The Politics Machine: On the Concept of ‘Solidarity’ in East German Support for SWAPO

Abstract In explicit contrast to the alleged 'neo-colonialism' of the West, the communist regimes of the former Eastern Bloc thought of themselves as decidedly 'anti-colonial'. This 'anti-colonial imaginary', as opposed to its 'postcolonial' counterpart, has as yet received little scholarly attention. Using the relationship between the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and SWAPO as a case study, this article explores the GDR's conception of Africa, the interactions through which it was shaped, and the ways in which it translated into policy. The notion of 'solidarity', it argues, was central to the East German discourse on Africa in general and SWAPO in particular. Omnipresent both in the media and in policy circles, yet vague enough to accommodate very different interpretations, 'solidarity' defined a politicised perspective on Africa that said as much about the GDR as it did about the continent. Notes 1 Interview with Hans-Georg Schleicher, East German diplomat in Southern Africa and head of the GDR's observer mission in Namibia, Berlin, 4 April 2008 (oiG). 2 Quotations from sources that were originally in German have been translated by the author and are marked 'oiG' (originally in German). 3 The so-called 'Western Contact Group' included Canada, France, West Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. 4 A. Mbembe, On the Postcolony (Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2001), p. 3. For a detailed discussion and critique of Mbembe's arguments, see J. Weate, 'Achille Mbembe and the Postcolony: Going Beyond the Text', Research in African Literatures, 34, 4 (2003). For a more general introduction to postcolonial writing and its main tenets, see B. Ashcroft. G. Griffiths, H. Tiffin and R. Guha (eds), Post-Colonial Studies: The Key Concepts (London, Routledge, 2007). 5 E. Said, Orientalism (London, Penguin, 2003 1978). 6 Three key texts are: J. Ferguson, The Anti-Politics Machine: "Development", Depoliticization and Bureaucratic Power in Lesotho (Minneapolis, MA, University of Minnesota Press, 1994) ; A. Escobar, Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World (Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1995) ; and G. Rist, The History of Development: From Western Origins to Global Faith (London, Zed Books, 2003). 7 See the Journal of Southern African Studies (hereafter JSAS) 2009 Special Issue on 'Liberation Struggles, Exile and International Solidarity' (Volume 35, Number 2). Another excellent introduction is South African Democracy Education Trust (SADET) (eds), The Road to Democracy in South Africa, Volume 3: International Solidarity (Pretoria, UNISA Press, 2008). 8 H. Sapire, 'Liberation Movements, Exile and International Solidarity: An Introduction', JSAS, 35, 2 (2009), p. 273. 9 SADET, Volume 3: International Solidarity. 10 See, for example, V. Shubin, ANC. A View from Moscow (Bellville, Mayibuye Books, 1999), and his 'Unsung Heroes: The Soviet Military and the Liberation of Southern Africa', Cold War History, 7, 2 (2007). 11 Notable exceptions are: H. -G. Schleicher, 'The German Democratic Republic and the South African Liberation Struggle', in SADET (eds), Volume 3: International Solidarity; and H. -G. and I. Schleicher, Special Flights to Southern Africa: The GDR and Liberation Movements in Southern Africa (Harare, SAPES Publishers, 1998). 12 See the reciprocal allegations of 'neocolonialism' between East and West German authors in J. Mader, Neokolonialistische Praktiken der BRD Gegenüber Namibia (East Berlin, Solidaritätskomitee der DDR, 1978), and M. Croan, DDR-Neokolonialismus in Afrika (Bonn, Deutsche Afrika Stiftung, 1981). 13 The best introduction to the various topics covered is U. van der Heyden, I and H. -G. Schleicher (eds. ), Die DDR und Afrika: Zwischen Klassenkampf und Neuem Denken (Münster, LIT Verlag, 1993), and U. van der Heyden (eds), Die DDR und Afrika II: Engagiert für Afrika (Münster, LIT Verlag, 1994). 14 H. -G. and I. Schleicher, Special Flights to Southern Africa covers all anglophone countries. On SWAPO, see also: S. Wisotzki, 'Die Unterstützung der SWAPO of Namibia durch die DDR in den Jahren 1975 bis 1989' (MA thesis, Humboldt University, Berlin, 2002) ; and J. Gerlach, Der Herero-Aufstand und die anderen Deutschen (Berlin, Kai Homilius, 2005). 15 See, for example, M. Voß (ed. ), Wir haben Spuren hinterlassen! Die DDR in Mosambik – Erlebnisse, Erfahrungen und Erkenntnisse aus drei Jahrzehnten (Münster, LIT Verlag, 2005). 16 A good introduction is C. Kenna, Homecoming: The GDR Kids of Namibia (Windhoek, New Namibia Books, 1999). 17 See L. Engombe, Kind Nr. 95: Meine Deutsch-Afrikanische Odyssee (München, Ullstein, 2004), and U. Rüchel, "Wir hatten noch nie einen Schwarzen gesehen": Das Zusammenleben von Deutschen und Namibiern rund um das SWAPO-Kinderheim in Bellin 1979–1990 (Schwerin, Landesbeauftragter für Mecklenburg-Vorpommern für die Unterlagen des Staatssicherheitsdienstes der ehemligen DDR, 2001). 18 A. Reichardt, Nie vergessen: Solidarität üben! Über die Geschichte des Solikomitees der DDR (Berlin, Kai Homilius, 2006) ; H. -J. Bücking (ed. ), Entwicklungspolitische Zusammenarbeit in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und in der DDR (Berlin, Duncker J. Howell, 'The End of an Era: The Rise and Fall of GDR Aid', Journal of Modern African Studies, 32, 2 (1994). 19 G. Winrow, The Foreign Policy of the GDR in Africa (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1990). 20 This is, of course, true for many authors writing on the history of the anti-apartheid movement, including Vladimir Shubin, whose publications on the USSR's support for the ANC draw heavily on his own experience as head of the Africa section of the CPSU's International Department. 21 See J. Leskien, Ondjango: Ein angolanisches Tagebuch (East Berlin, Verlag Neues Leben, 1980), among others. 22 R. Wingert, Schwarzer Mohn: Das Leben und Denken eines Aufklärers der DDR in Südwestafrika (Norderstedt, Books on Demand, 2006). 23 A recent example is an article by T. Rösmann on the 'GDR kids', Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 16 February 2008. 24 I am grateful for the generous support provided by the University of Oxford through grants from the African Studies Centre, the Oxford Research Network on Government in Africa and Exeter College. 25 U. Engel and H. -G. Schleicher, Die beiden deutschen Staaten in Afrika: Zwischen Konkurrenz und Koexistenz 1949 – 1990 (Hamburg, Institut für Afrika-Kunde, 1997), p. 4. 26 The Hallstein doctrine stipulated that the recognition of the GDR by a state would result in the severance of its diplomatic ties with the FRG. 27 H. -G. Schleicher and I. Schleicher, 'Waffen für den Süden Afrikas: Die DDR und der bewaffnete Befreiungskampf', in van der Heyden et al. (eds), Die DDR und Afrika II: Engagiert für Afrika (Münster, LIT, 1994), p. 24. 28 The minutiae of a journalist's trip to Angola are one telling example: SAPMO DY30 J IV 2/3 – 3536, minutes of a meeting of the secretariat of the central committee of the SED, 4 July 1983. 29 This makes it difficult to determine the full extent of East German foreign assistance in general and of East German support for SWAPO in particular, as the relevant files are scattered across different archives and collections. 30 Interview with Carl Ordnung, East German church activist and after 1990 co-founder and director of Solidaritätsdienst International (SODI), the successor organisation to the GDR's solidarity committee, Berlin, 21 April 2008. 31 Authors' Collective, Kleines Politisches Wörterbuch (Berlin (East), Dietz Verlag, 1988), p. 234. Translation by the author. 32 Authors' Collective, Kleines Politisches Wörterbuch, p. 861f. 33 Constitution of the German Democratic Republic, 7 October 1974. (http: //www. documentarchiv. de/ddr/verfddr. html). 34 Interview with Hans-Georg Schleicher (oiG). 35 Makosch, 'Was bleibt. . . Afrika in den Medien der DDR', in van der Heyden et al. (eds), Die DDR und Afrika II, p. 273. 36 Neues Deutschland, 19/20 August 1989, p. 1. 37 See Für Dich, 15/1979 and Neue Berliner Illustrierte, 13/1979, for example. 38 S. F. N'Tani, The Image of African National Liberation Movements in the West German and Soviet Press 1972–1982: Focusing on the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO of Namibia) and the African National Congress (ANC of South Africa) (Ph. D. dissertation, University of Bonn, 1987). 39 Bummi, 1983/13. 40 Neues Deutschland, 19/20 July 1986. 41 U. Mählert and G. -R. Stefan, Blaue Hemden – Rote Fahnen: Die Geschichte der Freien Deutschen Jugend (Opladen, Leske und Budrich, 1996). 42 Interview with Joachim Krause, former member of the GDR's academy of educational science, Falkensee, 9 April 2008 (oiG). 43 For a comprehensive analysis of the discipline, see U. van der Heyden, 'Die historische Afrikaforschung in der DDR: Versuch einer Bilanz der Afrika-Geschichtsschreibung', in van der Heyden et al (eds. ), Die DDR und Afrika, p. 120. 44 E-mail communication with Catherine Griefenow-Mewis, 20 April 2008. 45 Phone interview with Jürgen Leskien, East German writer, 19 April 2008. 46 For an overview of Leskien's publications, see http: //www. fbk-thueringen. jetzweb. de/Projekte/StafetteBuch/JurgenLeskien/jurgenₗeskien. html (27 June 2009). 47 Interview with Jürgen Leskien (oiG). 48 For a detailed but partisan account, see A. Reichardt, Nie vergessen – Solidarität üben! Über die Geschichte des Solikomitees der DDR (Berlin, Kai Homilius, 2006). 49 Interview with Joachim Krause, Falkensee, 9 April 2008 (oiG). 50 Phone interview with Joachim Frenzke, East German solidarity activist, in Demmin, 7 April 2008. 51 E-mail communication with Karin Behl, East German church and solidarity activist, 7 April 2008. 52 For a more detailed account of the etymology and history of the concept, see the contributions by Karl Metz and Andreas Wildt, in K. Bayertz (ed. ), Solidarity (Dordrecht, Kluwer, 1999). 53 See, for example, C. Saunders, 'Namibian Solidarity: British Support for Namibian Independence', JSAS, 35, 2 (2009). 54 The Nordic countries, where anti-apartheid activists generally enjoyed the sympathy of their left-leaning governments, took a middle position between these polarities. 55 H. Thörn, 'The Meaning (s) of Solidarity: Narratives of Anti-Apartheid Activism', JSAS, 35, 2 (2009), p. 419. For a more comprehensive discussion, see H. Thörn, Anti-Apartheid and the Emergence of a Global Civil Society (Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2006). 56 Döring, 'Es geht um unsere Existenz', p. 81. 57 Bator, cited in S. Bock, I. Muth and H. Schwiesau (eds), DDR-Außenpolitik im Rückspiegel: Diplomaten im Gespräch (Münster, LIT Verlag, 2004), p. 111 (oiG). 58 See H. -G. and I. Schleicher, Special Flights to Southern Africa, for a more detailed overview of GDR aid to SWAPO. 59 SAPMO DY30-11568, internal memo of the central committee of the SED, Department for International Relations, 1989. 60 See U. van der Heyden, Die Afrikawissenschaften in der DDR: Eine akademische Disziplin zwischen Exotik und Exempel – Eine wissenschaftsgeschichtliche Untersuchung (Münster, LIT Verlag, 1999), p. 388. 61 J. Leskien, 'Schreiben über das nahe Fremde', in van der Heyden et al. (eds), Die DDR und Afrika, p. 280 (oiG). 62 S. Cavaliere and M. Hufty, Indigenous People, Biodiversity Conservation and Citizenship in Latin America: Strategic Discourses in a Transforming Public Space (unpublished paper, available online, Montreal, 2004). 63 UN General Assembly resolutions 28/3111 (1973) and 31/146 (1976). 64 Florin, 'Rede auf der 32: Tagung der Vollversammlung der Vereinten Nationen', p. 635 (oiG). 65 Wisotzki, Die Unterstützung der SWAPO of Namibia durch die DDR, p. 49. 68 Neues Deutschland, 9 October 1984 (oiG). 66 SWAPO Party Archive and Documentation Centre (hereafter SPARC), 02001488, protocol of a meeting between SWAPO national chairman Meroro and Johannes Pilz, 18 September 1986. 67 SPARC 02001667, letter from Hifikepunye Pohamba, SWAPO finance secretary, to Theo-Ben Gurirab, secretary of foreign affairs, 25 October 1988. 69 Interview with Hans-Georg Schleicher. 70 SPARC 02002863, letter from Peter Mweshihange, SWAPO secretary for international relations, to 'comrade Naholo', 13 September 1982. 71 Interview with Obed Emvula, SWAPO representative in East Berlin, Windhoek, 18 March 2008. 72 W. Ulbricht, 'Ansprache an den Diplomatischen Korps': Dokumente zur Außenpolitik der Regierung der Deutschen Demokratischen Politik, VIII (1961), p. 201. 73 Interview with Uwe Zeise, East German diplomat in Southern Africa, Windhoek, 17 March 2008. 74 Mader, Neokolonialistische Praktiken, p. 1 (oiG). 75 Die Welt, 11 December 1978 (oiG). 76 Interview with Hans-Georg Schleicher. 77 Mählert and Stefan, Blaue Hemden, p. 187 (oiG). 78 SAPMO DY34–11461, protest resolution of the VEG Cambs, date unknown. 79 Interview with Obed Emvula, 18 March 2008. 80 SAPMO DY30–11568, internal memos of the Department for International Relations, central committee of the SED, between 1980–1989. 81 Interview with Joachim Krause. 82 SPARC 02005665, SWAPO press release on the Namibian children in the Bellin boarding school, 1 December 1989. 83 'Solidarität ist die Zärtlichkeit der Völker'. 84 See Rüchel, 'Zwischen Paternalismus und Solidarität', p. 41. 85 Interview with Joachim Krause, 9 April 2008. 88 A. Schade, '"Solidarität hilft siegen!" Die DDR aus den Augen des ANC: Ein Perspektivwechsel als Beitrag zur innerdeutschen Geschichtsaufarbeitung' (Diploma thesis, Free University Berlin, 2004), p. 79f (oiG). 86 Interview with Obed Emvula, 18 March 2008. 87 Cited in R. Guadat and A. Ilal, 'Erfahrungen mosambikanischer Studenten in der DDR: Interviews', in Van der Heyden et al. (eds), Die DDR und Afrika II, p. 217 (oiG). 89 For a good introduction to the problem of racism and xenophobia in East Germany before and after reunification, see J. Behrends et al. (eds), Fremde und Fremd-Sein in der DDR: Zu historischen Ursachen der Fremdenfeindlichkeit in Ostdeutschland (Berlin, Metropol, 2003). 90 See E. Seidel-Pielen, 'Eigentlich existiere ich nicht mehr', Die Zeit, 35 (1995). 91 See Ferguson, The Anti-Politics Machine. 92 F. Schorlemmer, 'Vom Schlüsselwert der Solidarität, oder: "Vorwärts und niemals vergessen"', in H. -J. Döring and U. Rüchel, Freundschaftsbande und Beziehungskisten: Die Afrikapolitik der DDR und der BRD gegenüber Mosambik (Frankfurt, Brandes & Apsel, 2005), p. 23 (oiG).