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The federal government is not planning to work on experiments in GDR recreational sports

2021-03-18T16:31:34.607Z


Previously unknown experiments with so-called "people's sport testers" were intended to serve top-class sport in the GDR. But the federal government is apparently not planning to deal with this.


In the GDR, doping experiments were also carried out on amateur athletes (symbol picture)

Photo: Emily Wabitsch / picture alliance / dpa

The federal government is apparently not planning any further processing of possible human experiments on recreational athletes in GDR sport.

This emerges from a response to a small question from Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen that SPIEGEL has received.

At the end of February, the ARD reported in a research of systematic experiments on amateur athletes in GDR sport, which should have been carried out at least since the beginning of the 1970s and until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The scientific findings from the interventions and treatments should apparently lead directly to better performance among top athletes.

Among other things, the article speaks of painful biopsies and doping experiments with partly non-approved preparations on amateur athletes.

In the documentation, several of the so-called "people's sport probands" at the time reported on the experiments and their side effects.

The state commissioner for coming to terms with the SED dictatorship in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Anne Drescher, had assumed that "several hundred" were affected in view of the period.

In addition to her, the human rights organization Human Rights Watch and the Doping Victims Aid Association recently called for the victims to be dealt with and compensated.

However, the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI), which is responsible for sport, rejected it at the request of the ARD.

"Research into possible experiments in popular sport in the GDR is not within the remit of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, which is responsible for promoting top-class sport in the Federal Republic of Germany and the issues related to it," said the Federal Ministry of the Interior.

In the letter of the federal government it is said that the federal government first learned through the media coverage of the possible involvement of recreational athletes in medical tests and examinations in connection with the use of doping drugs in the GDR.

In addition, there was »no further reliable knowledge.« There was also no information about the number of recreational athletes who might be affected.

Nevertheless, the federal government is apparently not planning any further processing of the issue.

When asked what measures are being planned in this regard, the answer simply says: “The Federal Government has been promoting the“ Sport in Need ”project of the Doping-Victims Aid eV since 2013 Processing the invoice. "

Aid laws only for top athletes

The sports policy spokeswoman for the Bundestag parliamentary group Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen criticized the German government's position against SPIEGEL.

"This is another dark chapter in GDR sports history that urgently needs to be comprehensively dealt with," says Monika Lazar, according to the announcement.

Scientific research is needed.

“Of course, the federal government has a duty here.

It is shameful that she is not planning any action in this regard. ”If more information is available, consideration must also be given to how victims of the practices of the time could be helped.

When asked about financial support for those affected, however, the Federal Government also only reacted evasively and referred to the earlier support provided by the first and second Doping Victims Aid Act to former competitive athletes who had suffered from GDR state doping.

However, both aid funds have already expired and could not be used by recreational athletes, as the government admits.

"The addressees of the laws were limited to high-performance athletes and high-performance young athletes from the GDR," it says.

At most, those affected would have the chance to assert claims through the Administrative Rehabilitation Act.

However, this would be difficult for those affected without reliable knowledge and a fundamental review.

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Source: spiegel

All sports articles on 2021-03-18

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