German president seeks soul-searching as GDR jail memorial opens
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier called on Thursday for more information on forced labour in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) and for holding former profiteers in the West accountable.
Steinmeier, speaking at the opening of a memorial in the former Hoheneck women's prison, spoke of a dark chapter in inner-German history.
Prisoners had been forced to do piecework and their labour was exploited for foreign currency, Steinmeier said in his speech in Stollberg near Chemnitz. In addition to the former East German state, West German companies that received cheap goods also profited from this.
"I would like companies that imported products manufactured in the former East Germany to help with this investigation and seek dialogue with the former political prisoners,...