I suppose there is at least a fair amount of truth in the East German claim what is was not guilty of the acts of the Nazi (NSDAP) regime. The German Democratic Republic (East Germany - DDR) was ruled by the Socialist Unity Party (SED), a union of the Communists (KPD) and the Social Democrats (SPD). During World War II, the Nazis imprisoned as many Communists and Social Democrats as they could catch, while others escaped from Germany. Many of those who escaped, including Willy Brandt (of West Germany's SPD), served in the Resistance.

The SED traced its roots back to the Kiel Sailors' Revolt (Kieler Matrosenaufstand) of about 1916, and seemed to claim to have had clear Socialist thinking all the way through to 1989 - unblemished by association with the National Socialists (Nazis). In many ways, there's a lot of truth to that.

-Joe Offer-