Where would you rather live?

[© tweed]

Vote

[Jacobtm]

Nazis seemed way more efficient at hunting down jews/dissidents and killing them. I feel I'd have a better chance (as a Jew) of surviving under corrupt Soviet rule.

[nclib]

Option 2.

[Jake]

While neither is anything good at all, East Germany under Soviet rule escapes the whole being a war zone part that East Germany under the Nazis experienced.

[Undisguised Sockpuppet]

Nazis. I'm not jewish or a communist so no affect on me.

[opebo]

Life in east Germany was not particularly 'bad' under the 'communists'.

Of course under the Nazis it was very good for the wealthy, and only very bad for the various minorities such as jews and gays.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Option 2 (sane)

[Alcon]

Nazis. I'm not jewish or a communist so no affect on me.

Uh, but you are a nazi?

And the whole mass-murdering of Jews thing doesn't bother you, either?  What do you have against Jews?

[Gabu]

And the whole mass-murdering of Jews thing doesn't bother you, either?  What do you have against Jews?

Living in East Germany under Nazi rule does not mean that you condone the Holocaust.  It would have happened regardless of whether or not you lived there.

Life in pre-war Nazi Germany wasn't really that bad if you were a heterosexual Aryan who was not a political enemy of Hitler.  This is not to say that the atrocities against the Jews were permissable, but under the Soviet Union, everyone's life sucked.

Of course, if we assume that WWII would have still happened, living in Nazi Germany would also mean that you would have gotten your ass bombed a few thousand times by the British, which would have kind of sucked more than living in the relatively peaceful confines of Soviet East Germany.

[MasterJedi]

Option 1

[Undisguised Sockpuppet]

I'm not a nazi I  just see communism as being marginally worth. Neither is good.

[© tweed]

Being that my father is Jewish, I'd probably be murdered by the Nazis, so I vote option 2.

[afleitch]

Option 2.

[dazzleman]

Well, these are beautiful choices.

I'd say that if you were willing to go along with Nazi policies quietly, life in the prewar Nazi Germany was probably better than life in the Soviet zone after the war because the economy was better.

But then the war came, and it was a living hell to live through that, I am sure.

So I'd have to say that I'd choose option 1 without the war, but knowing the war came, I'd have to choose option 2.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Option 2... and I actually lived in East Germany under "Soviet communist rule"... at least for a few years.

[John Dibble]

Life in east Germany was not particularly 'bad' under the 'communists'.

Explain to me then, oh wise one, if things were not so bad the reason that they had to build a wall to keep people in.

[minionofmidas]

And the whole mass-murdering of Jews thing doesn't bother you, either?  What do you have against Jews?

Living in East Germany under Nazi rule does not mean that you condone the Holocaust.  It would have happened regardless of whether or not you lived there.

Life in pre-war Nazi Germany wasn't really that bad if you were a heterosexual Aryan who was not a political enemy of Hitler.  This is not to say that the atrocities against the Jews were permissable, but under the Soviet Union, everyone's life sucked.

Of course, if we assume that WWII would have still happened, living in Nazi Germany would also mean that you would have gotten your ass bombed a few thousand times by the British, which would have kind of sucked more than living in the relatively peaceful confines of Soviet East Germany.

1933-9 living standards were certainly worse, in real terms, than those in the GDR, however much it lacked behind the West. (Which also sort of answers John's question.)

[MODU]

Now that is a tough call.  I could easily live under Nazi rule and not fear for my life (considering my some of my ancestors were Prussian and I use to be bright blonde with blue eyes when I was younger).  However, if it was known that I have Jewish cousins, that might be cause for a little concern.  Under a soviet Germany, it might have been more difficult for me, considering I believe what I earn is mine and not everyone elses. 

[Speed of Sound]

Both sucked, but I think I could endure the Soivets a little more.

[Akno21]

I'd rather be poor, hungry, and oppressed than poor, hungry, oppressed, and brutally slaughtered, so I'll take the Soviet option.

[Middle-aged Europe]

I'd rather be poor, hungry, and oppressed than poor, hungry, oppressed, and brutally slaughtered, so I'll take the Soviet option.

Mhm, how is "East Germany under Soviet Communist rule" defined for the purposes of this poll? Is only the period between 1945 and 1949 meant, before the GDR was founded and the country was just the "Soviet occupation zone"? Or does it include the "German Democratc Republic" up to 1989/90?

If the latter applies I would like to add that I never suffered from malnutrition in my childhood. And neither did my parents, as far as they've told me. There was always plenty to eat in East Germany. Quantity wasn't the problem, maybe only the spectrum of foods available. East Germany was particularly (in)famous for its shortages of bananas and other exotic fruits... especially the banana thing was the base of many jokes in West Germany.

[Akno21]

I'd rather be poor, hungry, and oppressed than poor, hungry, oppressed, and brutally slaughtered, so I'll take the Soviet option.

Mhm, how is "East Germany under Soviet Communist rule" defined for the purposes of this poll? Is only the period between 1945 and 1949 meant, before the GDR was founded and the country was just the "Soviet occupation zone"? Or does it include the "German Democratc Republic" up to 1989/90?

If the latter applies I would like to add that I never suffered from malnutrition in my childhood. And neither did my parents, as far as they've told me. There was always plenty to eat in East Germany. Quantity wasn't the problem, maybe only the spectrum of foods available. East Germany was particularly (in)famous for its shortages of bananas and other exotic fruits... especially the banana thing was the base of many jokes in West Germany.

All right, maybe I wouldn't be starving in East Germany, but I'd still be extremly unhappy. Still beats getting gassed/shot/worked to death/beaten, etc.

[Middle-aged Europe]

It's also noteworthy that soldiers of the Soviet Army usually considered it a privilege to be stationed in East Germany, because the standard of living was higher there than in the Soviet Union itself.

Another thing I remember, aside from the banana shortages, were the insanely long waiting lists for obtaining a new car. Because of the relative inefficiency of the economy the demand was much higher than the supply. As a result you had basically wait for years, before you could get your car.
On the hand, "unemployment" was a completely unfamiliar term for the people in the GDR... at least until 1990.

The lack of free elections and an extremely authoritarian government is of course a major disadvantage, but the Third Reich had the same things too (plus the persecution of minorities and a very very expansionist foreign/"defense" policy).

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Did your parents find out that any of their "friends" were actually Stasi contacts? I read that as many as one in 50 East Germans were either Stasi agents or contacts to them, and that once Germany was reunified, declassified documents showed that the government had kept files on almost 1/3 of the population. Many people had had their activities reported by friends, relatives and neighbors without even realizing it. I wonder how relations were with them after that.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Uh... well, I know that the Stasi had a file about my father. That's mainly because he had an aunt and other relatives in West Germany and visited them several times in the 1980ies. And the Stasi did some "background checks" on him, before he was allowed to travel to West Germany, to make sure that he would actually return to the GDR. The East German goverment was kind of funny about this, they build something like the Wall after all. My father had a wife and a son in the GDR, so they figured he wouldn't stay in West Germany and allowed him to travel.

I think that it was mentioned in his file, that one of our former neighbors had been a Stasi informant, but at the time my father got access to his Stasi file there hasn't been any contact for some years anyway.