Do Leipzigers Born In The Former GDR Miss It? Why?
I am a Canadian and after meeting my girlfriend's parents, I want to know if Pro-DDR or Pro-Communist sentiment is a widespread opinion or a fringe sentiment in the former East? I have come across contradicting evidence that I'm trying to make sense of.
When I met my girlfriend's parents (Leipzigers who were born into the GDR) and the conversation turned to politics, they seemed to be very nostalgic for the GDR era and expressed deep longing for how "things were in [our] youth". Apparently they were Farming Machine makers in Saxony/workers in a big company called "FortSchritt" which as an Engineer in this industry (John Deere) I have never heard of but apparently was really big back then(?). Googling it only reveals a small Chinese-owned company of this name.
They just seemed very deeply nostalgic to me and my whole discussion with them basically just turned into them talking about their good memories from their 20s and how much they missed it and that "[My Generation] will unfortunately never get to see how great life used to be in Germany". This was honestly very astonishing for me to hear, because it is totally contrary to what we're taught in Canada about what people of that era felt about the GDR. What we're taught about the GDR was that it was impoverished and underdeveloped, and in school growing up we read books and movies showing that East Germans risked death to mass migrate to the West, and that mass rioting against the GDR is what eventually brought down the Berlin wall. My dad (who himself was a Chemist visiting in Leipzig in the year after reunification) always described desperate economic conditions to me in East Germany at the time of reunification when he was there. The voting pattern as far as I know, shows that East Germans do not vote for any pro-communist or left wing parties as should be the case if they miss communism rule, but they rather overwhelmingly actually vote for the far-right, ironically.
However, when I go to certain German news comment sections online, I see many people expressing a similar nostalgic wish to return to the GDR, and during a rally my girlfriend (who is very much not pro-GDR but is pro-SPD which I think is the former East German Party?) was at, I saw the side opposing her chanting "Ost! Ost! Ost Deutschland!" over and over as a rallying cry which seems ironic and opposite to my expectations.
Does anyone here in Leipzig have parents who were alive during GDR times, and if so, do they really miss communism and the GDR that much? And, genuinely, can I ask why?
Are we taught incorrectly about how Germans felt about the GDR in Canada? Or are my Girlfriend's parents just a special fringe/a red flag?
Thanks all for your help!