Gentlemen,
Earlier this year I bought a Ehrenkreuz fur Freiwillige Krankenpflege 1914/1915. This cross was accompanied by some family papers covering the period from the 1880s until 1947. The 1947 document is of interest to collectors of DDR memorabilia as it relates to the period shortly after the war. The text, in German and English, is below along with some other pertinent documentation. I have one question that I can not answer about this document. How was it enforced?
Regards,
Gordon
Block der antifaschisch-demokratischen partien
Ortsteil Dresden-Loschwitz, Grundstrasse 3
Unbedenklichkeitsbescheinigung
Es wird bescheinigt, dass Frl. Maria – Ingeborg Melms, geborn 3. 7. 1925, wohnhaft Dresden – Loschwitz, Leonhardistrasse 3, laut eidesstattlicher Erklärung nicht Mitglied der NSDAP, oder deren Gliederungen gewesen ist u. auch kleine Funktionen ausgeübt hat. Da uns Gegenteiliges nicht bekannt ist, erklären wir sie für politisch unbedenklich. Diese Bescheinigung dient zur Erlangung eines 14 Tage
Interzonenpasses
SED LDPD CDUD FDGB
Block of anti-fascist democratic parties
District Dresden-Loschwitz, Grundstrasse 3
clearance certificate
It is certified that Miss Maria - Ingeborg Melms, born 3. 7. 1925, living Dresden - Loschwitz, Leonhardistrasse 3, according to sworn statement not member of the NSDAP, or their divisions has been u. has also exercised small functions. Since we are not aware of the contrary, we declare it politically harmless. This certificate is for obtaining a 14 days
Interzone passport
SED LDPD CDUD FDGB
Bloc party (politics)
A bloc party (German: Blockpartei) in politics may refer to a political party that is a constituent member of an electoral bloc. However, this term also has a more specific meaning, referring to non-ruling but legal political parties in an authoritarian or totalitarian regime (most notably Communist regimes) as auxiliary parties and members of a ruling coalition, differing such governments from a pure one-party state, although such parties are not considered opposition parties or alternative sources of power. Sometimes, bloc party is called a satellite party.
Background
The concept has its roots in the Popular front idea where Marxist and non-Marxist political parties and other organizations would belong in an umbrella organization. Following the end of World War II, elections were held in areas already under Soviet influence who would become members of the Eastern Bloc, while giving voters choice, would be seen as a step towards a totalitarian, Communist-led regime. Bloc parties were able to retain their non-Marxist orientation, but in practice were always subordinate to the ruling Communist party, and all legal parties and civic organizations were required to be members of the official coalition. Elections were not competitive as the composition of legislatures was generally pre-determined. Parties only occasionally dissented from the line of the ruling party. Some parties were pre-existing, others had been newly formed, to appeal to specific sectors of society. However, during the fall of Communism, many hitherto subordinate bloc parties would begin to assert their independence and play a role in the democratization process, while others would be unable to continue functioning either due to a loss of guaranteed yet artificial representation (granted to them by the ruling Communist Party), or due to the stigma of being associated with subservience to the Communists, and would either dissolve or fade into obscurity.
Bloc parties under Communist regimes
East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Bulgaria operated bloc party systems where non-Marxist parties were constituent members of an official coalition. A similar system operates in China today.
East Germany
In the German Democratic Republic, the National Front was the umbrella organization which included the ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany, other political parties and various non-party organizations. Along similar lines to the formation of parties in West Germany, new parties in the Soviet zone (that would become the German Democratic Republic) were formed to replace the parties of the pre-Nazi period, whereas the Social Democratic Party of Germany and Communist Party of Germany merged to form the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. These parties were the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Liberal Democratic Party of Germany (LDPD), and later the National Democratic Party of Germany (NDPD) and Democratic Farmers' Party of Germany (DBD).
As the Communists consolidated their power, the bloc parties all jettisoned their original programs. All of them nominally embraced "socialism", becoming loyal partners of the SED. With few exceptions, they voted unanimously for all government proposals. One of the few notable dissension of a bloc party occurred in 1972 when members of the CDU in the Volkskammer took a stand against the legalization of abortion, with the party's deputies either voting against the law or abstaining.
During Die Wende the bloc parties began to assert themselves and emerge as independent parties, leading to the first and only free election to the Volkskammer in 1990. During the process of German reunification, the bloc parties merged into their western counterparts. Non-party organizations such as the Free German Youth, Kulturbund and the Democratic Women's League of Germany broke their formal affiliation with the former ruling party and continue as separate organizations today.
.
Earlier this year I bought a Ehrenkreuz fur Freiwillige Krankenpflege 1914/1915. This cross was accompanied by some family papers covering the period from the 1880s until 1947. The 1947 document is of interest to collectors of DDR memorabilia as it relates to the period shortly after the war. The text, in German and English, is below along with some other pertinent documentation. I have one question that I can not answer about this document. How was it enforced?
Regards,
Gordon
Block der antifaschisch-demokratischen partien
Ortsteil Dresden-Loschwitz, Grundstrasse 3
Unbedenklichkeitsbescheinigung
Es wird bescheinigt, dass Frl. Maria – Ingeborg Melms, geborn 3. 7. 1925, wohnhaft Dresden – Loschwitz, Leonhardistrasse 3, laut eidesstattlicher Erklärung nicht Mitglied der NSDAP, oder deren Gliederungen gewesen ist u. auch kleine Funktionen ausgeübt hat. Da uns Gegenteiliges nicht bekannt ist, erklären wir sie für politisch unbedenklich. Diese Bescheinigung dient zur Erlangung eines 14 Tage
Interzonenpasses
SED LDPD CDUD FDGB
Block of anti-fascist democratic parties
District Dresden-Loschwitz, Grundstrasse 3
clearance certificate
It is certified that Miss Maria - Ingeborg Melms, born 3. 7. 1925, living Dresden - Loschwitz, Leonhardistrasse 3, according to sworn statement not member of the NSDAP, or their divisions has been u. has also exercised small functions. Since we are not aware of the contrary, we declare it politically harmless. This certificate is for obtaining a 14 days
Interzone passport
SED LDPD CDUD FDGB
Bloc party (politics)
A bloc party (German: Blockpartei) in politics may refer to a political party that is a constituent member of an electoral bloc. However, this term also has a more specific meaning, referring to non-ruling but legal political parties in an authoritarian or totalitarian regime (most notably Communist regimes) as auxiliary parties and members of a ruling coalition, differing such governments from a pure one-party state, although such parties are not considered opposition parties or alternative sources of power. Sometimes, bloc party is called a satellite party.
Background
The concept has its roots in the Popular front idea where Marxist and non-Marxist political parties and other organizations would belong in an umbrella organization. Following the end of World War II, elections were held in areas already under Soviet influence who would become members of the Eastern Bloc, while giving voters choice, would be seen as a step towards a totalitarian, Communist-led regime. Bloc parties were able to retain their non-Marxist orientation, but in practice were always subordinate to the ruling Communist party, and all legal parties and civic organizations were required to be members of the official coalition. Elections were not competitive as the composition of legislatures was generally pre-determined. Parties only occasionally dissented from the line of the ruling party. Some parties were pre-existing, others had been newly formed, to appeal to specific sectors of society. However, during the fall of Communism, many hitherto subordinate bloc parties would begin to assert their independence and play a role in the democratization process, while others would be unable to continue functioning either due to a loss of guaranteed yet artificial representation (granted to them by the ruling Communist Party), or due to the stigma of being associated with subservience to the Communists, and would either dissolve or fade into obscurity.
Bloc parties under Communist regimes
East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Bulgaria operated bloc party systems where non-Marxist parties were constituent members of an official coalition. A similar system operates in China today.
East Germany
In the German Democratic Republic, the National Front was the umbrella organization which included the ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany, other political parties and various non-party organizations. Along similar lines to the formation of parties in West Germany, new parties in the Soviet zone (that would become the German Democratic Republic) were formed to replace the parties of the pre-Nazi period, whereas the Social Democratic Party of Germany and Communist Party of Germany merged to form the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. These parties were the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Liberal Democratic Party of Germany (LDPD), and later the National Democratic Party of Germany (NDPD) and Democratic Farmers' Party of Germany (DBD).
As the Communists consolidated their power, the bloc parties all jettisoned their original programs. All of them nominally embraced "socialism", becoming loyal partners of the SED. With few exceptions, they voted unanimously for all government proposals. One of the few notable dissension of a bloc party occurred in 1972 when members of the CDU in the Volkskammer took a stand against the legalization of abortion, with the party's deputies either voting against the law or abstaining.
During Die Wende the bloc parties began to assert themselves and emerge as independent parties, leading to the first and only free election to the Volkskammer in 1990. During the process of German reunification, the bloc parties merged into their western counterparts. Non-party organizations such as the Free German Youth, Kulturbund and the Democratic Women's League of Germany broke their formal affiliation with the former ruling party and continue as separate organizations today.
.
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