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Political Anti-Fascism in the German Democratic Republic

In 1961 the East German writer, Hedda Zinner, wrote a stage play, Ravensbriicker Ballade (the 'Ballad of Ravensbrick').' This anti-fascist play was a homage to the approximately 132,000 female prisoners who were interned in this concentration camp and the more than 70 outer camps during the second world war.2 It is based on fact and tells of the rescue of the prisoner, Wera. The remarkable feature of this play is that the situation in Ravensbriick concentration camp is described in a very realistic way. For example, it tells of the tension between the so-called 'criminal' and 'political' prisoners. The play was praised in East Germany not only by the media, but also by the general public. Maybe the painful recognition of many survivors was a reason for this appreciation. In connection with the fortieth anniversary of the capitulation of the Third Reich, a version of Ravensbriicker Ballade was prepared for East German television in 1985. Suddenly, however, orders were issued from political superiors to stop the production. What had happened since its first performance in 1961 to justify the play's suppression? It became evident that Otto Funke, chairman of the East German 'Committee of anti-fascist resistance fighters', had used his influence to stop the TV production. Funke argued that the role of the 'nonpolitical' and 'anti-social' prisoners was over-emphasized. According to Funke, the play also gave too much prominence to the fact that a political prisoner collapsed under pressure from the SS and committed treason, while an 'anti-social' prisoner behaved heroically. Finally, he claimed that the SS was presented in too broad a light. Hedda Zinner argued in vain that she had researched very thoroughly, and that hero-worship was the worst enemy of the heroic. Her protest, however, appeared to be of no use, and the suppression of the play was upheld. This censorship in 1985 of an anti-fascist stage play that had been praised in 1961