Why do you think that has anything to do with whether it is a dictatorship?
Not having free elections makes it a dictatorship (or at least not a democracy). Not allowing people to leave makes it a shitty place to live, but that is separate from if its a dictatorship.
How else do you explain people willing to die to leave and why do you think the party tried to stop them?
> Not having free elections makes it a dictatorship (or at least not a democracy).
That’s how it was! The leader of the dictating party does not deny this is how it was! You’re delusional!
There is a good sign that your free elections aren't when you have 99% percent approval rating on every election. A sharp drop in approval ratings once you no longer control the elections directly may also be indicative of problems with your implementation of democracy.
If someone wanted to leave the GDR, were they able to?
If not, why do you think they weren't able to? Why do you think people wanted to leave, and why do you think people wanted to stop them? Why do you think they had to literally shoot people to stop them leaving the country if it wasn't a dictatorship and they were welcome on the other side?
Are you confused about the 'Democratic' part of the name? North Korea also calls itself 'Democratic' today.
Read some history:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_East_Germany
> Elections were held but were effectively controlled by the SED and state hierarchy, as noted by Hans Modrow [communist premier of East Germany] and others.
The last premier of East Germany was literally convicted of electoral fraud after unification.
> Modrow did not deny the charges, but argued that the trial was politically motivated and that the court lacked jurisdiction for crimes committed in East Germany
It was a dictatorship. Any reasonable historian or even person there at the time will tell you this. The literal Premier himself didn't even deny it.