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published in connection with the new political course in There were no demonstrations in Berlin.
the GDR, is directed at defending the interests of the The organizers of riots and strikes intended to seize
private sector [and] the kulaks and not those of the power and abolish the democratic regime in GDR.
workers. They say that the SED has been reborn, having The demonstrators, headed and instigated by provoca-
taken the path of supporting the bourgeoisie. In the teurs, broke into premises occupied by the SED and units
districts of Neubrandenburg and Suhl, the withdrawal of of the Ministry of State Security of GDR as well as state-
several hundred peasants from [agricultural] collective owned shops, released convicts from the prisons, at-
[production] cooperatives has been noted. tempted to capture some administrative buildings and
In the district of Steglitz, in the American sector of important municipal facilities such as banks, post offices,
Berlin the regional committee of the SED has been broken telegraph offices, [and] power stations. There were some
up. The first secretary of the regional committee, Pirsch, beatings and dispersals of the units of people s police and
and regional committee employee Firman were arrested workers who went on with their work and did not want to
and taken away in an undisclosed direction. take part in the strikes.
West Berlin newspapers speak of the arrival in West The attitude of [the East] German people towards the
Berlin of the American High Commissioner, Conant, and events of 17-19 June 1953 has varied. The most progres-
the deputies of the English and French High Commission- sive part of German population has been outraged by the
ers. The exchange rate of the Eastern mark has remained actions of the West Berlin provocateurs. Some Germans
stable throughout all of these days and has stood at 1:5.40. have been indifferent to the events. Others have welcomed
On June 20, the Berlin military commandants permit- them. A significant strata of society are satisfied with the
ted theatre and movie operations until 9 p.m. most recent decisions of the GDR government aimed at
improving the living standard of German people.
[Source: AVP RF, f. 082, op. 41, por.. 93, p. 280, ll. 37-39.
The bourgeois parties have responded very coldly to
Translated by Benjamin Aldrich-Moodie.]
the events. The reactionary elements of the Christian
Democratic Union have demanded that the current
Ë% Ë% Ë% Ë% Ë% Ë% Ë% Ë% Ë% Ë% Ë% Ë% Ë% Ë% Ë% Ë% Ë% Ë% Ë% Ë% Ë% Ë% Ë% Ë% Ë%
government, as the one that made some mistakes, resign
and let the Christian-Democratic Union become the
Report from Lieutenant-General F. Fedenko
governing party.
to Lieutenant-General N.O. Pavlovskii,
The occupation (US, British, French) forces in West
27 June 1953
Berlin have been on higher alert since 17 June 1953,
guarding military facilities, government and administrative
OPERATIONS DIVISION,
buildings as well as the borders with the Soviet sector of
MAIN OPERATIONS ADMINISTRATION,
Berlin. The Commandant of the British sector of Berlin
GENERAL STAFF OF THE SOVIET ARMY
declared martial law on 17 June 1953.
Top Secret
No fresh military units were observed arriving in West
(Declassified)
Berlin from 17 to 24 June 1953.
To LIEUTENANT-GENERAL
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL F. FEDENKO
Comrade PAVLOVSKII, N.O.
27 June 1953
I am reporting the generalized data regarding the
[Source: AGSh, f. 16, op. 3139, d. 155, ll. 31-33. Provided and
demonstrations and strikes in the German Democratic
translated by Viktor Gobarev.]
Republic.
COLD WAR INTERNATIONAL HISTORY PROJECT BULLETIN 10 99
Letter, L. Beriia to G. Malenkov, 1 July 1953 to introduce initiatives at the Presidium [sic] aimed at the
correct solution of issues, such as the Korean, the German,
To the CC CPSU the responses to Eisenhower and Churchill, the Turkish,
Comrade Malenkov the Iranian, etc.
My behavior during the reception of the Hungarian
Dear Georgii! comrades [was] untactful, nothing could justify it.66 The
During all these four days and nights that were hard proposals about Nagy Imre should not have been intro-
for me, I gave considerable thought to everything, con- duced by me, but you should have done it, but at that [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]