Part 4/16:
By 1944, East Germany’s industrial equipment actually exceeded pre-war levels due to wartime infrastructure construction and less intense bombings compared to Western Germany. However, both Soviet and Allied forces dismantled much of this machinery as war reparations, stripping away about 30% of the capital stock. Particularly hard-hit were sectors like machine tools, optics, and electronics, with losses exceeding 50-65% in some industries. These technological transfers to the USSR considerably boosted Soviet technological development, with Soviet officials carefully selecting advanced equipment and expert personnel—over 3,000 scientists and engineers at one point—who were recruited via covert operations.