The 100th anniversary of Karl Marx’s death was celebrated across the GDR with banners such as this one, which reads “Under the Leadership of the SED, Forward to New Successes during Karl Marx Year, 1983!” This photograph by Uwe Gerig, which shows two elderly women on a bench underneath such a banner, was an ironic commentary on the disconnect between people’s daily lives and the ideological aspirations and indoctrination efforts of the party. Uwe Gerig was a freelance photojournalist who worked primarily in the southern districts of the GDR and managed to flee to West Germany in 1983.