Million euro aid fund for gdr home children
The federal government and the eastern german states are organizing the 1. July launches 40 million euro fund to pay for therapeutic treatment, counseling, and pension replacement benefits. A monthly cash payment is not planned for the time being, said the parliamentary secretary of state in the federal family ministry, hermann kues (CDU), in berlin on monday.
The reappraisal of GDR home education has shown that violence and coercion were part of everyday life for many infants, children and adolescents. For this suffering, the former home children could never be compensated. "The missed opportunities in life cannot be undone materially."The fund, which is set up for five years, should rather be seen as a request for apology, emphasized mecklenburg-vorpommern’s social minister manuela schwesig (SPD).
The money is intended to help the victims alleviate the consequences of their childhood suffering. According to the data, between 1949 and 1990 there were more than 400,000 children in the homes and youth workshops of the GDR. The federal government and the eastern german states each want to fill half of the aid pot. A 120-million-euro fund has already been set up for former children from west german homes.
The report on the reappraisal of home education in east germany contains "shocking descriptions of conditions that are only rudimentarily known," said kues. The re-education to the socialist ideal man was humiliating. "The failure of the GDR system cannot be reduced to the stasi alone."
According to thuringia’s social affairs minister heike taubert (SPD), it is not yet clear how many former children in care will benefit from the fund. "Each person affected must decide for themselves whether to contact us," she said.
