The autumn of the decision and the awakening of Sorbian civil society

The autumn of 1989 marked the end of a dictatorship in which the state leadership had completely lost touch with its own population. Tens of thousands of young people between the ages of 20 and 35 left the country and thus evaded the rulers’ access. At the same time, a peaceful resistance was formed on the streets, which reflects the power relations in the statefundamentally shaken. These developments showed that confidence in the ideological promises of the rulers had finally broken.

The silence of the ideologues and the ultimatum of youth

The ruling party’s ideologues did not find an answer to the question of why young people turned their backs on the system. Parts of the younger generation made demands of the older ones and demanded fundamental changes in the state. Other citizens decided to stay and took to the streets to claim their rights. Especially in the first few weeks of autumn it was above allYoung people taking a higher risk.

The power of state power and the specter of persecution

In these tense weeks, any violence always came from the police and the state security. The horror of a persecution of communists, painted on the wall, proved to be a pure protective claim of the rulers. Only in Dresden were counter-violences exercised by those willing to leave the country for short periods of time. These people were due to closedLimits in absolute exceptional situations.

The late awakening of the state leadership and the aloof camp mentality

The supreme party leadership did not speak out until October 1st in this critical phase. A foreign ministry spokesman said that those willing to leave the country had trampled on moral values. Shortly before the 40th anniversary of the founding of the state, the leadership underlined its aloof camp mentality. This attitude could only be at the price of the complete separation from thesocial reality are maintained.

The fiction of unity and the closure of the borders

For the state’s self-image, the fiction of a harmonious coexistence of the ruling and dominant axiomatic character. Those who evaded this forced unity were actually declared the enemy of political order. Instead of granting freedom of travel, the tour on October 3rd let the border with Czechoslovakia close. This limit was for citizens to dateonly been passable with the ID card.

The forced anniversary celebrations and the break of the ritual

The official marches for the anniversary celebrations were to visualize the social contract between rulers and ruled. Citizens had to express their consent through physical presence in rhythmically recurring public rituals. If this physical presence was withdrawn, the legitimacy of the rulers was fading. Counter-demonstrations on the fringes of the celebrationsThe ritual monopoly and thus the power monopoly of leadership.

The shock of the police operations and the rethinking of the citizens

The cynicism of the rulers and the brutal police operation on October 7th and 8th in Berlin brought about rethinking processes. Even loyal citizens who were previously loyal citizens began to give up their wait-and-see behavior. Parents picked up their beaten children from the presidency and the silent majority felt reminded of military dictatorships. Completely unsettled party members defended themselves in suchinhumane sense of never being brought up.

The withdrawal of the officials and the helplessness of the rulers

The speechless party leadership did not offer its representatives on site any plausible patterns of interpretation and action. Therefore, the officials sporadically went into what was later called a peaceful revolution. They tended to retreat and never found answers to the silences. Even candle-bearing demonstrators left the rulers completely at a loss.

The expansion of the protests and the active work of the churches

The ever-growing number of demonstration participants meant that knowledge of state violence spread. This information came from the cities to the rural regions and mobilized the population there. Information from the district office to the district administration about clergymen expressed the active work of the church representatives. The pastor hadPupils educated about state security violence during the protests in Leipzig.

The education of youth and the awakening of the base

The clergyman stated that state security members had mixed with the demonstrators and thrown stones. This was to provide the police with pretexts for violent action against the peaceful citizens. The pastor went to Leipzig with his students in mid-October to show the young people the situation. In the meantime, many members of the governing party were also at theBasic aware that the system could no longer be held.

The renunciation of state power and the new leadership

After the previous head of state was deposed on October 18, his successor announced political solvability in all problems. In the vained language of the rulers, this meant the final exclusion of administrative means and state violence. The credible and uncompromising renunciation of violence formed the essential conditions of the new leadership plannedupheaval. At the end of October, the Politburo submitted proposals to take action against the newly created collection movements.

The planned dialogues of the party and the forums in the constituencies

Members of the State Appliances and members of the State Apparatus should initiate meetings and personal discussions in their constituencies. The aim was to promote the differentiation process and the movement of those who think differently in constructive forms of togetherness. At the same time, enemies of the system were to be exposed without official recognition of the new movements. thereuponpublic citizens’ meetings with thousands of participants took place in many places in the last days of October.

The takeover of the initiative by the citizens and the blasting of the framework

Contrary to what was planned, the newly created citizens’ movement took the initiative to convene the events. Citizens themselves determined the topics discussed and blew up the given framework. Neither the National Front nor mass organizations played any role in the process of social upheaval. Citizens used the meetings toTo say dissatisfaction to the representatives of the state power directly in the face.

The shock of the officials and the tragedy in Bautzen

Despite the conversations with the first voice, the sudden confrontation with the masses was paralyzing to some functionaries. At the citizens’ forum on October 28 in Bautzen, the party leader there was exposed to violent personal attacks. He appeared drunk for a consultation and could no longer fulfill his leadership role. He was threatened with disciplinary proceedings, whereupon heOctober 29 took his life with his service weapon.

The Revolutionary Pressure in the Province and Observation of the Sorbian Scene

The revolutionary pressure in the district town was particularly strong, since the citizens’ meeting there represented the first event of upheaval. In contrast to other cities, no demonstrations had taken place in Bautzen until this day. Regardless of the change of leadership at the top, the state security apparatus continued to work as usual until mid-November. The situation group in DresdenCreated daily information on November 8, which also mentioned activities in the Sorbian field.

The Sorbian students and solidarity with the new movement

Among Sorbian students, the publications in the Sorbische daily were criticized for restraint in dialogues. At the same time, it was expressed that church institutions reacted more positively in this direction. More and more Sorbian students declared their solidarity with the content and goal of the new citizens’ movement. These statements were based on theReporting of unofficial employees who had broad radii of action.

The Sorbian scene monitoring and the reform demands

The senior officer had given the unofficial employee the task of appointing sympathizers of the new movement among students. At the beginning of November, the head of the Ministry of the Interior made four-page political assessments available to the district office. This information was detailed in the demands of reforms of the Sorbian umbrella organization. In addition,records that Catholic works planned national Christian gatherings in 2 places in Upper Lusatia.

The new working basis of state security and the waiver of measures

However, the information from the Ministry of the Interior was no longer used in the operational work of the State Security. On 6 November, the College adopted statements that were intended to have a calming effect on the population as a press release. The new Minister of State Security repeated the decisive sentence at the meeting of the Central Committee. He emphasized that measuresagainst dissenters in the future and focus on defending against anti-constitutional activities.

The threats against capitalism restorers and the red lines drawn

However, it remained unclear where exactly the boundary between dissenters and constitutional enemies ran for the party and the state. A newly elected member of the Politburo clarified the red line at the meeting of the leading body. Anyone who opposes the interests of the majority in better systems cannot count on support. This was especially true for those who, with the overthrow of theSocial order and the return to capitalism.

The Sorbian People’s Assembly and adherence to the constitutional framework

In this context, it is understandable that the constitution of the Sorbian People’s Assembly on 11 November in Bautzen was no longer reflected in the reports. The reference framework of socialism was not exceeded by the assembly with petitions to the Volkskammer. These petitions called for nationality laws and emphasised the basic humanist consensus in a loyal way to the statethe events of the autumn of 1989 thus showed how deeply rooted the desire for freedom and cultural self-determination was in the population.