The play illuminates the destroyed villages in the GDR restricted area

The play illuminates the destroyed villages in the GDR restricted area

The memory of the forced resettlements in the former GDR will come alive when the premiere of the play “The razed houses in the border area tell” takes place on June 26th at 6:30 p.m. in the former US camp at the Point Alpha memorial in Rasdorf. The focus is on Stalinist practices and the fate of the residents whose villages were demolished in the restricted area. The tickets are free, which should attract many interested people. The play is staged by students from Hünfeld and the Landestheater Eisenach and provides a unique first-person insight into the former buildings that were affected by forced relocations. Director Stephan Rumpf and dramaturge Juliane Stückrad integrate the descriptions of the suffering residents in order to prevent forgetting and to document the destruction on the inner-German border. The basis of the project is the book “For Your Own Safety” by Wolfgang Christmann and Bruno Leister, who will be present at the premiere to answer questions and bring the audience closer to the topic, reports antennethueringen.de.

Our neighbors in Thuringia know that the forced relocations during the “Aktion Verziefer” in the 1950s had a profound effect on the population. These secret and meticulously planned measures by the Ministry of State Security affected around 10,000 people, and there was neither a legal basis nor fair compensation. Many of those affected who lived near the heavily guarded border were expelled from their home villages under the pretext of “security”. In addition, there are no excuses and no reversal for those who have lost their homes, reports mdr.de.

The shadows of the past

Countless villages between the Rhön and the Baltic Sea were not spared from the forced relocation. A direct result of these brutal operations was the closure and destruction of communities to enable the expansion of border security facilities. Those affected often had to move to new, unfamiliar places under deplorable conditions, where they were labeled criminals by neighbors. Even today, it happens that relatives of these tragic fates are reminded of the events and ask what really happened to their ancestors. This doesn't get any better when you consider that there were no fair compensation payments for lost property in the 1950s, according to mdr.de.

It is also worth reporting that the forced resettlements on the inner-German border area did not just take place in a large wave. Isolated forced relocations continued in the 1970s and 1980s. In particular, the “Cornflower Operation” in 1961 led to the resettlement of around 2,000 people. The villages affected by these actions were often left with nothing more than gray desert, while the historic buildings and caves faded unnoticed under the dust of the past. According to Wikipedia, during the period of forced resettlement, both the self-employed and farmers who were labeled “politically unreliable” were expelled. The reports of denunciations and the authorities' arbitrary assessment of those affected did not make the situation any better and will be part of the narrative in the play, which will soon premiere.

The stories of these injustices may still resonate as painful memories some 30 years after the fall of the Wall, but the play in Rasdorf gives a living voice to the words and memories of the villagers left behind. The hope is that after the performance, the audience will be left not only with a new understanding, but also with a sense of responsibility for the culture of remembrance, as antennethueringen.de notes.

Anyone who would like to find out more about the background to the forced relocations will find useful insights here start.de, mdr.de, and Wikipedia.