Exakt- Die Story: Tormentors in White Coats

Exakt – Die Story

Behind closed doors at the Poliklinik Mitte in Halle, women in GDR times suffered an unimaginable ordeal: in the name of socialism they were mistreated and humiliated for weeks on end – “disciplined”, as it was officially called. Only now, more than 30 years later, are the facts coming to light thanks to new research.

From the early 1960s onwards, women could be committed to hospitals by force under the GDR legal code if they were suspected of having venereal diseases. Girls and women aged between 12 and 72 were held here against their will and without explanation, and mistreated. Brutal gynaecological examinations, questionable drug treatment, sleep deprivation and other forms of physical and psychological torture were the order of the day. Many were committed simply because they did not match the image of the “socialist personality”. The hierarchical system of terror with its socialist educational mission lasted more than two decades at the Poliklinik Mitte in Halle.

The subject is now causing a stir far beyond Halle. Was Halle an isolated case, or did abuse of this kind take place on a large scale? The Exakt story “Tormentors in White Coats – On Behalf of the Politburo” accompanies affected women as they break their silence for the first time and describe how they still struggle today with this dark chapter of GDR history.