GERMANY: Germany yesterday reclaimed the memory of the failed uprising against East Germany's communist regime that Soviet tanks put down violently 50 years ago.
President Johannes Rau called the uprising, in which an estimated 125 people died, "one of the great days in the history of German freedom" and a precursor to the peaceful revolution of 1989.
"The men and women behind the uprising earn our recognition and our thanks," said Mr Rau in a special sitting of parliament. "June 17th was externally a defeat but it was not a mistake and that's why we can say today, June 17th, is one of the proud days in German history."
On June 16th, 1953, construction workers in East Berlin downed tools and took to the streets to protest against increased production demands and to call for free elections. News of the protest spread throughout East Germany and within 24 hours over one million people went on strike.
The Politburo panicked, martial law was imposed, and the Soviets moved in. Over 20,000 soldiers and 600 Soviet tanks rolled out onto the streets of East Berlin. Protesters were cut down by machine-gun fire while others died under the tanks. East German authorities said later the revolt had been instigated by hundreds of "West German fascists" smuggled into the country. Around 10,000 protesters were arrested, 1,500 imprisoned and 20 people were executed following show trials.
The anniversary was never forgotten but its significance was largely obscured as the first major revolt in the Eastern bloc, three years before the Hungary uprising and 15 years before the Prague Spring. West German authorities at the time turned the uprising to their advantage by criticising the Communist authorities and declaring the day a national holiday, the Day of German Unity. Mr Rau criticised that propaganda move yesterday, saying it "promoted the forgetting" of the anniversary.
Earlier, Mr Rau, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and other leaders laid wreaths at a memorial to the victims, at just one of 700 events around the country marking the anniversary.
The 50th anniversary has seen a reawakening of interest in the event and a flood of new books and films. Several leading politicians used the occasion to call for compensation for victims and their families.
Mr Wolfgang Böhmer, president of the upper house of parliament, said it "should be a solvable problem and a joint obligation" to honour the victims with an honorary pension.
Cardinal Karl Lehmann, head of the German Bishop's Conference, told an ecumenical service that the anniversary had been treated "shamefully" for too long.
Mr Klaus Wowereit, the Mayor of Berlin, said: "One of the lessons is that civil courage is, in the long run, stronger than any tank."
Mr Wolfgang Hoebel (76) was working as a hotel page in central Berlin on the day of the uprising. "The soldiers in tanks shouted: 'Workers, be sensible and return to your workplaces.' But no one wanted to calm down, the fury of the workers at the government was too great," he said.
"The demonstrators ran through the streets but were struck back with bloody force. Soon chaos reigned."
Historians have long criticised the lack of interest in commemorating the anniversary.
Mr Hubertus Knabe, a Berlin historian and author of a new book on the uprising, welcomed the slow process of recognising the leaders of the uprising by renaming streets in their honour.
"But when you think that in eastern Germany today 111 streets are named after [the East German politicians] von Grotewohl and Pieck, it confirms the old experience that history is written by the victors," he said.
