 War had ended in May 1945, and a large part of what had been central Germany was being administered as the Soviet occupation zone.Gropper lost no time in joining the recently formed Socialist Unity Party ("Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands" / SED), which was well on its way to becoming the ruling party in a new kind of German one-party dictatorship.She took a post as an instructor in the Women's Department of the "Parteivorstand" (precursor to the powerful Party Central Committee).