On the question of whether or not she is a former Stalinist, digging cursorily, finding this from an article, in Dissent, https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/sahra-wagenknecht-divides-the-german-left/, I digged a little deeper, as I knew nothing about the Communist Platform (KPF), which is mentioned in this article from the Socialist Register, GERMANY'S PARTY OF DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM <https://socialistregister.com/index.php/srv/article/download/5646/2544/7542> by Eric Canepa. .
"Wagenknecht’s rise to political prominence follows the winding path of the German left since the end of the Cold War. She joined the governing Socialist Unity Party in East Germany at the age of nineteen. After the fall of that state, the Socialist Unity Party refashioned itself as the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS). As a university student, Wagenknecht was elected to the PDS’s national committee and joined its Marxist-Leninist faction, the Communist Platform." Via a hyperlink on the Wikipedia article on the KPF fraction in the PDS, an article in Der Spiegel, reflecting the opinions of Wagenknecht on the Berlin Wall, designed to keep the population of the GDR walled in, unable to emigrate . In a reunified Germany, she aligns with forces hostile to foreign immigrants, pushing those immigrants out. Gysi isolates Communist Platform Defeat for the Communist Platform around Sahra Wagenknecht: Under the clear influence of Gregor Gysi, the PDS federal executive board passed its statement on the building of the Wall and "regretted" the SED's injustice. However, they lacked the courage to completely distance themselves from the SED. By Holger Kulick 02.07.2001, 22:37 Berlin - The PDS board normally meets in public on Mondays, but this time it closed itself off like a school class taking their final exams. The topic of the joint final exam: How will the PDS react to the 40th anniversary of the building of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961? For four hours, it was only possible to watch through the window as the board members concentrated on three and a half pages of text, fixing line after line with their eyes and index fingers and occasionally haggling over words. At the end, a vote was taken and only one hand was raised against it: that of the spokesperson for the Communist Platform, Sahra Wagenknecht. She found the statement too undifferentiated, too opportunistic and ultimately a waste of time, but this left her isolated and she refused to withdraw from the committee. Main authors: Thomas Flierl and Gregor Gysi The attempt to make the declaration began in the autumn of 2000. In November, the newly elected party leader Gabi Zimmer commissioned the PDS Historical Commission to draw up a declaration on the building of the Wall, in order to present it publicly on July 2. However, since new elections in Berlin suddenly appeared and the PDS could potentially take power, additional public pressure was put on the reform socialists. Politicians from other parties and the media wanted to know how the party would apologize for the building of the Wall? A further statement was commissioned from the board, largely written by the former Berlin PDS councillor for construction, Thomas Flierl, in repeated consultation with Gregor Gysi, as SPIEGEL ONLINE learned. The board only received this statement on Monday so that it could not be talked to death beforehand. It does not contain the word apology, but instead expresses regret and remembrance for "those who died on the German-German border, those who were injured and those affected by reprisals, and their families". It also states in a blanket statement: "We regret the injustice committed by the SED, the political force responsible for this." More than an apology? The paper thus goes far beyond previous statements by the PDS and sets a milestone in the party's self-definition. The next party conference will not vote on the statement, but will discuss the future, said PDS managing director Dietmar Bartsch, who described the paper as "more far-reaching than an apology". "The inhumane border regime, the deaths at the Wall and the other western borders became the GDR's mark of Cain," the paper complains, and describes the building of the Wall as "proof cast in concrete of the inferiority of the Stalinist-influenced type of socialism". "No ideal or higher purpose" can "politically justify the injustice associated with the Wall". The constant peace policy of the CPSU and SED, referred to in the text as "international conflict containment", and the "maintenance of power by the SED leadership" came at the "expense of the freedom of the walled-in population of the GDR". The wall "solidified the Cold War, particularly internally" and became a "symbol of the democratic deficit in the GDR". However, a state that locks up its people is "neither democratic nor socialist". Because every person "only has one life and must be able to decide for themselves where he or she spends it", demands the declaration, a choice of words by Gregor Gysi. Mandatory insight? Therefore, "the attempt to save the GDR by building the Wall" cannot be justified for "democratic socialists". The fight for a life of human dignity "can only be conducted in freedom and human dignity, or it will die out". The sentences, which are largely written with great conviction, are followed by a rather contrived conclusion. With this, the PDS has "irrevocably freed itself from the Stalinism of the SED", it is stated, as if such an insight could be decreed from above. There was a lot of debate about this sentence and the headline. Should it say that the PDS has irrevocably distanced itself "from the SED", from "the totalitarian policies of the SED" or "from the Stalinism of the SED"? These were the alternatives. The slogan-like line "The PDS has irrevocably freed itself from the Stalinism of the SED" was the result - so as not to discredit the entire policy of the SED from the PDS's point of view. PDS statement (2nd part)Only two voted for a proper apology For the PDS executive committee, the declaration of the building of the Wall is "more than an apology". Only Helmut Holter wanted to express this more clearly. And the losers are meanwhile talking about a test of strength. The former PDS leader of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Helmut Holter, sparked another argument. He suggested that the sentence "We apologize to those who suffered in East and West" be included in the statement, but only received one additional vote. However, he did not appear dejected. For him, the statement that was adopted, which had surprised him in a positive way, already covered what he wanted to say, Holter emphasized to SPIEGEL ONLINE, because even more important than an apology were the lessons that were drawn from the failure of the SED and this was "formulated thoroughly enough." Angry PDS honorary chairman The PDS honorary chairman, Hans Modrow, expressed his anger. During the meeting, he jumped to Sahra Wagenknecht's side and protested against the image of being "walled in in the GDR". The history of the GDR was too complex for that, and he hoped that in order to clarify their shared responsibility, the major powers Russia and the USA would soon "reveal their part in the history of the building of the wall", which was currently blamed solely on the GDR. Resignations and entries due to the declaration Then the last Prime Minister of the GDR disappeared angrily while the PDS executive board went into the hall to vote. There was no need to fear a split, explained party chairwoman Gabi Zimmer and her managing director Dietmar Bartsch to the press afterwards, because this was a "declaration written from within", i.e. the final proof of an internal change in the party. Although there were already resignations because of the declaration, "but also new members", she qualified, and rejected what the frustrated Sahra Wagenknecht was saying into several microphones outside the door: "Now there is a danger of the party being torn apart". Party prepares for trouble As a precaution, the members of the PDS's Historical Commission have traveled throughout the aging base in recent weeks or prepared the ground at conferences with the lesson that politics also requires an insight into new historical perspectives. And new historians: 10 new members were appointed to the PDS's 21-member Historical Commission on Monday at Zimmer's behest. In addition, the man behind the declaration will certainly know how to prevent disaster, just as he has played a decisive role in determining the PDS's course both in front of and behind the scenes for 11 years: Gregor Gysi, the top candidate of the PDS-Berlin and his party's eternal tutor. Echo as predicted Meanwhile, the SPD and CDU reacted as expected. SPD General Secretary Franz Müntefering praised the PDS statement as a "clear" distancing in "clear" words, while CDU Chairwoman Angela Merkel said: "Of course that is not enough." Berlin's election campaign has finally begun and there is no sign of a more objective approach, even with the PDS's new self-cleansing. Michael Pugliese -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. 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