ABSTRACT
The Catholic Centre Party, for so long the democratic ally of Social Democracy in the Weimar Republic, had struck a deal with the devil: they would vote for the law in return for promises by the Nazis that they would respect and tolerate organised Catholicism. Social Democrats in the Soviet zone of occupation soon realised that the Communists were not interested in genuine cooperation with the Social Democratic Party (SDP). The reports of the Social Democratic Party in Exile (SOPADE) in 1934 stress the fact that about one third of German workers had developed a positive attitude towards National Socialism. Reform Communists inside the Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (SED) would indeed at times refer to Social Democratic symbols and rituals in their attempts to make 'really existing socialism' less authoritarian. To the surprise of many political commentators, the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) has been successful in establishing itself within the party-political system of the reunified Germany.
