Vietnamese in the GDR
After more than
ten years of German reunification, it is time to look back on an obscure
part of East German history and at the largest foreigner group in the
GDR, the Vietnamese. In his book, 'Vietnamesen in der DDR', Oliver Raendchen,
editor of various scientific series on Southeast Asia (i.e. 'Tai Culture',
'LiterAsia') and founder of SEACOM, presents a summary of the results
of his investigations in the Federal Archive in Berlin.
* By UTA TSCHENISCH
Considering the heterogeneity of the Vietnamese
people living in the former German Democratic Republic, Raendchen chooses
an appropriate way to examine the different groups of Vietnamese apprentices,
students, contract workers, and academics. He analyses the social and
professional backgrounds of the Vietnamese as well as the reasons behind
their migrating for employment. One of his main findings is that Vietnamese
workers were not sent abroad to discharge any financial debts which
they may have had in Vietnam, which is what many Vietnamese had assumed.
Using background information about mass migration at the end of the
1980s, Raendchen proposes some interesting hypotheses. He describes
the legal foundations of residence in the GDR by foreigners and gives
impressive figures on financial and material expenditures that the respective
nationally owned companies had to bear. Furthermore, the present study
excellently demonstrates the extent to which foreigners in the GDR were
under surveillance and supervision.
An essential part of the study is the substantial annex
containing 170 pages that include documents never before published.
Structured into several sections and provided with short remarks and
explanatory notes, historical correspondence and 
other selected documents bear witness to a particular part of the German
past. Unfortunately, there are many official letters, in particular
Vietnamese sources, that could not be traced.
other selected documents bear witness to a particular part of the German
past. Unfortunately, there are many official letters, in particular
Vietnamese sources, that could not be traced. The remarkable file 'incidents of particular note', reports
on the fates of individuals. It may be a surprise and a shock to read
about how GDR and Vietnamese authorities responded in cases of legal
violations, long and serious illnesses, mental strain, and pregnancies
of the Vietnamese, or how they had put obstacles in the paths of foreigners
when they wished to marry Germans. From some of the letters you get
an impression of the pressure
experienced by the Vietnamese, in particular, and foreigners,
in general.
Admittedly far, from complete, all in all Raendchen's
successful work is very worthwhile to read. I warmly recommend this
study, offering an exotic chapter of East German history and a deeper
insight into the life of Vietnamese people in the GDR. Unfortunately,
because of the number of German documents in the extensive appendix,
the book is available only in German. *
Raendchen, Oliver, Vietnamesen
in der DDR. Ein Rückblick, SEACOM Studien zur Südostasienkunde,
Band 2, SEACOM: Berlin (2000), 200 pp.,
ISSN 1432-9301
ISSN 1432-9301
Uta
Tschenisch, MA has studied Southeast Asian Studies, business administration
and sociology at Humboldt-University, Berlin. From 1996 1998,
she did research work in Vietnam on various topics (population development,
birth control, reproductive health, single women). She has worked as
a teacher for several language schools in Hanoi and Berlin.
E-mail:
utsch@onlinehome.de.