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Voices from the GDR

Jewish Perspectives on Life and the Political System

What was everyday life like for Jews in the GDR? What were their hopes of socialism after the Shoah? To what extent were their hopes fulfilled and/or disappointed? What role did religiosity and the Jewish communities play for them? This feature presents twelve voices through short interview sequences that show the different ways Jewish citizens of the GDR perceived life and the political system (in German with English subtitles).

Each of these video clips is taken from a longer interview. Some of them were recorded in the context of the W. Michael Blumenthal Fellowship for the Jewish Museum Berlin (JMB) collections. There are also excerpts from two interviews that were exhibited as part of the Brüder und Fremde (Brothers and Strangers) exhibition at the Dresden Jewish Community Hall in 2008. In addition, the Moses Mendelssohn Center for European-Jewish Studies in Potsdam has made some of its own archive recordings available.

Designed graphic with overlapping photos and red squares, the top photo shows a woman with a child holding her hand, next to her a teenager, in the background the so-called workers' palaces in Stalinallee.

Exhibition Another Country. Jewish in the GDR: Features & Programs

Exhibition Webpage
Another Country. Jewish in the GDR: 8 Sep 2023 to 14 Jan 2024
Publications
Another Country. Jewish in the GDR: Catalog accompanying the exhibition, English edition, 2023
Ein anderes Land. Jüdisch in der DDR: Catalog accompanying the exhibition, German edition, 2023
Digital Content
Current page: Voices from the GDR: Twelve short film interviews with Jewish perspectives on life and the political system, 2023, in German with English subtitles
Come Fly With Me Over the Brandenburg Gate: A documentary by Esther Zimmering, in German
Singled Out and Viewed Suspiciously: Jews in the GDR: Abridged version of Annette Leo’s contribution to the exhibition catalog, 2023
Jewish in the GDR. A Road Trip with Marion and Lena Brasch: A podcast by Deutsch­land­funk Kultur in co­operation with the Jewish Museum Berlin, six episodes, 2023, in German
Jewish Local History of the GDR: Information about the communities in Dresden, Erfurt, Halle, Leipzig, Magdeburg, Chemnitz and Schwerin on Jewish Places
City Walk Berlin-East: Tour with Jewish Places from the New Synagogue to the kosher butcher’s shop, school participation project 2022/23
Soundtrack of the Exhibition: Playlist on Spotify
See also
East Germany

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