The
Soviet Occupation Zone (; ,
Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii, "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was the area of central
Germany occupied by the
Soviet Union from 1945 on, at the end of
World War II. On 7 October 1949 the
German Democratic Republic (GDR), which became commonly referred to as
East Germany, was established in the Soviet Occupation Zone.