ABSTRACT
In the 1970s and 1980s, life began to normalize for Soviet Germans, at least financially. Many were able to purchase their own homes in rural areas or cooperative apartments in the cities. By the late 1970s, the overwhelming majority of Germans either owned motorcycles or cars, or were waiting for their turn to purchase such items (during the Soviet regime there were waiting lines registered by employers for the purchase of any major appliances and cars). Soviet Germans had enough money to acquire expensive goods and enough security to invest in these goods without fear of confiscation or persecution. At the very least, the financial circumstances of former settlers were no worse than those of other citizens of the Soviet Union.1
