ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the revival of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS)–and, by extension, of other former Communist parties in Eastern and Central Europe—has its origins less in the temporary hardships of transition than in the emergence of a distinctive post-Communist political culture. The proof that the PDS serves the positive function of memory for East Germans lies in the fiasco of the Christian Democratic Union’s “Rote Socken” poster campaign in the summer of 1994. Whatever East Germans’ attitudes about the PDS and its platform may be, they seem to perceive blanket condemnations of the PDS as an attempt to silence East German concerns and to dismiss their historical experiences. PDS support may simply stem from lingering East German resentment for the hardships and affronts they have had to face in the difficult transition process that they have, nonetheless, survived. Socially and economically the culturally distinct Easterners will probably not make much of a difference in united Germany.
