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citizens to travel in Eastern Europe and millions have taken advantage of this opportunity, there is little likelihood that the tight controls on travel to the West will be relaxed in the near future. The regime has made tentative moves to allow writers and artists more freedom of expression, but there appears to have been no fundamental change in the policy of closely monitoring the activities and output of the cultural elite.
2. Affected groups
a. Industrial workers
Discontent among industrial workers, arising from specific economic grievances, is a source of deep concern to the East German leadership. The lesson learned in 1953, when an uprising was triggered by construction workers in East Berlin who resented an increase in work norms and who initiated a spontaneous strike, has not been forgotten. Under present circumstances, however, workers are unlikely to take to the streets, because there is no desire to risk sacrificing whatever has already been achieved and because of the certainty of reprisals. The regime has a pervasive and efficient security system which has usually been able to discern and deal with workers' grievances before they become widespread. In addition, the government has been known to grant limited concessions or has otherwise taken steps to eliminate sources of major grievances. In April 1966, for instance, the regime attempted to eliminate some chronic source of complaint by revising the workweek schedule so that all workers would have a 5-day workweek every other week, thereby reducing the average workweek from 48 to 45 hours. In September 1967 a general 5-day workweek was introduced and, after some initial difficulties stemming from complaints by shoppers who found that their favorite stores were closed on Saturday along with factories and other enterprises, seemed to be working reasonably well.
The decision of the regime to increase production of consumer goods and expand social benefits is intended to raise the living standards of industrial workers and to show that the leadership is concerned about their problems. Despite these measures, various complaints have cropped up periodically, including charges of inept management and unkept wage promises, rumors of price rises, and demands for more democratic procedures. The workers on occasion have tried to highlight their grievances by resorting to brief strikes, gathering petitions, engaging in slowdowns, and passively resisting exhortations for more production. While not a threat to the regime in themselves, these grievances are taken seriously by the leadership. The Polish riots of December 1970 are a vivid reminder of what happens when the government and party lose touch with the workers.
b. Farm workers
The redistribution of land under the 1946 land reform resulted in some dilution of the traditionally conservative attitudes of the rural population, since many of the new farmers had either Social Democratic or Communist backgrounds. However, the collectivization campaign - culminating in the all-out drive of 1960 - resulted in the flight to the West of thousands of farmers and farm workers, including many who had been in favor of the social and economic reforms instituted during the postwar period. Since 1963 the regime has been able to overcome resistance to collectivization to some extent by sharply raising farm incomes. This policy has improved labor productivity and reduced passive resistance, but it has not solved the problem of persuading youth to choose a career in agriculture.
c. Intellectuals
Intellectuals and persons in the professions express their disaffection in more subtle ways, although their opposition to the regime's determination to impose limits on the freedom of the individual is at least as strongly felt as that of the workers and farmers. Freedom to think, write, publish, and work without political interference has not fit in with SED attempts to restructure East German society along Communist lines. Many of East Germany's more prominent writers, artists, and professional men fled to West Germany, leaving few who might serve as rallying points in opposition to the regime. Many of the members of the intellectual community who have chosen to remain are committed Communists, though they may question specific policies of the regime. However, both groups of intellectuals - the Marxists as well as the more refractory non-Communists - have been reluctant to challenge the authorities head-on. Rather than engaging in outright criticism or an exchange of polemics with the regime, many intellectuals employ satire and innuendo to express their dissatisfaction.
On the rare occasions when intellectuals have taken a firm stand against regime policies, retribution has been swift. Prof. Wolfgang Harich, a journalist and professor of Marxist philosophy at Humboldt University, was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment in 1957 (only 7 were actually served) for writing
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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110019-3
