„Brüderbund und Freundschaft mit den sozialistischen Ländern darf nicht spekulativ genutzt werden.“ Deutsch-polnischer Schleichhandel in Leipzig als Konsumkultur „von unten“.

The article discusses black market activity between East Germans and Poles particularly centered around the city of Leipzig during the period 1956 to 1989. This clandestine trade is viewed as a consumer culture that arose "from below" in an economic situation characterized by shortages of consumer goods in the German Democratic Republic and Poland. Informal and initially illicit exchange networks for goods are described as evolving from spontaneous help between acquaintances to professionalized smuggling and dealing activities. The negative attitude of the government and sectors of the public to such activity is reviewed.