I’ll take a moment to plug Bruni de la Motte’s book Stasi State or Socialist Paradise? about the former GDR (East Germany), and often includes comparisons to the FRG (West Germany) at the time. The one that always sticks out to me is that at a time when women in the GDR could divorce their husbands on their own initiative, women in rhe FRG needed their husband’s permission to work outside the home.

de la Motte also lived in the GDR for a long time, so she had firsthand experience she is writing about. It’s a great read.