Commemorative event marking the 73rd anniversary of the popular uprising in the GDR

On Wednesday 17 June at 11 a.m., the City of Chemnitz, together with the Association of Victims of Stalinism (Vereinigung der Opfer des Stalinismus e. V.) and the Kaßberg Prison Learning and Memorial Centre (Lern- und Gedenkort Kaßberg-Gefängnis e. V.), will commemorate the 1953 popular uprising in the GDR at the memorial site, Kaßbergstraße 16c, the 1953 popular uprising in the GDR.

Interested members of the public are invited to attend.

Alongside Lord Mayor Sven Schulze, Dr Nancy Aris, Saxony’s Commissioner for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship, and Christoph Magirius, an honorary citizen of the city of Chemnitz and a key figure in the Peaceful Revolution, will address the guests.
The event will be accompanied by music from two string players from the Chemnitz Music School.


Background

The commemorative event is dedicated to those who suffered political persecution in the Soviet Occupation Zone between 1945 and 1949 and in the subsequent GDR, as well as to all victims of Stalinist-style dictatorships after 1945. Around 17 June 1953, numerous strikes, mass demonstrations and political protests took place in almost all East German cities, leading to bloody clashes with the GDR security forces and being violently suppressed by the military and police.