TCEH
Created 12/26/1997
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TCEHCreated 12/26/1997 |
After the [East German workers'] uprising of June 17, [1953,]
The Secretary of the Writers' Union
Had leaflets distributed in the Stalinallee
In which it was said that the people
Had lost the confidence of the government
And could win it back only
By redoubled efforts.In that case,
Would it not be simpler
If the government
Dissolved the people
And elected another?--Bertolt Brecht
Note that this was a very private poem. Brecht, even though he held a "western" passport, was very cautious in public: his public comments on the suppression of the demonstrations were very, very different. For example:
"National Prize Laureate Bertolt Brecht has sent the General Secretary [i.e., the leader] of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity [i.e., East German Communist] Party, Walter Ulbricht, a letter, in which he declared: 'I need to express to you at this moment [i.e., of the suppression of the workers' demonstrations] my allegiance with the Socialist Unity Party of Germany." Neues Deutschland, June 21, 1953.
"As it became clear to me [Brecht] on the morning of June 17 that the demonstration of workers was being misused for purposes of war [by NATO against the Communist Bloc], I expressed my allegiance to the Socialist Unity Party. I hope, now that the provocateurs have been isolated and their communication network destroyed, that workers who demonstrated in legitimate dissatisfaction are not placed on the same level [as the CIA-sponsored provocateurs behind the demonstrations]." Neues Deutschland, June 23, 1953.
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Professor of Economics J. Bradford DeLong, 601 Evans, #3880 University of California at Berkeley Berkeley, CA 94720-3880 (510) 643-4027 phone (510) 642-6615 fax delong@econ.berkeley.edu http://www.j-bradford-delong.net/ |
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