Annegret Schüle

"A Proletarian Internationalism" or „Economic Advantages for the German Democratic Republic?"
Workers from Mozambique, Angola and Vietnam in the VEB Cotton Mill in Leipzig from 1980 to 1989

This case study sheds light on the use of foreign workers in a textile factory in the Germany Democratic Republic in the 1980s. This case study can be considered exemplary because over 80% of the workers engaged in such contract work came from Vietnam and black Africa and one-third of these workers were employed in light industry. This essay, which employs a methodology informed by social history and the history of experience, analyses the function which the people from Mozambique, Angola and Vietnam had for the Germans. The party's official claim that there was a "proletarian internationalism" is contrasted with the working conditions. The German pattern of perception of the foreigners is analysed through the articles of the factory newspaper, through internal reports and through interviews with the German actors. Overall, the evidence gives a picture of an understanding of cultural superiority, combined with a paternalistic air. German workers had the opportunity to feel better about themselves at the cost of their foreign colleagues. Accepting each other as equals, viewing the integration of foreign cultures and mentalities as something which would enrich German culture, was thus prevented.