On Wednesday 17 June at 11 a.m., the City of Chemnitz, together with the Association of Victims of Stalinism and the Kaßberg Prison Learning and Memorial Centre, will commemorate the popular uprising in the GDR in 1953 at the memorial site at Kaßbergstraße 16c.
Interested citizens and representatives of the media are invited to attend.
In addition to Lord Mayor Sven Schulze, Dr Nancy Aris, Saxon State Commissioner for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship, and Christoph Magirius, honorary citizen of the city of Chemnitz and co-creator of the Peaceful Revolution, will address greetings to the guests.
The event will be accompanied by music from two string players from the Chemnitz Music School.
Afterwards, school classes from year 10 onwards will have the opportunity to visit the Kaßberg prison learning and memorial site and talk to contemporary witnesses. Registration is required at protokoll(at)stadt-chemnitz.de.
Background
The memorial event is dedicated to those politically persecuted in the Soviet occupation zone between 1945 and 1949 and the later GDR as well as all victims of Stalinist dictatorships after 1945. Around 17 June 1953, there were numerous strikes, mass demonstrations and political protests in almost all East German cities, which led to bloody clashes with the GDR security forces and were violently ended by the military and police.