SED victims' representative calls singing of GDR anthem at AfD event 'trivialization'

Evelyn Zupke, the Federal Commissioner for the Victims of the SED Dictatorship, has strongly condemned the singing of the former East German national anthem at an event hosted by the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Zupke described the act as a "trivialization" of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), which she characterized as a state built on injustice.

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I have always spoken out against the trivialization of the GDR. And singing the GDR national anthem is part of that for me.

"I have always spoken out against the trivialization of the GDR. And singing the GDR national anthem is part of that for me," Zupke told "Rheinische Post." She emphasized the anthem's symbolic power for a state that was a dictatorship, monitored its citizens, persecuted them, and imprisoned them, a state where fundamental human rights were violated daily.

Zupke stated that such historical forgetfulness is unbearable for the victims of the system and should not be dismissed as satire. The anthem, "Auferstanden aus Ruinen" (Risen from Ruins), was sung by cabaret artist Uwe Steimle at an AfD event in Dessau-Roßlau, Saxony-Anhalt. Many attendees joined in, including AfD co-leader Tino Chrupalla and the AfD's top candidate for Saxony-Anhalt, Ulrich Siegmund, who reportedly sang parts of the anthem.

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The anthem has a high symbolic power for a state that was a dictatorship, an unjust state, that monitored its citizens, that harassed them, that imprisoned them. A state in which fundamental human rights were violated daily.

The incident has sparked debate about historical memory and the interpretation of symbols from the GDR era, particularly within political contexts. Zupke's remarks highlight the deep emotional impact such actions can have on those who experienced the repressive nature of the former East German regime.

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For the people who became victims of the system, such historical forgetfulness is unbearable, not satire.