Editor:
Presscouncil City of Chemnitz
Pressrelease: 368

In memory of the victims of arbitrariness and persecution

Mayor Ludwig speaks on Monday, 11 a.m., at the public commemorative event to mark the 60th anniversary of the popular uprising of 17 June 1953 Kaßberg Prison Learning and Memorial Site Association invites visitors to guided tours

The 60th anniversary of the popular uprising of 17 June 1953 in the GDR will be commemorated in Chemnitz on Monday, 17 June 2013 with a public commemoration event starting at 11 a.m. with a wreath-laying ceremony at the memorial stele on the site opposite the district court (Hohe Straße 23). Mayor Barbara Ludwig, the Chemnitz BStU branch director Dr Clemens Heitmann and representatives of the Chemnitz district group of the Association of Victims of Stalinism will be among the participants in the commemorative event.

The Mayor of Chemnitz will give a speech in memory of the victims of 17 June 1953 and all victims of arbitrariness and persecution in the Soviet occupation zone and the GDR and calls on the people of Chemnitz to take part in the event. A contemporary witness and member of the Chemnitz district group of the Association of Victims of Stalinism will also speak at the commemorative event.

According to the VOS Chemnitz district group, the annual commemorative event on the Kaßberg in Chemnitz is dedicated to the memory of the participants and victims of the popular uprising of 17 June 1953, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. At the same time, 17 June 2013 will once again be used as an opportunity to remember all those persecuted and victims of the Soviet military administration in the Soviet occupation zone between 1945 and 1949 and in the GDR, and those affected and contemporary witnesses will talk about their personal fates.

Guided tour: On the Monday morning before the commemorative event from 9 to 10.30 a.m., the Kaßberg Prison Learning and Memorial Site Association will be offering the opportunity to visit an exhibition on 17 June 1953 on the grounds of the former MfS prison (Kaßbergstraße entrance) and to participate in aguided tour of the exhibition. June 1953 and take part in guided tours of the former prison.

Memorial stele: The Halmstadt gneiss memorial stele erected on the Hohe Straße site in 1999 bears the inscription "To the victims of tyranny 1945-1989".

Contact: Holker Thierfeld, Chairman of VOS-Chemnitz, Müllerstraße 12, 09113 Chemnitz, phone 0371/ 808 23 810, e-mail Holker_Thierfeld@web.de