3rd Event in the Series “After National Socialism a Second German Dictatorship? On the Establishment of Dictatorship in the GDR”
After National Socialism, a second German dictatorship? How was it possible that after the dark times of fascism, a second dictatorship followed seamlessly—one extending directly out of the other, as Herta Müller writes: “Fascism into Stalinism, after Stalin’s death in 1953 into post-Stalinism, which until 1989 was called the building of socialism.”
To understand people’s withdrawal and the seemingly low level of resistance, one must understand the methods used to enforce the dictatorship. The SED henchmen imposed the dictatorship of the proletariat with severity. Those who resisted were undermined, imprisoned, expelled, sentenced, and executed. In 1950, the Soviet Union reintroduced the death penalty. Until Stalin’s death in 1953, more than 1,000 death sentences were handed down and carried out in central Germany. One of the victims was the student Herbert Belter, to whom this series is dedicated.
IN GERMAN
Additional information
Participating artists
Dr. Stefan Donth
