Marginalised narratives—A different view of the socialist system and the Berlin Wall by former South African freedom fighters

Solidarity with national liberation movements such as the African National Congress (ANC) was a key element of the German Democratic Republic’s (GDR) foreign policy and self-image. Yet this dimension is largely absent from contemporary public representations of the GDR. This article argues that the forgetting of the GDR’s support for liberation movements emerged after the collapse of the socialist system and through western-dominated historiography that legitimised liberal democracy and capitalism. Drawing on interviews and ego-documents of former ANC exiles, the article demonstrates that socialist solidarity—particularly the GDR’s support for the South African liberation struggle—remains significant in both personal memories and contemporary politics. By uncovering marginalised memories of solidarity, the article shows how migrant knowledge offers an important analytical tool to decolonise memory studies and to challenge western-dominant narratives of socialism and Global South relations.