Bishop Feige: Defend Democracy - Memories of June 17th!

Bishop Feige: Defend Democracy - Memories of June 17th!

Stendal, Deutschland - On June 17, 1953, the GDR had an uprising that went into the history books. The popular uprising, as an important democratic mass movement, was recently recognized by Bishop Gerhard Feige in the Magdeburg Cathedral. On the occasion of the anniversary, he made it clear how important it is that each one contributes to democracy. Feige described this day as "memorable" and emphasized the challenges that democracy is facing nowadays, as various reports confirm, including that of Meine-kirchenzeitung.de .

The uprising itself was the result of growing dissatisfaction in the GDR, which was triggered by 10 % by an arrangement to increase work standards. On June 17, 1953, this measure led to more than a million people in over 700 cities and municipalities. In East Berlin, more than 100,000 people who demanded the resignation of the government, free elections and the withdrawal of the Soviets, reports the . .

The events of the popular uprising

The protesters who had endured terrible stormed police areas, SED buildings and detention centers. The paramilitary barracked folk police was overwhelmed with the situation. At around 1 p.m., the Soviet military commander ordered the state of emergency in a large part of the GDR. Ultimately, the brutal measures led to over 50, possibly even more than 100 people, lost their lives and 15,000. The leadership of the GDR, put under pressure through the protests, finally raised the Normer heights and improved the living conditions by raising wages and promoting food production, as from Deutschlandmuseum.de illustrated.

At the memorial event, the deputy Prime Minister Armin Willingmann (SPD) also expressed his concern about the current state of democracy and warned of a potential loss. He emphasized that the problem of democracy is not only outside of Germany. Historian Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk, who grew up in the GDR, criticized the SED dictatorship. Kowalczuk, who also works as a project manager in the Stasi documents archive, emphasized the need to defend democracy and critically commented on the AfD and the BSW. He described Germany as one of the freest and safest countries.

A look at the story

The events of June 17, 1953 represent a failed revolution, the history of which are now being researched in detail. The official interpretation of the uprising as a "fascist western coup attempt" shows how deep the trenches between east and west were. In the West, on the other hand, the uprising was seen as a symbol of the will of freedom of the East Germans, which ultimately led to the fact that June 17th in the Federal Republic of Germany was declared a "Day of German Unity" as a statutory holiday.

It was not an easy way to democracy, and Bishop Feige reminds us that each of us is asked to work for the values that we consider important.