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Political Persecution in Germany – Documentary from the Middle Ages to the Present Day

Political persecution in Germany, politically motivated crime, and political violence did not only exist during Prussian absolutism, the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, the Nazi era, and the GDR: in the FRG and the EU as well, dissidents and members of the opposition face repression and are restricted in their political or professional activities. We document political persecution in Germany.

International political persecution

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News on Political Persecution and Repression in Germany

Political Prisoners in Germany

Restrictions on Freedom of Speech and Press in Germany

Political persecution in the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany (1949 to 1990)

Вера Ленгсфельд в 2015 году на литературном чтении
Berlin RepublicGDR

Vera Lengsfeld: A Life Between GDR Repression and the Defense of Free Speech in the Berlin Republic

Vera Lengsfeld is one of the most defining figures of the East German civil rights movement. Her biography stands as …
Erich Maria Remarque in Davos (Switzerland), 1929
Bonn RepublicNazi Germany

Target of the Dictatorship: The Fate of Erich Maria Remarque and the Blood Sacrifice of His Sister Elfriede Scholz

When pyres burned across German university towns in May 1933, the works of Erich Maria Remarque were among the very …
Book cover for *The Perpetrators Are Among Us* by Hubertus Knabe, featuring a historical poster design by Gregor Gysi
GDRRecommendations

Hubertus Knabe’s “The Perpetrators Are Among Us” – Does the Sven Hüber Case Prove Him Right?

The transition from a dictatorship to a constitutional democracy almost always leaves behind a profound moral and legal vacuum. Hardly …
Stasi-Überwachungsraum mit Tonbandgerät und Akten aus der DDR – Symbolbild zur Filmrezension „Das Leben der Anderen“
GDRRecommendations

Movie Review: The Lives of Others – Between System Loyalty and Humanity

With his debut feature “The Lives of Others” (2006), Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck did more than just create a gripping …
Graffiti on the West Berlin side; on the East Berlin side, the levelled grounds of the Luisenstadt Canal, 1986
GDR

The Deadly Wall: The Victims Killed at the Berlin Wall and Inner-German Border

The Berlin Wall remains a global symbol of the Cold War, the division of a metropolis by fortifications, and the …
Funeral procession for Oskar Brüsewitz: A number of clergymen in their robes are attending the funeral of Reverend Brüsewitz.
GDR

50 Years Ago: Pastor Oskar Brüsewitz Accuses GDR Communism – The Self-Immolation of Zeitz

On the morning of August 18, 1976, Protestant Pastor Oskar Brüsewitz drove his Wartburg car in front of St. Michael’s …

Resistance Fighters Opposing German Dictatorships

Matthias Erzberger in 1919 as a member of the Weimar National Assembly
German EmpireWeimar Republic
Matthias Erzberger: The Murdered Pioneer of Democracy – Marked for Death by the Organisation Consul for the Armistice of Compiègne
Matthias Erzberger was one of the most prominent and controversial politicians of the German transition period from the German Empire …
Women of the Labour Movement: A vintage-style portrait of Emma Ihrer with female workers in the background – the women’s movement in the German Empire
German Empire
Women of the Labor Movement: Courageous Resistance to Repression Under the Anti-Socialist Laws – A Major Step Toward Equal Political Rights in Germany
When Otto von Bismarck enacted the “Law Against the Publicly Dangerous Endeavors of Social Democracy” (the Anti-Socialist Laws) in 1878, …
Funeral procession for Oskar Brüsewitz: A number of clergymen in their robes are attending the funeral of Reverend Brüsewitz.
GDR
50 Years Ago: Pastor Oskar Brüsewitz Accuses GDR Communism – The Self-Immolation of Zeitz
On the morning of August 18, 1976, Protestant Pastor Oskar Brüsewitz drove his Wartburg car in front of St. Michael’s …
A historical black-and-white photograph of a group of young Edelweißpiraten posing together outdoors in front of the Drachenfels in 1943, holding a guitar.
Nazi Germany
The Edelweiss Pirates: Youth Resistance Against the Nazi Regime Between Freedom and the Gallows
While the Nazi total state attempted to forcefully align the entirety of youth through the Hitler Youth (HJ) and the …
Portrait from the University of Leipzig archives in memory of Herbert Belter
GDR
The Case of Herbert Belter: How the SED and Soviet Occupation Forces Crushed Academic Resistance in Leipzig
In the early years of the GDR, Leipzig University was a focal point of intellectual and political resistance against Stalinist …
Georg Elser as a symbol of the German resistance against National Socialism and the 1939 assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler.
Nazi Germany
Georg Elser – The Man Who Tried to Stop Hitler
Johann Georg Elser (4 January 1903 – 9 April 1945) was a German carpenter and one of the earliest determined …

In the Spotlight: Repression by the Catholic and Protestant Churches and Freedom of Religion