It was one of many important non-parliamentary mass organisations in the former socialist country, East Germany.

[2] In "Civil Society in Transition: The East German Third Sector Ten Years After Unification", Anheier, Priller, and Zimmer state, "Unlike Diakonie and Caritas, the Volkssolidarität, a genuine welfare organisation of the former GDR without any counterpart in West Germany and the Red Cross had a more difficult time adjusting to the new political and social environment after unification.

The local population, at first largely rejected the Volkssolidarität burdened with leaders with an SED (Socialist Unity Party of Germany) past.

Nevertheless, Volkssolidarität and the Red Cross successfully managed to democratize and establish a new image.

Both organisations have become fairly established social service providers (Tangemann, 1995)."