They had to produce more and more crops to raise enough money to feed their families. Over time the money was cut down because of how much they produced. Kind of like clearance. They couldn't feed there families anymore so they sold or gave their farm away and moved to the city for better work
They were treated poorly because of the same reason the Nazi's treated adult jews; it was because of their heritage. After they were sent into camps, it did not matter how old they were, no one was spared of his wrath.
If you want to know exactly what happened to them with great visuals, I suggest plugging "Children of The Holocaust" into YouTube and finding a great visual explanation to go along with your research.
The GDR stated it was constructed as an "antifascist protection mechanism" in order to keep out external threats and keep the east Berliners safe in their "Socialist Paradise" but in reality it was to keep people in since many were trying to emigrate out of the communist zone and the GDR would fall because of emigration.
