Steinmeier: GDR home children must not be forgotten

Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier believes that the fate of former GDR children must not be forgotten. The young people who were here were robbed of their youth and their dignity, Steinmeier said after a visit to the "Geschlossener Jugendwerkhof" memorial site in Torgau. "These children and young people were among the most vulnerable victims". Far too little is still known about their suffering.

Some GDR re-education homes acted like prisons

Since 1998, the memorial site has commemorated the prison-like conditions under which young people were to be re-educated into "socialist personalities" in Torgau during the GDR era. With its three-metre-high walls, watchtowers, guard dogs and barred windows, the "closed youth work yard" resembled a prison from the outside.

According to the memorial, 4,046 young people were incarcerated here between 1964 and 1989. Officially, it was the only closed residential facility in the GDR. In total, around 135,000 children and young people passed through such re-education facilities in the GDR between 1949 and 1989.

Federal President calls youth work camp a "place of horror"

After a tour of the exhibition "I was born a human being and I want to get out of here as a human being!", Steinmeier spoke with contemporary witnesses. He could only imagine how difficult it must have been to return to the "place of horror", where coercion, violence, humiliation and degradation prevailed. Some of these contemporary witnesses also share their memories on guided tours with school classes, among others.

"Young people need to know what brutality the SED was capable of and any trivialization is out of the question," said the Federal President, thanking those affected. This is another way of defending democracy and the rule of law.

Affected parties: many legal hurdles still remain in the way of rehabilitation

Steinmeier hopes that the legal procedures for the rehabilitation of former children in institutions will be simplified. Those affected had told him about the numerous hurdles involved in obtaining recognition as victims of the SED. Most of them had little education due to their placement in the homes and are still living at subsistence level today.

The idea for Steinmeier's visit was born almost seven years ago. At that time, representatives of the sponsoring association were at Bellevue Palace and drew attention to the situation of former GDR children in care. The Federal President then expressed his interest in visiting the memorial.