Certificate, 1982
On February 24, 1979, the GDR and the People’s Republic of Mozambique signed the “Treaty on Friendship and Cooperation” in Maputo. Most contract workers came from South Vietnam and Mozambique to the GDR. The GDR leadership used the labor agreement to reduce debts. Adelino Massuvira João knows nothing about the debt repayment agreement when he is trained as an interpreter in Mozambique in 1980 and finally arrives at Berlin-Schönefeld Airport in December of that year. He was promised a spot in a study program during his application. However, that does not materialize, even though his travel documents label him as a “student.” With an interruption in 1982, Massuvira João works there until the end of the GDR, alternating between being a worker and an apprentice. Adelino Massuvira João’s work certificate shows only a low salary; retirement and social benefits from the GDR are excluded. 60 percent of the salary that exceeds 350 marks – as promised by the Mozambican state – goes into private savings accounts or is paid as a social contribution. In the end, the former contract workers face a rude awakening: their savings accounts hold only a small balance, and there are no pension entitlements from their time in Germany. Today, Adelino Massuvira João works as a social pedagogue and deacon in Suhl (Thuringia). Moreover, he fights for recognition of the injustice and compensation from the Federal Republic of Germany – as it is the legal successor of the GDR.
