Objekt des Monats
Jedes Objekt in der Sammlung des Deutschen Auswandererhauses erzählt eine ganz persönliche Auswanderungs- oder Einwanderungsgeschichte. In dieser Rubrik stellen wir Ihnen jeden Monat ein anderes Objekt vor – eine Fotografie, ein Dokument oder ein persönliches Erinnerungsstück.
October 2022
Suitcase, approx. 1940
(c) Collection Deutsches Auswandererhaus, donation Siegmar Schulze
Historical Context
Between the founding of the GDR in 1949 and the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, between 2.5 and 3 million people fled from there to the FRG. Officially, only those were considered refugees who faced a „threat to life and limb“ according to the German emergency reception law of August 22, 1950.
Short Biography
In 1954, also the farmer and railway worker Gerhard Schulze from Harsleben near Halberstadt (now Saxony-Anhalt) left due to fear of a „threat to life and limb“. Although Schulze held a prominent position within the local LPG (Agricultural Production Cooperative), he used it to advocate against the loss of property for small farmers – and thus against the state-driven collectivization of agricultural land. Apparently, these efforts led to attempts to arrest him. The village policeman warned Schulze of his imminent arrest, which allowed him to flee to Berlin in time. After the first escape attempt to West Berlin failed, Schulze returned to the Harz region. There, with the help of local farmers who appreciated his efforts in the LPG, he managed to cross the border. However, his position in the LPG made him suspicious to the FRG, which is why he was repeatedly interrogated and spent a short time in a Hessian prison.
His wife Ella and their two small children initially stayed behind and were subjected to the harassment of the East German authorities from that moment on. Ella Schulze was incessantly questioned about her husband’s whereabouts. To increase the pressure on her, their seven-year-old son Siegmar was taken to a children’s home near Magdeburg. For several weeks, the family had no idea where the boy was. Humiliations and beatings were part of Siegmar’s daily life in the home. Through the efforts of his uncle Erwin Schulze and the mayor of Harsleben, the boy was eventually able to return to his mother and sister.
(c) Collection Deutsches Auswandererhaus, Donation Siegmar Schulze
Significance of the object
It wasn’t until April 1955 that Ella Schulze received news regarding her husband’s whereabouts, who had meanwhile found work in Hesse. Thanks to a wedding invitation, she was granted permission to travel to the Federal Republic of Germany in October 1955 – however, this permission was only for her, not for the two children. Within the Harsleben village community, several people then advocated for the children to be allowed to accompany Ella Schulze to the Federal Republic of Germany. The family couldn’t take much with them – officially they were only visiting West Germany. The main means of transport for their few belongings was the suitcase, originally made for Ella Schulze’s father. Siegmar Schulze still remembers well the train journey: the train compartment was too small for the number of travelers, so the family’s suitcase was also used as a seat.
The emigration marked the end of the state’s harassment for Ella Schulze, but also the farewell to her parents, who remained in the GDR. Her mother passed away just a few years later, without having seen her daughter or her family again.
After arriving in the Federal Republic of Germany, the suitcase moved with the family several times – finally together with 19-year-old Siegmar to Bremerhaven, where he met his future wife and still lives today. For Siegmar Schulze, the suitcase is still strongly connected to his departure from the GDR.
Do You Also Have …
… a story of emigration or immigration in your family that you would like to share with the German Emigration Center together with the related objects and documents for its collection? Then please contact Dr. Tanja Fittkau by phone at +49 471 / 90 22 0 – 0
or by e-mail at: t.fittkau@dah-bremerhaven.de