Sorry dani, there was no glory in DDR. We all lived in a manner that you would not accept. Most of footsge in this video is of government made films which aimed to show how happy life was in my country. But no, it was not. After the wall ended we became free. I can only tell you how happy we now are. Be thankful if you were born and live in free country. My first 30 years were not free nor happy in DDR
@@williamberlin6540 Free to become Homeless and Unemployed and choose between 10 different brands of the same cornflakes. Free to fear the Tomorrow and to be subjected by constant capitalist crisis and undemocratic Workplaces. Oh how wonderful these flowering Landscapes are...
@@TheySchlendrian and in DDR times we would answer by saying "what is corn flakes?" We had no food most of the time. Shelves always empty. Now there is nothing but good times and prosperity for all who work hard. Lazy bums still think socialism is good thing LOL
There is something that I want to comment, I am from Mexico, and I always saw Christmas specials in American cartoons. In some way I was a little bit jaleous, because in American cartoons the kids always had gifts at the end of the day. My family was not specially rich so naturally they weren't able to buy me a lot of toys and also I have two brothers, we often shared our clothes and gifts. However, when I look back to those memories, I think the memories that I made with my family members have more value than any material gift. I don't want to romanticize poverty, of course not, but I think that the consumist approach that festivities have nowadays is not necessary.
It’s so sad how the American consumerist view has been spread across the world now. Gifts get lost and you grow out of clothes, family and memories are forever. You appreciate more in life
I think that's a really good point about how capitalism has corrupted Christmas. If I recall there've been studies that show because of financial issues Christmas is actually a very stressful and unhappy time for a majority of Americans, and I hate how the holiday is used by companies to assault consumers with endless advertisements. I have my critiques of how a few socialist countries like the USSR handled religion, but overall I think socialism has been better for culture than capitalism.
Absolutely, the constant drive to show how much you love people by consuming rather than, you know, actually being with them? Socialism restores it to what it should be. We certainly should learn the mistakes of the past on religion and I reckon because society tends to be more secular now, such massive anti religious sentiment may not be so prevalent in future
@Sebastian Guevara I would love to but they don't take immigrants. Or at least China and the DPRK don't. Thanks for the reply but your personal opinion doesn't really affect me.
@Sebastian Guevara also ads are literally everywhere. You can't avoid them. And I recall a study said that most Americans find the holidays stressful, but it's been a while so if there's been a study that says otherwise feel free to share.
@Sebastian Guevara They technically do but it's so hard to pass the test that it's not really practical to shoot for. There are even people with jobs in China who live there for years and marry locals and can't get it.
@Sebastian Guevara You're pretty funny. You can google any person who's tried to get Chinese citizenship they'll tell you it's basically impossible, as will most articles on the subject.
Honestly the DDR seems to have actually materialized the "ideal Christmas" that gets pushed here in the States, actually focusing on family, community service and relaxing instead of mindlessly consuming, Happy Christmas to all the comrades out there!
@@SocialistSwann I used to live in a small city/town in Sachsen then moved to Hamburg and the atmosphere of the Weihnachtmarkts is vastly different. So when my dad said Christmas in vietnam is just a market tactic I said it's obivious, we learn that practice from America and the Americans commodified christmas ever since Coca Cola decided how Santa Claus should look like. Also because we are not a christian country. Aside from the Chistian community, nobody will take it seriously.
You're straight yet you keep finding great gay communist podcasts? First I learned about Twink Rev, and now Hawkless Talks! Thanks so much for the resources comrade, and happy holidays!
I must be some kind of magnet for it?? Gotta be an ally though and spread the word about the great work they’re doing, glad you like them! Take care mate and all the best to you and yours :)
Fascist guy I was working with: "Why do you celebrate Christmas if you are a communist and you don't believe in god?" Me: "I don't believe in god, but I believe in humanity, christmas is a celebration of love and friendship"
Happy holidays comrade! Really appreciated your stuff this year and have showed it to many local comrades here in Australia who've become inspired into researching the GDR more thoroughly for our purposes. Hope you all have a fantastic Christmas comrades 🎄☃️❤️
Merry Christmas and all the best to you and your comrades! So glad these little videos have sparked an interest in more research, proper made me day that lol
Thank you comrade! Just that story about the girl from Dresden really made me smile :) merry Christmas to you and yours! All the best for the new year too
„The marxists want to destroy culture“- no, actually not. We emphasize the sides of culture which are humane, friendly, peaceful and generally good. Is this so bad? Happy christmas everyone.
Your videos always make me want to reconnect with my German relatives and ask them about their experiences in DDR/FRG... anyways, good video and Merry Christmas comrade :D 🎄!
It’s a great book! Definitely recommend The People’s State’ by Mary Fulbrook, explores all aspects of the GDR’s society and is well written for an academic book. Also ‘Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism’ and ‘The Triumph of Evil’ :)
Stasiland by Anna Funder is accurate and I can relate to much of what is described that I lived through. Other books by those of us who lived in the DDR are in German if you can read?
I discovered your channel today with your video about work in the GDR, it was really interesting!! Thank you for your work comrade its always nice to see content from the left. Have a good day and merry christmas comrade! From a canadian marxist!
Thank you for your fantastic content and research on the intriguing topic of the GDR and the advances and failures both of previous socialist comrades.
Tbh I’ve found all my footage through RUclips. I’m sure there’s ways to access more and better footage through archives but I’m not sure how to gain access to them sadly. I’ll see if I can work anything out through my uni :)
I think it’s really funny how the right talks about the war on Christmas but the only real historical war on Christmas has come from Protestant fundamentalists, like my cousins live in a town in New England where there are still laws technically on the books that ban Christmas celebrations.
Literally! We always got taught here how Cromwell and the Puritans literally banned Christmas across England. Maybe it’s the hyper religious who are waging the war rather than us just trying to enjoy a little family time lol
Have a Red Xmas, comrades Also, on another note, any possibility of doing a video on urban planning in the GDR? I love looking at the old Karl Marx Allee in Berlin and thinking of how the socialist city was designed
Merry Christmas comrade! Yeah I reckon that’d be an interesting video. Was going to talk about socialist new towns in the one about transport. Theme it around why you didn’t really need a car in the GDR because of transport and the way cities were designed
So I got the subtitles on at 0.13, which read "Assures me that the nazi island folks anime will be valiantly waged in the war". lmao. Pretty sure that's not what was said, but I can't quite catch what was
Hahaha actually laughing at that. I didn’t say that 😂 said “the Nationale Volksarmee will be valiantly waging the war...” guess the CC can’t handle German :(
These places didn’t celebrate actual “Christmas” but rather they celebrated New Years and made that the reason for the festivities. They even made Karl Marx into A Santa Claus.
You wouldn’t have been free to freely broadcast an equivalent work on capitalism or any other free market concept. They were quick to censor such things and if you did manage to get it out there, then you’d pay for it by being blacklisted from all desirable jobs and never allowed to serve in government or enter a university.
O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum, wie treu sind deine Blätter! While I'm personally to young to have lived in GDR, I have heard many beutiful Stories like in the Video here. My Oma used to make wonderful Wreaths with just a bit of Wire, Toilet Paper and some Christmas Tree Twigs. For the Christmas Tree itself they had some very pretty Christmas Decorations, like Balls made of Plastic Strings, half sided ones with really nice Ornaments inside etc., some of wich we use to this Day. Here's some Pics if youre curious: www.google.com/search?q=ddr+weihnachtsschmuck&rlz=1C1CHBF_deDE740DE740&sxsrf=ALeKk03y78pGsLY_U-lqX8f6F50PDLTD0Q:1608885135803&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi2xoOY3OjtAhVFyaQKHX5MD9cQ_AUoAXoECBEQAw&biw=1280&bih=553 And ofc. it was a Tradition to watch Aschenbrödel (Cinderella), for many more in fact, I used to work at a Old Age Home the wonderful Melody of the Movie used to play all Day on Christmas Eve. Wish you all frohe Weihnachten und Feiertage!
Thanks for sharing the stories, nice to hear some traditions still live on :) Hope you and yours and a brilliant Christmas comrade! Keep up the good fight
As much as I am not a fan of capitalism in the sense it forces society to be avid consumers driven only by the next shiny thing.... in the west just as the east you did not have to participate. You could celebrate how ever you wished. Or not at all.
If it was all so marvellous, why did they need a wall? Why weren't there queues of cars backing up at Helmstedt demanding entry and refuge in this anti-fascist socialist paradise? I am not being facetious. I appreciate your videos and I agree that the DDR system had strengths and is worthy of impartial reassessment. As you rightly point out, in its early history the DDR was ahead of many Western countries in living standards and industrial development. But why did they need to keep their own population as prisoners? The wall was built early on in the life of the DDR. Don't you think you have slipped into the trap of relying on official narratives of the DDR for your history rather than looking at things a bit more objectively?
The wall was built as an anti-fascist defense measure to prevent West Berlin from invading the East as quickly and also to stop the "brain drain" phenemonon. Whereupon the GDR would train professionals at its own expense and the FRG would literally bribe them to go across. This was explained by the GDR itself in 1962. Socialist Swan has a video getting into more details regarding it on his channel.
Why would one want to have to rely on the government to give you your home, food, job, transportation, and most everything instead of being free to do these things for yourself?
If you can, please do support me on patreon, it really does go a long way! www.patreon.com/SocialistSwann
Frohe Weihnachten genossen! 🎄🚩.
Take care
Dear santa
I've been a really good girl this year, my one Christmas wish is for you to restore the glory of DDR. Thank you
-Dani
Feel like pure shit, just want her back 😓
Sorry dani, there was no glory in DDR. We all lived in a manner that you would not accept. Most of footsge in this video is of government made films which aimed to show how happy life was in my country. But no, it was not. After the wall ended we became free. I can only tell you how happy we now are. Be thankful if you were born and live in free country. My first 30 years were not free nor happy in DDR
@@williamberlin6540 large parts of the footage are from British visitors lol
@@williamberlin6540 Free to become Homeless and Unemployed and choose between 10 different brands of the same cornflakes. Free to fear the Tomorrow and to be subjected by constant capitalist crisis and undemocratic Workplaces. Oh how wonderful these flowering Landscapes are...
@@TheySchlendrian and in DDR times we would answer by saying "what is corn flakes?" We had no food most of the time. Shelves always empty. Now there is nothing but good times and prosperity for all who work hard. Lazy bums still think socialism is good thing LOL
There is something that I want to comment, I am from Mexico, and I always saw Christmas specials in American cartoons. In some way I was a little bit jaleous, because in American cartoons the kids always had gifts at the end of the day. My family was not specially rich so naturally they weren't able to buy me a lot of toys and also I have two brothers, we often shared our clothes and gifts. However, when I look back to those memories, I think the memories that I made with my family members have more value than any material gift. I don't want to romanticize poverty, of course not, but I think that the consumist approach that festivities have nowadays is not necessary.
It’s so sad how the American consumerist view has been spread across the world now. Gifts get lost and you grow out of clothes, family and memories are forever. You appreciate more in life
@@SocialistSwann exactly :)
This was extremely wholesome to be honest, and surprising too, seeing as I didn't know the GDR celebrated Christmas.
Thank you, honestly thought the story about that Dresden girl’s Christmas was just too cute to miss out :)
I think that's a really good point about how capitalism has corrupted Christmas. If I recall there've been studies that show because of financial issues Christmas is actually a very stressful and unhappy time for a majority of Americans, and I hate how the holiday is used by companies to assault consumers with endless advertisements. I have my critiques of how a few socialist countries like the USSR handled religion, but overall I think socialism has been better for culture than capitalism.
Absolutely, the constant drive to show how much you love people by consuming rather than, you know, actually being with them? Socialism restores it to what it should be. We certainly should learn the mistakes of the past on religion and I reckon because society tends to be more secular now, such massive anti religious sentiment may not be so prevalent in future
@Sebastian Guevara I would love to but they don't take immigrants. Or at least China and the DPRK don't. Thanks for the reply but your personal opinion doesn't really affect me.
@Sebastian Guevara also ads are literally everywhere. You can't avoid them. And I recall a study said that most Americans find the holidays stressful, but it's been a while so if there's been a study that says otherwise feel free to share.
@Sebastian Guevara They technically do but it's so hard to pass the test that it's not really practical to shoot for. There are even people with jobs in China who live there for years and marry locals and can't get it.
@Sebastian Guevara You're pretty funny. You can google any person who's tried to get Chinese citizenship they'll tell you it's basically impossible, as will most articles on the subject.
Merry Christmas comrade Swann. Ty so much for the great content and shout out.
No worries mate! Take care and merry Christmas to you and yours!
Honestly the DDR seems to have actually materialized the "ideal Christmas" that gets pushed here in the States, actually focusing on family, community service and relaxing instead of mindlessly consuming,
Happy Christmas to all the comrades out there!
Exactly my thoughts! Merry Christmas comrade!
@@SocialistSwann I used to live in a small city/town in Sachsen then moved to Hamburg and the atmosphere of the Weihnachtmarkts is vastly different. So when my dad said Christmas in vietnam is just a market tactic I said it's obivious, we learn that practice from America and the Americans commodified christmas ever since Coca Cola decided how Santa Claus should look like. Also because we are not a christian country. Aside from the Chistian community, nobody will take it seriously.
You're straight yet you keep finding great gay communist podcasts? First I learned about Twink Rev, and now Hawkless Talks! Thanks so much for the resources comrade, and happy holidays!
I must be some kind of magnet for it?? Gotta be an ally though and spread the word about the great work they’re doing, glad you like them!
Take care mate and all the best to you and yours :)
Fascist guy I was working with: "Why do you celebrate Christmas if you are a communist and you don't believe in god?"
Me: "I don't believe in god, but I believe in humanity, christmas is a celebration of love and friendship"
Exactly this! There is so much more to the season that praising a magic man and the profit motive
@@SocialistSwann you are so right, comrade
He’s probably not the nicest guy to be around.
@@pierreproudhon9008 no, he is not
Woah Socialist Swann upload, it seems like Santa’s come early this year. Merry Christmas everyone!
My gift to you! All the best mate to you and yours this year :)
I loved this and I love your content, I’ve had many thrilling conversations about this channel with my Commie friends.
Haha thank you comrade! Glad you’re liking the channel 😁
Happy holidays comrade! Really appreciated your stuff this year and have showed it to many local comrades here in Australia who've become inspired into researching the GDR more thoroughly for our purposes.
Hope you all have a fantastic Christmas comrades 🎄☃️❤️
Merry Christmas and all the best to you and your comrades!
So glad these little videos have sparked an interest in more research, proper made me day that lol
Merry Christmas comrades
Frohe Weihnachten Genosse!
You too comrade ♥
So wholesome! Merry Christmas Swann! This was such a lovely video. I'll be sure to check out the other comrades you recommended!
Thank you comrade! Just that story about the girl from Dresden really made me smile :) merry Christmas to you and yours! All the best for the new year too
Happy holidays, Socialist Swann! Keep up the good work
Take care mate, wishing you and yours well this year!
„The marxists want to destroy culture“-
no, actually not. We emphasize the sides of culture which are humane, friendly, peaceful and generally good.
Is this so bad?
Happy christmas everyone.
Absolutely right, merry Christmas comrade :)
Your videos always make me want to reconnect with my German relatives and ask them about their experiences in DDR/FRG... anyways, good video and Merry Christmas comrade :D 🎄!
Could be some interesting conversations there. Merry Christmas comrade! All the best :)
Great video comrade! Happy holidays 🎉
Thank you! Happy holidays to you and yours :)
Merry Christmas Comrades! Comrade Hoenecker will give you a socialist gift if you've been a good comrade
Is it ironic that Honecker ran away to Capitalist Chile?
i simply get so excited when swann posts 🥰
Consider it my gift for the season 😅
Thank you comrade from Tn. in the US. Stay safe and please continue the excellent work. Subscribed to all the comrade's channels you suggested.
Thank you comrade :) take care and have a great Christmas!
Great job as always! Thank you for making this.
Cheers comrade! I read the stories and they were just too wholesome not to share lol
Do you have any book recommendations on the GDR? I bought the one Hakim recommended ‘Stasi state or socialist paradise’ can’t wait to read it
It’s a great book! Definitely recommend The People’s State’ by Mary Fulbrook, explores all aspects of the GDR’s society and is well written for an academic book. Also ‘Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism’ and ‘The Triumph of Evil’ :)
@@SocialistSwann Thanks! I’m definitely checking them 👍
Stasiland by Anna Funder is accurate and I can relate to much of what is described that I lived through. Other books by those of us who lived in the DDR are in German if you can read?
Merry christmas comrade
Merry Christmas! All the best comrade :)
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas mate! Take care :)
I discovered your channel today with your video about work in the GDR, it was really interesting!! Thank you for your work comrade its always nice to see content from the left. Have a good day and merry christmas comrade! From a canadian marxist!
Thank you comrade! Wishing you a very merry Christmas to you and yours :)
Thank you for your fantastic content and research on the intriguing topic of the GDR and the advances and failures both of previous socialist comrades.
In GDR, the white beard man wasn't Santa. It was Karl Marx. good video btw !
@Eszra Falcontail He worked as a writer who gives articles to newspapers for a pay
I thought karl marx is the real santa .
DO HOPE everyone is having a wonderful Holiday Season, thus far!!
wonderful.... from what I learnt Xmas in the DDR was magical
Merry Christmas comrade from the imperial core Amerikkka!
If you want to destroy a reactor, the best place to start is the core. Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas and take care in the belly of the beast! Also Joe, that was beautiful :’)
@@fun_ghoul nice
stfu anglo good video. but for real i really love your video
Dialectics?
Cheers Genosse, glad you liked it :)
Really appreciate you uploading this material. It's unfortunate the mass amount of material out there on the GDR is negative. Same with the USSR.
Happy Christmas
Hope you had a good one comrade!
I was born there, left before the Wall in 1959. No regrets. I did miss my family living there.
Excellent RUclips channel friend.
Subscribed.
Thank you comrade! Have a great Christmas :)
You have done well comrade! Season's greetings from the South East. Much love 🎄
Thank you! All the best and merry Christmas to you and yours :)
This is beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
Alte Not gilt es zu Zwingen
Und wir zwingen sie vereint
This was so nice to watch, even though it's july
That one dislike is the Grinch.
Or Scrooge... Klassenfeind 😡
Mate, this is the most wholesome anti capitalist video I think I’ve ever seen, merry Christmas!
Thank you comrade, really enjoyed making this one :) take care and merry Christmas!
Frohe Weihnachten
Fuck, I thought I had fixed the typo and here I posted with it... should be fixed now
You got it! Frohe Weihnachten Genosse :)
Where do you find the film archives of the GDR? I would like to watch them.
Tbh I’ve found all my footage through RUclips. I’m sure there’s ways to access more and better footage through archives but I’m not sure how to gain access to them sadly. I’ll see if I can work anything out through my uni :)
At least on Christmas we can agree on this.
Re-watching the Video, I actually recognize the carousel at 2:12 I was one of them as a kid, lots of fun :D
New swann video? must be christmas
What a coincidence eh?!
@@SocialistSwann canny wait for more videos in the new year, have a good christmas mate
You should make a discord server mate, would be nice for debating and historical talks. Decent video by the way.
I have thought about it and maybe one day, I just don’t use discord all that often tbh lol
I think it’s really funny how the right talks about the war on Christmas but the only real historical war on Christmas has come from Protestant fundamentalists, like my cousins live in a town in New England where there are still laws technically on the books that ban Christmas celebrations.
Literally! We always got taught here how Cromwell and the Puritans literally banned Christmas across England. Maybe it’s the hyper religious who are waging the war rather than us just trying to enjoy a little family time lol
Have a Red Xmas, comrades
Also, on another note, any possibility of doing a video on urban planning in the GDR? I love looking at the old Karl Marx Allee in Berlin and thinking of how the socialist city was designed
Merry Christmas comrade! Yeah I reckon that’d be an interesting video. Was going to talk about socialist new towns in the one about transport. Theme it around why you didn’t really need a car in the GDR because of transport and the way cities were designed
Merry Christmas. Everyone have fun with family and friends.
All the best mate. Wishing you and yours well :)
So I got the subtitles on at 0.13, which read "Assures me that the nazi island folks anime will be valiantly waged in the war". lmao. Pretty sure that's not what was said, but I can't quite catch what was
Hahaha actually laughing at that. I didn’t say that 😂 said “the Nationale Volksarmee will be valiantly waging the war...” guess the CC can’t handle German :(
Lol, now that makes more sense. Thanks!
can u make a video about how planning was done in the GDR ?
Could you do a video on the STASI?
Long live the GDR💪💪💪
No mention of the Jahresende Fluggen Engel Figur?
I kinda wish I worked that in now, some of the renamed things are actually hilarious
I DECLARE THE GREAT WAR ON CHRISTMAS! RALLY THE TROOPS!
We march at dawn! To victory!
Who were the RUclipsrs you shouted out? Partisan, A Quick Socialist Fix and whom?
Socialist Quick Fix and a lad called Hawless Morty who has a podcast. Links are in the description :)
These places didn’t celebrate actual “Christmas” but rather they celebrated New Years and made that the reason for the festivities. They even made Karl Marx into A
Santa Claus.
*the people's flag is deepest red*
perfect christmas tune
O Tannenbaum: Broke
The Red flag: woke
You wouldn’t have been free to freely broadcast an equivalent work on capitalism or any other free market concept. They were quick to censor such things and if you did manage to get it out there, then you’d pay for it by being blacklisted from all desirable jobs and never allowed to serve in government or enter a university.
O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum, wie treu sind deine Blätter!
While I'm personally to young to have lived in GDR, I have heard many beutiful Stories like in the Video here.
My Oma used to make wonderful Wreaths with just a bit of Wire, Toilet Paper and some Christmas Tree Twigs. For the Christmas Tree itself they had some very pretty Christmas Decorations, like Balls made of Plastic Strings, half sided ones with really nice Ornaments inside etc., some of wich we use to this Day.
Here's some Pics if youre curious: www.google.com/search?q=ddr+weihnachtsschmuck&rlz=1C1CHBF_deDE740DE740&sxsrf=ALeKk03y78pGsLY_U-lqX8f6F50PDLTD0Q:1608885135803&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi2xoOY3OjtAhVFyaQKHX5MD9cQ_AUoAXoECBEQAw&biw=1280&bih=553
And ofc. it was a Tradition to watch Aschenbrödel (Cinderella), for many more in fact, I used to work at a Old Age Home the wonderful Melody of the Movie used to play all Day on Christmas Eve.
Wish you all frohe Weihnachten und Feiertage!
Thanks for sharing the stories, nice to hear some traditions still live on :)
Hope you and yours and a brilliant Christmas comrade! Keep up the good fight
As much as I am not a fan of capitalism in the sense it forces society to be avid consumers driven only by the next shiny thing.... in the west just as the east you did not have to participate. You could celebrate how ever you wished. Or not at all.
If it was all so marvellous, why did they need a wall? Why weren't there queues of cars backing up at Helmstedt demanding entry and refuge in this anti-fascist socialist paradise? I am not being facetious. I appreciate your videos and I agree that the DDR system had strengths and is worthy of impartial reassessment. As you rightly point out, in its early history the DDR was ahead of many Western countries in living standards and industrial development. But why did they need to keep their own population as prisoners? The wall was built early on in the life of the DDR. Don't you think you have slipped into the trap of relying on official narratives of the DDR for your history rather than looking at things a bit more objectively?
The wall was built as an anti-fascist defense measure to prevent West Berlin from invading the East as quickly and also to stop the "brain drain" phenemonon. Whereupon the GDR would train professionals at its own expense and the FRG would literally bribe them to go across. This was explained by the GDR itself in 1962. Socialist Swan has a video getting into more details regarding it on his channel.
But kommunismo no crasmas
But what if kommunismo yes crismus??? 🤔
Why would one want to have to rely on the government to give you your home, food, job, transportation, and most everything instead of being free to do these things for yourself?
Why rely on corporations that exploit their workers and destroy the environment?
Jesus was a comrade
The Church is the enemy
Jesus established the Church
@@iroga9764 why doesn't the church follow his teachings then?
@@daca8395 it does. How does it not?
Great video comrade! Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas comrade! Take care :)