The demonstrations of workers on June 13-17, 1953 in the GDR became the first anti-communist uprising in Eastern Europe after the Second World War.
Later, similar events took place in Hungary in 1956, in Czechoslovakia in 1968 and finally in Poland in 1980.
June 17, 1953 is considered to be the day the workers' uprising in the GDR began, when a general strike at enterprises and mass protest demonstrations swept Berlin.
But in fact, it all started even earlier - on June 13, and not in Berlin, but in Leipzig, where the foundry workers went on strike, protesting against the increase in production rates.
This reason is today considered the main one for those events, according to most anti-communist publications: the communist government of Otto Grotewohl and Walter Ulbricht increased not only production rates at enterprises, but also prices.
And he did it at the most inopportune time - almost immediately after Stalin's death.
At this time, rumors began to spread in East Germany about the allegedly impending withdrawal of Soviet troops from the country and the imminent unification of Germany.
What Ulbricht counted on when making such decisions is completely incomprehensible: after the Second World War, the Germans (and not only them) were terribly far from the ideals of communism and communist consciousness.
Before the events of June 17, the Germans from the GDR expressed their attitude towards socialism with their feet - a year earlier, 50 thousand people fled from East Germany to the FRG.
It is not surprising: the Soviet Union, which provided the GDR with economic assistance primarily to maintain a certain level of well-being of the population, could not compete in its capabilities with the United States, which launched the implementation of the Marshall Plan in the FRG.
For those who are not in the know, the Marshall Plan is a multibillion-dollar post-war American economic aid and investment program for Western Europe and, above all, for the FRG, on which, in fact, West Germany rose.
There is much that is unclear in the events of June 17, 1953, ranging from the inconsistent, and from the height of today, seeming and frankly provocative actions of the government of the GDR, to the astonishing ability of the rebels to organize themselves.
Events unfolded as follows: On June 14, unrest engulfed Berlin, and then all of East Germany.
The Grotewohl government and the SED (Socialist Unity Party of Germany) are trying to reverse the price increase, but it's too late.
The day before, the rebels demand a meeting with the country's leadership, but Grotewahl and Ulbricht refuse, and instead flee to Karlhorst.
The rebels put forward very specific demands: the resignation of the government, the withdrawal of Soviet troops, reunification with West Germany.
At the same time, the matter is not limited to peaceful demonstrations and strikes: the rebels seize police stations, storm government buildings and radio stations.
In fact, the Civil War begins in the country, during which 11 policemen, 20 functionaries and dozens of rebels die. The wounded number in the hundreds.
The rebels manage to take the lower floors of the building. The storming of the government building is supported by a crowd of 150,000 chanting the slogans "Down with the goat-beard!" (as the East Germans called Ulbricht), "we are not slaves!", "Russians - get out!"
Swastikas painted with black paint began to appear on the walls of houses.
In Karshorst, the rebels massacred the medical battalion of the Soviet unit. At the same time, the nurses were raped and killed, after cutting off their breasts.
Moving to the aid of the government army and police, Soviet tanks throughout Germany were met with bullets.
The participation of Western intelligence agencies in these events is a separate issue.
Another thing is interesting.
Of course, the increase in prices and production rates at enterprises could not please the population and, above all, the workers.
Especially against the background of the difference in the standard of living in the GDR and in the FRG.
For example, chocolate in the GDR cost 16 times more than in the FRG.
And yet, was it the cause, or just an excuse?
Indeed, in Nazi Germany, the Germans did live under a rationing system, and at the same time the Nazis drove them to slaughter like cattle.
But for all 12 years of the Third Reich, there were no thousands or even thousands of demonstrations demanding freedom in Germany.
And then the Germans immediately wanted freedom, and all at once.
And so the question arises: what did the Germans want more then: chocolate, freedom, or the restoration of the Third Reich?
After all, you must admit that in order to successfully storm government buildings and police stations, some preparation is needed.
And where did this training come from among the rebels, at least some of them?
Not from the Wehrmacht and the SS?
And the swastika painted with black paint on the walls of houses looks absolutely odious, as a symbol of "freedom".
Workers' uprisings against communist governments took place at different times and in different countries.
But against the Nazi and fascist regimes, in Nazi Germany or, say, in Hungary, there was none.
And, moreover, after the Second World War, the workers of the GDR and Hungary handed over the leadership of the rebellions to the unfinished fascists.
Perhaps for this reason, at least the events of June 17 in East Germany in the democratic media prefer not to advertise too much.
"Ivan, go home!" To the 60th anniversary of the June 1953 uprising in the GDR
After the 17 June uprising
by order of the Secretary of the Writers' Union
leaflets were distributed on Stalinallee,
which stated that the people
Lost the trust of the government
And he could only get it back with double the work.
Wouldn't it be easier for the government
Disband the people
And choose a new one?
Bertolt Brecht "Decision" (Die Lösung, 1953)
Brecht's poem, written in the summer of 1953 under the impression of the June events, found in the writer's papers after his death in 1956 and first published in the West German newspaper Die Welt in 1959, accurately revealed and reflected the essence of the tragic confrontation between society and power in the former Soviet Union. German occupation zone. The June uprising of 1953 became a symbol of a deep crisis of legitimacy in which the ruling elite of the GDR found itself and the "building of socialism" planned by it. It became more and more obvious to the inhabitants of the former Soviet occupation zone that the self-proclaimed “state of workers and peasants”, created according to the Soviet model, did not rule with the people, but against them. The protest of citizens against the new regime and the unbearable living and working conditions in it was so strong that if it were not for the intervention of "Soviet friends", the East German leadership would probably have been swept away then by a massive popular protest.
The June uprising of 1953 in the GDR was truly nationwide. It was attended by about a million people in more than 700 cities and towns in East Germany. Starting as a social protest on the streets of Berlin, the uprising in a matter of hours grew into mass demonstrations against the communist dictatorship throughout the country. Strikes and demonstrations were accompanied by political demands for freedom, democracy and the unification of Germany. The frightened party elite of the GDR sought refuge in the military headquarters of the Soviet occupation forces in the Karlhorst district of Berlin. With the introduction of a state of emergency and the involvement of Soviet tanks, the uprising was eventually brutally crushed. At least 50 dead and countless wounded demonstrators became victims of the use of violence (since information about the uprising remained classified in the GDR for many years, the exact number of dead and injured has not yet been established). In the days and months that followed, some 15,000 people were arrested, and by 1955 more than 1,800 political convictions had been handed down. Some prisoners appeared before a Soviet military tribunal and were sentenced to be shot or imprisoned in the Soviet Gulag on the basis of Article 58 of the USSR Criminal Code (therefore, petitions for the rehabilitation of victims of unjust sentences had to be submitted to the Russian prosecutor's office after the collapse of the Soviet Union) See for example : Berger, Siegfried. "Ich nehme das Urteil nicht an". Ein Berliner Streikführer des 17. Juni vor dem sowjetischen Militärtribunal. 5. Aulage. Berlin, 2012. .
The June uprising in the GDR of 1953 was the first popular protest against the communist dictatorship in the Eastern Bloc. It was followed by "" 1968, which largely shared the fate of the East German protest.
Background and chronicle of the protest
After the end of World War II, the Soviet zone of occupation of Germany was expected to undergo a radical restructuring of the economic, political and social spheres along the Soviet lines. First of all, mass nationalization was carried out here, during which the private sector was replaced by "people's enterprises" ( Volkseigener Betrieb, VEB). In April 1946, following the model of the Soviet CPSU, the ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany ( SED, Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, SED), which continued the process of nationalizing the private sector and building a planned economy after the formation of the German Democratic Republic in October 1949. In particular, the SED continued the collectivization that had begun in the Soviet occupation zone. During the Second Party Conference of the SED, held July 9-12, 1952, its general secretary Walter Ulbricht proclaimed a course for "accelerated construction of the foundations of socialism", which was to be carried out in the repressive Stalinist-Soviet traditions. There was a forcible dispossession of large peasant farms and the creation of "Agricultural production cooperatives" ( Landwirtschaftliche Produktionsgenossenschaft, LPG) - analogues of the Soviet collective farms. Measures were taken against small proprietors and private trade.
The first five-year economic development plan (1951-55), introduced on the Soviet model, provided for the accelerated development of heavy industry, which could not but affect the work of other industries and the production of consumer goods. As a result, many everyday goods and foodstuffs were in short supply in East Germany: now they could only be obtained by cards. In April 1953, in addition, the prices of public transport, clothing and many products increased significantly.
In such a situation, people increasingly “voted with their feet”: there was an exodus of residents of the GDR to the territory of West Germany (for example, from June 1952 to May 1953, about 312,000 people left the country - twice as many as a year earlier; only in March 1953, the GDR left 50,000 inhabitants). First of all, highly qualified personnel fled to the West, and this "brain drain" created new economic difficulties.
In the conditions of a planned economy, the party leadership was seriously concerned about the problem of increasing labor productivity. On May 14, 1953, at the plenum of the Central Committee of the SED, a decision was made "to increase the output standards for workers in order to combat economic difficulties." This decision meant an increase in production rates by 10% (and in some areas - up to 30%) without a corresponding increase in wages. On May 28, the decision of the Central Committee was published in the following wording:
“The government of the German Democratic Republic welcomes the initiative of the workers to raise output standards. It thanks all the workers who raised their standards for their great patriotic cause. At the same time, it responds to the desire of the workers to revise and raise the standards. on: Tanks at Stalinallee. To the fortieth anniversary of the Berlin uprising // Map. Independent Historical Journal, No. 2, 1993. P. 23. .
This hypocrisy of the party bosses was the last straw that finally dispelled the secret hopes of many residents of the "eastern zone" for the possibility of facilitating life and work after Stalin's death. The discontent in the working environment, caused mainly by an arbitrary increase in output standards, reached its critical point on June 15, 1953. Even the so-called "New Deal", adopted by the Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED on June 9, 1953, did not help. In it, the leadership recognized that some mistakes had taken place in the past, and henceforth intended to suspend the pace of development of heavy industry until the supply of the population improved. However, this cancellation of some measures that caused discontent among the population did not affect the increase in output standards.
On June 15, a delegation of the builders of the Friedrichshain hospital on the Landsbergerallee in East Berlin arrived at the "House of Ministries" on Leipzegerschrasse and demanded a meeting with the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the GDR, Otto Grotewohl. He was not on site, and the workers handed over to Grotewohl's assistant a petition from 300 builders demanding that the increase in labor and wage cuts be canceled by noon on June 16th. Members of the delegation promised to return the next day for an answer.
However, on the morning of the next day, June 16, 1953, the workers found an article in the trade union newspaper Tribuna in defense of the policy of raising output standards. A comment in a workers' rights newspaper that "the decisions to raise standards are entirely correct" was taken by the builders as a response to their letter handed over to the authorities the day before. On the same day, workers at the elite construction site at Stalinallee in East Berlin went on strike. Having stopped work, they headed to the city center, inviting builders from other construction sites along the way: “Colleagues, join us! We want to be free people!” The demonstration, which as a result reached 10,000 people, headed for the "House of Ministries" on Leipziger Strasse Wiegrefe, Klaus. Ein deutscher Aufstand // Spiegel Special 1/2006. . A spontaneous meeting began here, during which the workers, who demanded mainly the abolition of the decision to increase output standards, quickly turned to political demands - the resignation of the government, free elections, the release of political prisoners, the unification of Germany, and so on.
On the square to the protesters that day came the Minister of Industry Fritz Selbmann, who promised the return of the old norms. Although the corresponding decision was immediately taken at an emergency meeting of the government, these concessions could no longer stop the protests of the workers. From the "House of Ministries" the demonstrators went to the construction sites of Stalinallee, calling for a general strike // Map. Independent Historical Journal, No. 2, 1993. pp. 24–25. .
The West Berlin radio station Radio in the American Sector (RIAS) regularly reported on what was happening on the 16th and plans for the 17th. RIAS broadcasts, which were very popular in the GDR (according to American data, they were regularly listened to by 70% of East Germans), could play an important role as a catalyst for protest Ostermann, Christian F. Amerikanische Politik und der 17. June 1953. In: Kleßmann, Christoph. Bernd Stover: 1953 - Krisenjahr des Kalten Krieges in Europa. Böhlau, Koln, Weimar 1999. S. 117. . Thanks to them, news of the events in Berlin and plans for June 17 spread throughout East Germany. The main demands of the workers were also voiced on the radio: the restoration of the previous norms of output and wages; immediate price cuts for key products; free and secret elections; amnesty for strikers and speakers Die Vorgeschichte des Volksaufstandes// 17. Juni 1953. Der Volksaufstand in Ostberlin. Verfasst von Jonatan Landau und Tobias Zehnder. Zurich. 2. June 2000. . On the evening of June 16, the West Berlin newspaper Der Abend also reported on the general strike in the GDR.
On the morning of the next day - June 17 - Berlin workers began to gather at enterprises, line up in columns and head to the city center with slogans: "Down with the government!", "Down with the People's Police!" “We don’t want to be slaves, we want to be free people!”, “For free elections!”, “Russians, get out!” By noon, the number of demonstrators in the city had reached more than 150,000 people. Protest actions quickly spread throughout East Germany. In the industrial centers - Bitterfeld, Gera, Görlitz, Dresden, Jena, Leipzig, Magdeburg, Halle and other cities - strike committees and workers' councils spontaneously arose, taking power in their hands at local enterprises. In some localities, protesters even tried to release prisoners from prisons.
Demonstrators everywhere destroyed symbols of communist power, tore portraits of Stalin. In Berlin, signs and structures on the borders of the Soviet and Western sectors were destroyed, and the red flag was torn off the Brandenburg Gate.
By the middle of the day, the Soviet military administration had declared a state of emergency in most districts of the GDR (in 167 out of 217), taking over the official power control in the districts. The order of the Soviet military commandant was broadcast on the radio: “In order to restore order, a state of emergency is introduced from 13.00. It is forbidden to hold any demonstrations, do not gather more than three, do not go out at night, violators of the order will be punished according to the laws of wartime. on: Migits, Sergei; Agaev, Viktor. June 17, 1953: how it was ... // Deutsche Welle, 06/16/2003. .
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To suppress the uprising, heavy armored vehicles were introduced into the streets of East German cities. Demonstrators greeted Soviet tanks with slogans like "Ivan, go home!", and someone threw stones at them.
Erich Kulik, a geology student from West Berlin, who happened to be in the eastern part of the city that day, described the events of that day in his diary as follows:
“At the corner of Friedrichstrasse, I looked back for the first time. I was scared when I saw how many people joined the column. Down the street, to the very Brandenburg Gate, there was no crowding, the crowd grew and grew ...
At the corner of Charlottenstrasse, we suddenly heard the rumble of advancing tanks and immediately saw the demonstrators fleeing in panic. The head of our column now advanced slowly and cautiously. Tanks appeared on the bridge over the Spree. They turned on the gas and came straight at us, three heavy tanks in a row, and armored cars along the sidewalk. I don't know how the demonstrators managed to vacate the street so quickly and where so many people could hide. I hid behind the Humboldt monument in front of the university entrance. In the blink of an eye, there was not a single empty space left on the high metal fence behind me. The faces of the Russians sitting on the tanks shone, they smiled with might and main, waved their hands at us and looked very friendly. The tanks, there were 15 of them, were followed by trucks with infantry, light artillery, a field kitchen and an infirmary. Everything is like in a war.
About six minutes later, when it was all over, people were still looking after the receding convoy of vehicles. I went to the square in front of the Berlin Cathedral. Shortly before that, the Russians crushed an old woman there. “She didn’t have enough strength to run away,” eyewitnesses said, “although the car slowed down, it was already too late. At the scene of the incident, a small brick headstone was quickly erected, covered with a black-red-gold flag, and a small wooden cross was placed on top. Migits, Sergei; Agaev, Victor. June 17, 1953: how it was ... // Deutsche Welle, 06/16/2003. .
And here is a small sketch of the events of June 17, 1953 from the memoirs of another Berlin eyewitness:
“On the Lustgarten square, the official site of the SED parades, one can see tank tracks on the torn ground and on the broken sidewalks. Flower beds are crushed by hundreds of feet - and here tanks rolled into the crowd, and people escaped on a large stone platform, where Ulbricht, Pick and Grotewohl usually received ovations. At the very top of the podium sit several weary construction workers with a simple billboard: "For free elections!" Cit. on: Tanks at Stalinallee. On the 40th Anniversary of the Berlin Uprising// Map. Independent Historical Journal, No. 2, 1993. P. 23. .
When the protesters refused to disperse, shooting began. On that day alone on the streets of East Berlin, 29 people were killed and hundreds were injured. Thus, with the help of brute force, the first popular uprising was suppressed in a country that, after the Second World War, found itself in the sphere of Soviet influence. Next in line were Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
Footage of a documentary chronicle of the events of June 17, 1953 in East Berlin:
At 2 p.m. on the radio, Grotewohl read out a government message:
“The measures of the government of the GDR to improve the condition of the people were marked by fascist and other reactionary elements in West Berlin with provocations and serious violations of order in the democratic “Soviet” sector of Berlin. […] The riots […] are the work of provocateurs and fascist agents of foreign powers and their accomplices from the German capitalist monopolies. These forces are dissatisfied with the democratic government in the GDR, which organizes the improvement of the situation of the population. The government calls on the population: to support measures for the immediate restoration of order in the city and create conditions for normal and calm work at enterprises. Those responsible for the riots will be brought to justice and severely punished. We call on the workers and all honest citizens to seize the provocateurs and hand them over to state bodies…” Lavrenov, S. Ya.; Popov, I. M. Chapter 7. The Berlin Crisis of 1953 // The Soviet Union in Local Wars and Conflicts. M.: ACT, 2003. .
Consequences of the uprising
Although the June protests were as much a surprise to West Germany as they were to the leadership of the GDR, the unrest in East Germany was declared by SED functionaries to be the result of foreign interference. The central press organ of the Central Committee of the SED, the newspaper Neues Deutschland, called the incident "an adventure of foreign agents", "a crime of West Berlin provocateurs", "counter-revolutions" directed by West German and American politicians from West Berlin, as well as an "attempted fascist putsch" 17. Juni 1953. Volksaufstand in Ostberlin. Verfasst von Jonatan Landau und Tobias Zehnder. Zurich. 2. June 2000. .
Frightened by the unexpected mass character of the protest and the intransigence of the demonstrators, the party elite directed all efforts to prevent such protests in the future. On July 15, 1953, the Minister of Justice of the GDR Max Fechter was expelled from the party, removed from office and arrested for "anti-party and anti-state behavior". Three days later, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED decided to remove Wilhelm Zeisser from the post of Minister of State Security. At the 15th Plenum of the Central Committee of the SED (July 24-26, 1953), Zeisser was expelled from the Politburo and the Central Committee, and in January 1954 from the party.
In September 1953, the Politburo of the SED Central Committee demanded that the state security agencies find "the organizers and instigators of the fascist coup attempt." The resolution of 23 September also announced new tasks for the Ministry of State Security. It was mainly about the penetration into the camp of the enemy on the territory of West Germany in order to "reveal enemy plans and intentions", as well as the intensification of undercover work inside the GDR "in bourgeois political parties, socio-political mass organizations and church organizations, among the intelligentsia and young people from the purpose of uncovering illegal, anti-democratic organizations and groups and eliminating their subversive activities. The SED Central Committee also drew the attention of the state security organs "to the need to fundamentally strengthen the work in those areas and regions where a concentration of former social democrats, former fascists and bourgeois specialists closely connected with West German interests can be found." In addition, the SED Central Committee demanded that the secret services “identify and expose underground organizations with headquarters in West Germany and West Berlin, operating in Magdeburg, Halle, Leipzig, Dresden, Jena and other cities, where during the provocations of June 17, 1953, the greatest fascist activity" Gieseke, Jens. Die DDR-Staatssicherheit. Schild und Schwert der Partei. 2. Auflage. Berlin, 2006. S. 25. .
In November 1953, the secret services launched Operation Fireworks, in which hundreds of alleged "agents" were arrested. In addition, in the same autumn, between 600 and 700 people were kidnapped in West Berlin and taken to the communist sphere of influence. On December 9, 1953, in response to the events of June 17, "combat squads" were created ( Kampfgruppen), whose members took an oath to "defend the achievements of the state of workers and peasants with weapons in hand." One of the main areas of work of the special services, in addition to strengthening espionage on the territory of the western neighbor, was henceforth the fight against "internal enemies" Ibid. pp. 25-27. .
The main consequences of the uprising, therefore, were the strengthening of the East German state security organs, the growth of repression and the fight against dissent, as well as the growing isolationism of the GDR, which finally embodied in the strengthening and closing of the state border on August 13, 1961.
Already in the summer of 1953, the day of June 17 was announced in Germany as the "Day of German Unity" (in 1990, the day in connection with the unification of Germany, this day became October 3). In memory of the uprising, Charlottenburgerallee, leading to the Brandenburg Gate along the Tiergarten park, was renamed "June 17th Street". After the unification of the country in June 1993, the Memorial was opened on Leipzigerstrasse in front of the former "House of Ministries" on June 17, 1953.
Every year in Germany, the number of memorable events and publications related to the June events of 1953 is growing. In the federal states, exhibitions and special projects are constantly organized that systematize information about the chronicle of protests on the ground, thematic public discussions and meetings with witnesses of the events are held. Video and audio recordings of eyewitness accounts, photographs, didactic materials for schools, etc. are regularly published on the Internet. Of great importance for expanding the collective memory of the June 17 uprising are events dedicated to the anniversary of the events. Thus, in Berlin, the leaders of the country and representatives of public organizations annually lay wreaths at the Seestrasse cemetery, where Berliners who died during the uprising are buried. Special commemorative events are held in the Bundestag on the occasion of the anniversary of the popular uprising in the GDR.
The importance of efforts to comprehend the events of June 1953 in the public sphere is evidenced by the data of opinion polls. So, in the early 2000s, polls revealed a rather low awareness of German citizens about this memorable date. In particular, in the course of a survey conducted by the Emnid public opinion research institute in June 2001, it turned out that only 43% of the respondents knew about what happened on June 16-17, 1953 in the GDR (at the same time, among those under 29 years old, no could answer the question correctly 82%) Allgemeine Wissenslücke // Der Spiegel 25/2001. . However, already three years later, and immediately after Germany celebrated the 50th anniversary of the uprising in June 2003, a survey by the Society for Social Research and Statistical Analysis "forsa" showed that the number of competent citizens had increased to 68%. It is noteworthy that the strongest growth was observed in the youngest audience: if before the anniversary date in early June, 72% found it difficult to answer the question of what happened on June 17, 1953, then at the end of the month - only 37% The survey was conducted by the Society for Social Research and Statistics analysis "forsa" June 20-23, 2003, commissioned by the Federal Fund for Reflection on the SED Dictatorship. .
For the 60th anniversary of the uprising in 2013, the German Federal Foundation for Reflection on the SED Dictatorship prepared a special exhibition "". On January 29, 2013, the exhibition opened at the Federal Ministry of Finance of Germany, located today in the same former "House of Ministries" on Leipzigerstrasse in Berlin. During the year, which is held in the German capital under the theme "", the exhibition will also be presented at other city venues. In addition, it will be shown this year in more than 260 cities and towns across the country.
Evgeniya Lyozina
On the history of one "popular uprising". How the counter-revolutionary coup failed in the GDR
From the editor:
58 years ago, events took place in the German Democratic Republic, which in modern official historiography are called "mass anti-government demonstrations", even a "popular uprising". The interpretation of events is categorical: the German people, having lived for several years under the yoke of the damned communists, could not stand it and rebelled, because they did not have the strength to endure, etc. Any other point of view on those events is defame. We won't be surprised if in today's Germany the FRG introduces some law that provides for criminal liability for public denial of the "crimes of communism", as is done, for example, in Lithuania. This is quite in the spirit of the "Freedom and Democracy" ™ that those in power stuff us with.
Today we publish three articles that reflect a different view of the events in the GDR in 1953. These are translations of original materials published in the magazine "KI-Informationen" of the German party "Communist Initiative" ("Kommunistische Initiative"). You will get acquainted with the facts and opinions that are carefully hushed up in the "free" media.
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Speech at a meeting of the Central Committee of the SED on July 24/26, 1953
Max Reimann
Comrades!
Have we correctly assessed - I put this question before the Central Committee - in view of the seriousness of the current political situation, our task as a party?
I will say openly: no. Not right.
Weren't we aware of the plans of the USA and their "offspring" in Bonn? Of course they were famous!
Didn't we know anything about the preparation of "Day X"? Of course we knew about it!
Didn't we understand what the military treaty between Bonn and Paris meant? Against! We often talked about it a lot.
Didn't we know the bosses and their puppets from the Eastern bureau, from the Bonn parties like Hildebrant, Tillich, Venus, Trotskyists? All this was known to us.
What have we done to increase the ability of the working class and the rest of the population, thirsting for peace, to repel military provocations? Instead of making an effort to explain to the masses the political reasons for the appearance of provocateurs, in these decisive days we analyzed the mistakes of our SED. It seems to me, comrades, that in this way we have committed our most important and decisive mistake.
Is it possible at a time when our enemy, when the American warmongers, following a cunning provocative plan, are trying their best to prevent the achievement of mutual understanding among the Germans and between the great powers, to see our main task in speaking to the public in the press, on radio and in meetings, to discuss our own mistakes, the mistakes of the SED and the government of the GDR? What was to come of it? This could only disorientate, demobilize the workers and the people in the face of our main enemy: American and German imperialism. This only distorted the policy of the SED and the government of the GDR, always aimed at the peaceful reunification of Germany, the achievement of mutual understanding between the Germans and the four victorious countries, the peaceful settlement of the German question and the improvement of the standard of living of workers working in the GDR. Since we made our mistakes the basis of new measures for the speedy restoration of German unity, we thereby gave the provocateurs the opportunity to confuse the workers and force them into actions contrary to their will, directed against themselves. In addition, we misled the vast majority of our party, the SED, and the rest of the workers in western Germany, which the Adenauer government and people like Venus and Brand did not fail to take advantage of.
Comrades!
Criticism and self-criticism, of course, are the highest principle for every Marxist-Leninist party, and it is undeniable that it is necessary to speak openly about the mistakes made, analyze their causes and make decisions so as not to repeat these mistakes in the future. But criticism and self-criticism are not produced in a vacuum. They must serve to educate the Party and the masses. As the events of June 17 clearly demonstrated to us, this did not serve to educate, but to mislead the Party and the masses.
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About the author:
Max Reimann (1898-1977) - since 1948 the chairman of the KKE in the FRG. In 1954, due to the intensified persecution of the Communists and the order for his arrest, Reimann moved to the GDR, from where he continued to lead the KPD. After the KKE was banned in 1954, he became its first secretary. After returning to Germany in 1968 and resolving the activities of the DKP, he becomes its honorary chairman.
Articles translated by Nikita Main
Oleg Cheslavsky
journalist
Oleg Cheslavsky, journalist
The first uprising against the Soviet invaders did not happen at all in Hungary, as we thought earlier. And all because even today the events in Germany in 1953 remain classified as secret ...
In an amazing, absolutely strange way, but thanks to the Kremlin propagandists, we know practically nothing about the uprising in Geramnia in 1953. A truly popular uprising against the Soviet occupiers and their henchmen was either erased from memory, or called an attempt at "fascist revenge" or in general, in the manner of the word in which the occupation is called "annexation" in Russia - "events".
It cannot be said that the uprising against the invaders began on June 17, 1953. The Germans by nature are no less passionate than the representatives of the Slavic nations. And, what is much worse, the Germans, consciously, are much more law-abiding. Therefore, bringing them to the boiling point took 8 years.
The population of the part of Germany occupied by the USSR was not particularly favored by the new owners. Having received, as a result of the war, an entire army of scientists and skilled workers, so necessary for the modernization of weapons, became the property. The Kremlin immediately began to actively exploit them. The occupied part of Germany was turned into a platform for heavy industry, while not forgetting to create conditions for slaves that correspond to Orthodox canons.
The Germans, who do not accept highly spiritual braces, did not quite understand why they should live in poverty and receive food on cards. They also did not share their joy at the constant rise in food prices, the shortage of which the puppet leadership of the country explained by the intrigues of agents of the West. Parallel developing "witch hunt", namely "agents of the West" led to overcrowding in prisons. By 1953, there were already about 60,000 people in them!
But all this did not affect the consciousness of the masses as much as the fact that the part of Germany free from the USSR was developing at such an insane pace, as the country's welfare was growing. The Germans from the occupied part could not calmly watch this, and therefore they began to frankly flee from the socialist paradise. In 1952, 180,000 people fled to the FRG, and by the end of June 1953, 226,000.
However, the last straw that inspired the Germans to revolt was an increase in production rates by 10%.
On May 14, 1953, at the plenum of the Central Committee of the SED, a decision was made "to increase the output standards for workers in order to combat economic difficulties." This decision meant an increase in production rates by 10% (and in some areas - up to 30%) without a corresponding increase in wages. On May 28, the decision of the Central Committee was published in the following wording:
“The government of the German Democratic Republic welcomes the initiative of the workers to raise output standards. It thanks all the workers who raised their standards for their great patriotic cause. At the same time, it responds to the wishes of the workers to revise and raise the standards.
The German workers could not stand such a frank lie, the discontent in the working environment, caused mainly by an arbitrary increase in output rates, reached a critical point on June 9, a strike against an increase in output rates was announced by the steelworkers in Hennigsdorf. The administration of the enterprise appointed a bonus of 1000 marks for identifying the leaders of the strike, five of them were arrested.
It is interesting that the Kremlin saw the situation that determined the causes of the uprising in a completely different way! I quote:
“The Soviet Union was given a territory that suffered more during the war and had a much lower industrial and economic potential than the western zones of occupation. In accordance with the Marshall Plan, the United States invested billions of dollars in investment-attractive industries, while saving its own economy from overheating.
Great Britain and France also pursued their selfish goals in Germany. According to intelligence data from Soviet intelligence, France considered the possibility of tearing away part of western Germany - the Saar and joining its territory.
The Soviet Union could not invest in the GDR because there was nothing to invest. Our cities and villages lay in ruins, the entire industrial region in the west of the country was destroyed and required restoration. Soviet leaders counted heavily on reparation payments and damages from Germany. This was provided for by the decisions of the Potsdam Conference of the victorious countries, according to which it was planned to receive for the USSR from the western zones of occupation a fantastic amount of 20 billion dollars at that time.
The picture, as you can see, is completely opposite to the real one. Offended, or even offended by the fact that they did not get the whole of Germany, the "victors of fascism", simply did not know what to do with it. And what they were not going to do was to invest in the country that they brazenly robbed, taking everything of value to the USSR after WWII.
Soviet propaganda described the German uprising as prepared by the West, or as an attempt at revenge by the Nazis! Here is what the Soviet media wrote about the causes of the uprising:
“The largest propaganda centers, headquarters of intelligence services and subversive organizations are located in Germany. In addition to collecting information, they created underground armed groups for operations on the territory of the GDR. Direct preparations for "Day X" began in the spring of 1953, immediately after the Bundestag ratified the treaty on Germany's accession to NATO.
On June 12, 1953, a massive buy-up of shares in enterprises expropriated in the GDR was allowed in West Germany. In mid-June, CIA Director A. Dulles, Special Adviser to the US Secretary of State for West Berlin E. Lansing-Dulles, and Chief of Staff of the US Army General Ridgway went to West Berlin to direct the actions of the "workers' uprising" on the spot. On June 17, the Minister for Intra-German Problems, J. Kaiser, the chairman of the CDU / CSU faction in the Bundestag, H. von Brentano, and the chairman of the SPD, E. Ollenhauer, also arrived here.
On the night of June 16-17, the RIAS radio station began broadcasting calls for organizing a general strike in the GDR. A large number of intelligence officers, including armed ones, were introduced into the territory of the GDR.
On June 17, 1953, many industrial enterprises in Berlin and other cities stopped working. Street demonstrations began. The West German authorities provided transport for the transfer of demonstrators. They entered the territory of East Berlin in columns of up to 500-600 people. Even special American military broadcasting machines were used.
During the demonstrations, specially trained groups, which were operatively controlled from West Berlin, showed particular activity. The demonstrators had political slogans: the overthrow of the government and the liquidation of the SED.
Pogroms of party institutions and desecration of party and state symbols were organized. The crowd cracked down on some functionaries of the party and state apparatus, activists of the labor movement. The street riots included arson and looting, as well as attacks on police stations and prisons. In Halle, the former commandant of the Nazi camp E. Dorn was released from prison.
The coolest batch - huh? And joining NATO is not for you, and the eternal, textbook enemy of the Kremlin is Dulles. And sound machines and armed groups, and even the liberated commandant of a concentration camp!!!
I would like to tell you more about the "commandant". The identity of the woman who was sentenced to death by the district court in Halle on June 22, 1953 has not been established! The very case of the “commandant of the concentration camp”, Erna Dorn, who allegedly spoke on June 17 in Halle with “fascist tirades”, was sewn with white thread, since the real commandant of the Ravensbrück concentration camp, Gertrude Rabestein, was serving her sentence in prison in Waldheim in June 1953, and could not take part in the uprising!
So what really happened?
The June uprising of 1953 in the part of Germany occupied by the USSR was nationwide. More than a million people in more than 700 German cities took to the streets. Starting as a social protest on the streets of Berlin, the uprising in a matter of hours grew into mass demonstrations against the occupying authorities and their puppets throughout the country. Strikes and demonstrations were accompanied by political demands for freedom, democracy and the unification of Germany.
Here is one of the "criminal" demands of the workers:
“The workers of the Bitterfeld region demand the immediate resignation of the government that came to power through electoral manipulation, the formation of an interim democratic government, free and secret elections in four months, the withdrawal of the German police from the zonal borders and immediate passage for all Germans, the immediate release of political prisoners, immediate normalization of living standards without wage cuts, admittance of all major German democratic parties, non-punishment of strikers, immediate disbandment of the so-called people's army, permission to organize the parties that exist in West Germany.
As you can see, the demands were absolutely unacceptable, and behind each of the letters of the demand, at least one fascist army was hiding.
But back to the uprising.
On June 15, a delegation of the builders of the Friedrichshain Hospital on the Landsbergerallee in East Berlin arrived at the "House of Ministries" and handed over to the assistant chairman of the Council of Ministers Grotewohl a petition from 300 builders demanding the abolition of the working volume of labor and a reduction in wages.
The answer to the demands of the workers was an article in the trade union newspaper Tribuna, which was published the next day. The article defended the increase in production rates, and the words that “the decisions to increase the rates are completely correct” were taken as an insult by the builders and went on strike. About 10,000 people went to the "House of Ministries", where a spontaneous rally began.
Information about the strikes quickly spread throughout Germany occupied by the USSR, which caused the next day, on the morning of June 17, the uprising swept the whole country.
The most massive was the performance of the workers in Berlin. On the morning of June 17, workers began to gather at factories, form columns and head for the city center with slogans: "Down with the government!", "Down with the People's Police!" “We do not want to be slaves, we want to be free people!”, “For free elections!”, “Russians, get out!”.
The Germans who rebelled against the invaders destroyed the symbols of Soviet power everywhere. The Soviet occupation authorities reacted most sharply to the fact that the red flag was torn down at the Brandenburg Gate. The occupiers declared a state of emergency and brought in troops.
An ultimatum was sounded on the radio:
“In order to restore order, a state of emergency is introduced from 13.00. It is forbidden to hold any demonstrations, do not gather for more than three, do not go out at night, violators of the order will be punished according to the laws of wartime.
Soviet tanks entered the German cities. The demonstrators did not immediately understand the seriousness of the invaders' intentions and at first greeted the Soviet tanks with slogans like "Ivan, go home!" and threw stones at them. The situation changed when the invaders opened fire on the unarmed crowd. According to official figures, 29 people died on the streets of East Berlin that day alone, hundreds were injured. In general, information about the number of victims was especially classified, and therefore today no one knows how many Germans died under the tracks of Soviet tanks.
In total, 16 divisions participated in the suppression of unrest, of which only in Berlin, three divisions with 600 tanks. On the evening of June 17, about 20,000 Soviet soldiers and 15,000 barracks police officers were active in the city.
Very indicative was Grotewohl's speech on the radio, who described the events as follows:
“The measures of the government of the GDR to improve the condition of the people were marked by fascist and other reactionary elements in West Berlin with provocations and serious violations of order in the democratic “Soviet” sector of Berlin. The disturbances are the work of provocateurs and fascist agents of foreign powers and their accomplices from the German capitalist monopolies. These forces are dissatisfied with the democratic government in the GDR, which organizes the improvement of the situation of the population. The government calls on the population: to support measures for the immediate restoration of order in the city and create conditions for normal and calm work at enterprises. Those responsible for the riots will be brought to justice and severely punished. We call on the workers and all honest citizens to seize the provocateurs and hand them over to the state authorities.”
Judging by the number of propaganda clichés, this text was written in the Kremlin and carefully put into the mouth of a representative of the puppet "people's" government.
The words sounded on the radio of the GDR, which solemnly announced:
“People's police units and the Soviet occupation authorities crushed the putsch in just a few hours. The provocateurs who penetrated from West Berlin were arrested. It was not a demonstration of workers that was suppressed, it was the action of bandits that was suppressed.”
The workers became bandits. Putsch uprising.
In the Soviet Historical Encyclopedia, the events of June 17, 1953 in the GDR were characterized as follows:
“The construction of socialism in the GDR was carried out in an atmosphere of fierce class struggle. The imperialist countries widely used West Berlin as a base for subversive activities. The hostile elements, relying on the support of West Germany, the United States and other imperialist countries, tried to use the difficulties of socialist construction to restore the capitalist order in the GDR. To this end, on June 17, 1953, a fascist putsch was provoked. As a result of the energetic rebuff of the population, primarily the working class, and the help of the Soviet Army, this putsch was successfully liquidated.
Bertolt Brecht described the consequences of the uprising with a very ironic poem "Decision":
"After the uprising on June 17
By order of the Secretary of the Writers' Union
Leaflets were distributed at Stalinallee,
which stated that the people
Lost the trust of the government
And he could only get it back with double the work.
Wouldn't it be easier for the government
Disband the people
And choose a new one?
Summing up
The uprising in Germany, which the Kremlin’s puppets called “fascist adventure”, “fascist provocation”, “fascist day X” or “fascist putsch attempt”, which was undertaken by “fascist provocateurs”, became the very starting point, after which it became clear that the collapse communist despotism is inevitable. It became clear that such a regime could exist only in the presence of a bloody despot, which was Stalin all this time. Stalin's death marked the end of the Red Empire.
P.S. It is noteworthy that the first uprising took place in a country that is located as far as possible to the West from Moscow. So say after this that the neighborhood with Russia does not affect the mentality of the people in any way ...
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60 years ago, on June 15, 1953, the builders of the Friedrichshain hospital in East Berlin refused to go to work, going on strike. The workers demanded the abolition of the increase in the norms of daily output. On June 16, a rumor spread in the city that the police were occupying the construction site of the hospital. Builders from different parts of Berlin, united in a large column, went first to the building of trade unions, and then to the Ministry of Industry.
The minister, who came out to the workers, talked about returning the previous production standards, but few people listened to him - speakers began to speak at the rally, who put forward political demands: the unification of Germany, free elections and the release of political prisoners. The crowd of those gathered demanded the First Secretary of the SED, Walter Ulbricht, but he did not come. The workers moved to the Stalin-alley area, where elite mansions were being built for new party bosses. The demonstrators recaptured one of the cars with loudspeakers from the police and used it to call people to a general strike. On the morning of June 17, about ten thousand people gathered for a rally on Strausberger Square. The slogans of the demonstrators were: “Down with the government! Down with the People's Police!" "We don't want to be slaves, we want to be free!" The crowd began to destroy police stations, buildings of party and state bodies, burn kiosks with communist newspapers, and destroy symbols of communist power. Thus began the famous Berlin Uprising of 1953.
The causes of the crisis in East Germany are the most common - the Ulbricht government decided to build the so-called. "socialism" on the Soviet model. "Accepted - decided" and the state machine started working: following the example of the "big brother", peasants were forcibly driven into agricultural cooperatives (collectivization), industrial workers began to regularly increase the norms and fined for the slightest offense, reduced wages. "The country is building a socialist future!" It did not take into account either the location of the country, or the mentality of the Germans, or the real possibilities of industry in the country devastated by the war.
The recruitment of young people into the barracks police intensified, and the principles of voluntariness were violated. The collection of taxes from private enterprises and peasants was accompanied by coercive measures, up to bringing non-payers to criminal liability. On the basis of the law "On the Protection of People's Property", thousands of people were arrested and sentenced to 1-3 years for the slightest violation of the law. In the first half of 1953, 51,276 people were convicted of various forms of misconduct. Traditionally for the communists, the church was pressed down by administrative measures.
The Germans responded with a massive exodus to the West. During the first half of 1953, 185,327 people fled the GDR. The policy of prohibition and violence has led to interruptions in the supply of food, basic necessities, fuel and energy to the population. On April 19, 1953, the prices of products containing sugar were raised.
The events of June 1953 became a natural reaction to all of the above.
By the evening of June 17, the building of the Ministry of Industry was destroyed, the top leaders of the party, who almost fell into the hands of the rebels, hastily evacuated under the protection of the Soviet military garrison in Karlhorst. The city was completely in the hands of the demonstrators. Very quickly, the uprising spread throughout the territory of the Republic. Strike committees were organized at the factories, the editorial offices of newspapers and the buildings of local committees of the SED were seized. Hundreds of government buildings, prisons, the buildings of the Ministry of Security and the Ministry of Police were besieged and stormed. About 1,400 people were released. According to official sources, 17 SED functionaries were killed and 166 wounded. Between 3 and 4 million East Germans took part in the unrest.
To salvage their desperate situation, the party elite of the GDR turned to the Soviet military command for help. The principal decision on armed intervention was made in Moscow on the evening of the 16th. By that time, about 20,000 Soviet troops were on the territory of the GDR. Lavrenty Beria urgently arrived in Berlin.
Soviet tanks and units of the so-called Soviet troops moved against the protesters. "People's Police". A state of emergency was declared. Fire was opened on a crowd of demonstrators who tried to throw stones at tanks and break antennas. Clashes between demonstrators and Soviet troops and police continued until the evening of June 17, and the next morning they began again. They fired in Berlin until 23 June.
According to official data in 1953, 55 people died, including 4 women and 6 teenagers from 14 to 17 years old. 34 people were shot dead in the streets, 5 were executed by the Soviet occupation administration, two were executed by the GDR authorities. On the part of the authorities, 5 people were killed.
In 1990, documents were declassified, from which it followed that there were twice as many victims - about 125 people. It turned out that the supreme military commissar had received instructions from Moscow to execute indicatively at least 12 instigators and publish their names in the press. The first to be shot was 36-year-old artist Willy Gettling, the father of two children. Now modern German researchers say that the scale of repression was relatively small, given what forces were thrown by the Soviet leadership to suppress the uprising.
The uprising pretty much frightened Moscow and made Ulbricht's position only stronger - he purged the ranks, got rid of the opposition in the party, and began to rule the country more harshly. On June 21, they canceled the decision to return the old production standards, then they raised food prices. In 1954, the Soviet government abolished the occupation regime and the GDR gained sovereignty. The Berlin uprising of 1953 was the first popular uprising in the countries of the socialist camp, which was suppressed with the help of military force.
“It became clear to the rebels that they were left alone. There were deep doubts about the sincerity of Western policy. The contradiction between big words and small deeds was remembered by everyone and benefited those in power. In the end, people began to settle down as best they could" (Willi Brandt, former Chancellor of Germany)
