. How these reacted, I can only guess.

Two strikingly unremarkable men

Also, my wife and I brought the Zettelelfalten until noon behind us on Sunday afternoon to have time for a walk. It seemed too adapted to trot with the collective of the house community under the guidance of a people police officer to the polling station. We went alone.

There were five tables, behind them the election workers. At the first we submitted our election notification, at the second our identity cards, the helper made a note. At the third table we received the note with the candidates of the National Front, and at the fourth table, smiling cheerfully, the electoral assistant expected us to fold the note and throw it into the urn. At the fifth table, two unremarkable men sat conspicuously.

A ticking of desired candidates did not exist. One folded the note and threw it. That was the yes vote. Only deletions of each candidate counted as no votes. I looked around for the cabin. She was standing far in the corner. It was obvious that the strikingly inconspicuous men could register anyone by name who went into the cabin.

On Monday, the title pages of all newspapers produced the ready-made election result. Only weeks later it became clear that in our constituency a young man had dared to visit the cabin before throwing his note into the urn. Everyone knew him. Only one valid negative vote was counted, and people drew their conclusions. Some said, "Oh, he's typical, I've always known that!"