EXILE GDR

On September 11th 1973 Chilean president Salvador Allende was removed from power by a military coup led by Augusto Pinochet, who unleashed an era of unrestrained terror onto Chile. Many Unidad Popular supporters fled abroad. Amongst many other countries, the GDR offered asylum to the persecuted Chileans. The refugees arrived in a perfectly organized exile: new apartments, work, education, security – but also state control and regulations. One day they were supposed to return home well prepared and continue on their interrupted path to socialism. But until then they were expected to integrate into GDR life in a disciplined way. Erich Honecker proverbially referred to the Chilean cause as a „matter of the heart“. After all, his daughter Sonja was married to a Chilean. But to reduce his dedication to the cause only to that would be too simple and would not justify or explain the dimension of his involvement. Political interests and international recognition was part of his motivation without a doubt, but to deny Honecker and his comrades any humanitarian motives, as modern history often does, is just as wrong as unreflective nostalgia. Honecker’s Chileans were not the most comfortable fellow citizens. At least not in a way the comrades would have liked them to be. The Chileans did not think the society they experienced was something worth striving for. But they will never forget what they owe the GDR. For them, offering asylum to Honecker in Chile was a natural gesture – one that many others do not understand until today.