Were children systematically removed from their parents in East Germany for political reasons? A research consortium funded by the Federal Ministry of the Interior has presented new findings on one of the most sensitive questions in coming to terms with the GDR past: The results show how profound these interventions were and what historical consequences they had for affected families between 1945 and 1989.
The results were developed in a three-year study led by the German Institute for Residential Care Research (DIH), in collaboration with partners from the Universities of Düsseldorf, Mainz, and Leipzig, and the Medical School Berlin. The Federal Ministry of the Interior supported the project with approximately one million euros.
The study investigated how the East German state, under the pretext of alleged social or economic "ills," massively intervened in families. Parents and children were separated, often with consequences that continue to affect those involved to this day. The study clearly classifies this practice of East German youth welfare as part of the systemic injustices of the SED dictatorship.
Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt: “Injustice must be clearly recognized and named. Even decades after the end of the SED dictatorship, there are still blind spots. The careful investigation of politically motivated adoptions in the GDR closes an important gap.”
The issue of forced adoptions in East Germany has been discussed since the 1970s . It gained renewed attention in 2018 following a petition from those affected. Subsequently, the German Bundestag, with cross-party support, decided to commission a scholarly investigation and tasked the Federal Ministry of the Interior with the research project.