The Russians in Germany: A History of the Soviet Zone of Occupation, 1945-1949

by Norman M. Naimark

Release Date: September, 1997

Edition: Paperback

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Indispensible for Understanding the GDR

This book is required reading for anyone interested in the ex-East Germany. From the very beginning, Naimark shows how the Moscow Germans (Ulbricht, et al) were apologists for everything and anything the Soviets did to their conquered German "friends." This more than anything else painted the Communists and their "United Front" Party, the SED, as little more than stooges for the hated Russians. Thus, the GDR leadership had no legitimacy in the eyes of the average worker. Naimark's study also describes how complete Sovietization was in the arts and education, though he only peripherally describes the Lutheran Church's involvement in the social transformation being wrought. This is curious, since it was the Church that provided a haven for dissent in the future years, but Naimark clearly had to prioritize his subjects of focus. This is a "must-have" for anyone interested in the Cold War, the GDR and the Soviet Union.

No praise is too high for this masterful study

This is a quite outstanding piece of research into a subject that was once all but closed off to scholars, thanks to East German and Soviet secrecy. The author seems familiar with all the available source material in German and Russian and as a result writes with complete authority. Among his conclusions are that even the East German Communists found it hard to accept some of the sheer brutality and bullying of the Soviet occupiers. At the same time, the Soviet authorities were not too impressed with the East German comrades' plans to accelerate the imposition of a Soviet-type political and economic system. Meanwhile, rape and rapacity on the part of the occupiers proceeded apace. A remarkable work that leaves a lasting impression.