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NEWS & LETTERS, May-June 2005From the first issue of News & Letters, June 1955'A day to remember'...Two years ago, on June 17, 1953, East German workers struck against the brutal production schedules ordered by the Communist government. All over East Germany, strikes and demonstrations broke out. Men, women and youth came together shouting, "We will not be slaves." Russian troops and tanks were called out. A number of Germans were killed by rifle and machine-gun fire. Others were crushed to death beneath the tracks of Russian tanks. In spite of this, the demonstrations spread up one street and down another. In East Berlin, a young man, under fire, climbed the famous Brandenburg Gate and tore down the Communist flag. Elsewhere, demonstrators broke into police stations, disarmed the "People’s Police" and freed political prisoners. In the end, the government gave way and withdrew the production schedules.5 How did the politicians and leaders of the West, who claim to be opposed to Communist tyranny, respond to the German workers on June 17? They urged them to keep order. To win a few propaganda points, Eisenhower offered food to the East German authorities to ease the tension. Of course it was refused as he knew it would be... The German workers, on the other hand, men, women and youth, showed the world the only way to fight Communism. They did not choose between the Communism of the East or the anti-Communism of the West. They said, "We will not be slaves." And they struck. Their action has changed the face of Europe. It toppled Beria in Russia and exposed the West in its sabotage of this popular uprising. Everywhere working people caught a glimpse of a new society struggling to be born. This June 17, the second anniversary of the German events, NEWS & LETTERS goes to press for the first time. |
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