Commemorative event on 17 June
Wreath-laying ceremony at the memorial to the victims of Stalinism
The 64th anniversary of the 1953 uprising in the GDR will be commemorated with a public memorial event in Chemnitz on Saturday, 17 June 2017. The event is dedicated to the persecuted and victims in the Soviet occupation zone in the years 1945 to 1949 and later in the GDR, as well as to all victims of Stalinist dictatorships after 1945. The event is organised by the Association of Victims of Stalinism.
The public memorial event, to which the people of Chemnitz are cordially invited, will begin at 11 a.m. with a wreath-laying ceremony at the memorial stele on the site opposite the district court (Hohe Straße 23). The Halmstadt gneiss memorial erected there in 1999 bears the inscription "To the victims of tyranny 1945 - 1989".
Holker Thierfeld, Chairman of the Association of Former Political Prisoners, Association of Victims of Stalinism / Chemnitz District Group, welcomes those present. Words of remembrance were spoken by Lord Mayor Barbara Ludwig and members of the state parliament Hanka Kliese and Alexander Dierks.