APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110020-1
of the State Planning Commission.
Apel's death illustrated a basic fact of East German life, i.e., that politics dominates economics and that party chiefs are ascendant over technocrats. Those who would push the economy ahead in a rational fashion, even resorting to capitalistic divides, have won a modicum of freedom, particularly under Honecker, but the dead hand of party doctrine still lies heavily on their plans. It is as if the authorities would rather permit economic lag than commit political heresy. Thus East Germany, advanced though it is by East European standards, has proceeded under severe handicaps. Its industry for years was cut off from important scientific and technological advances, and its markets were restricted by reason of its isolation from the West. It continues to exist in the straitjacket of a centralized command economy. Finally, it seems frequently to be stretched to the limit of its resources and thus susceptible to previous damage from the errors of man or the whims of nature. Acts of God are permissible in socialist planning, but nonetheless wet summers have ruined crop harvests, and harsh winters have produced power shortages dire enough to disrupt industry and douse city lights.
Breakdowns are embarrassing, especially in that they serve as a reminder of grimmer days for the average man. The late 1940's and much of the 1950's were times of deprivation. In the 1960's the populace experienced a steadily increasing standard of living, and now, by Communist criteria, a consumer-oriented society has arrived. Television sets and to a lesser degree refrigerators and washers are generally available, though frequently not at a price the average family can easily afford. Private cars are still luxury, and housing remains in meager supply despite the best efforts of the regime. Food shortages are largely a thing of the past, with the quality and variety of the offerings both improved. Some advances also have been made in supplying high-quality clothing, shoes, and furniture.
As consumers, the East Germans are not unlike their cousins in the West. They yearn increasingly for luxury items—exotic food, stylish apparel, or even a car, and work long hours and stint themselves in various ways to gain their goals. They inwardly rage at authority if the product is not available, or, if obtained, it proves unsatisfactory. The regime is well aware that its reputation is on the line in the nationalized market place, and under Honecker in particular it has made adjustments to fill the wants of the people.
The Regime and the People (c)
In an era of increasing detente, the regime continues to prefer that its people live in semi-isolation behind heavily barricaded borders. With few exceptions, only those certified as politically reliable or economically expendable are allowed to travel to the West. Those rash enough to attempt flight across a boundary or over the Berlin Wall are still deemed guilty of a crime against the state and may be shot by border guards. Within its political compound, the state constantly extracts pledges of loyalty from the populace and dispenses a rigorous brand of justice. To a large extent, Western influences are still shut out. Intellectuals are exhorted to be good servants of the state, mirroring East German society in their works and combating alien ideologies. The People's Army, the state security forces, and the considerable encampment of Soviet troops are frequently lauded as a bulwark against the enemy to the west. Trends toward liberalization elsewhere in Eastern Europe frequently have elicited public condemnation from a regime intent on warding off any infection in its body politic. Even the Soviet Union has been open to criticism, at least during the latter years of Ulbricht, though seldom under the generally local Honecker, who has also seen fit to relax domestic strictures ever so slightly.
As compared with earlier years, East German society in the 1970's is caught in something less than an iron vise. On occasion, the authorities even relent sufficiently to allow a modicum of free expression. Such leniency serves to alleviate a buildup of tensions. However, the situation is rarely permitted to get out of hand, and, if signs of dissent appear, the clamps are likely to be reapplied. Since most potential troublemakers apparently either have had their spirits crushed or have long since fled the country, public officials—encouraged by the lead of Honecker—have
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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110020-1
