Krenz warns of war: peace and power - an evening in Berlin

Krenz warns of war: peace and power - an evening in Berlin

On Monday evening there was a remarkable meeting in the Babylon cinema in Berlin-Mitte. Holger Friedrich, publisher of the Berliner Zeitung, discussed with Egon Krenz, the former Secretary General of the SED, on the occasion of the presentation of the third volume of Krenz 'memoirs entitled "Loss and expectation. Memories". This band addresses the decisive year 1989 and the far -reaching consequences it had for Germany. Krenz read a greeting in which he described the preservation of peace as the central drive of his political action.

In his lecture, Krenz expressed concern about the current geopolitical situation, especially with regard to a possible warlike confrontation with Russia. He underlined the importance of concerned political decisions to avoid such conflicts. In addition, Krenz and Friedrich discussed the functional of power both in the GDR at the time and in today's world.

political decisions and violent clashes

Friedrich pointed out the autonomous decision-making process of the GDR leadership, despite the dependence on Moscow. As examples of such decisions, he cited the rejection of the stationing of Soviet rockets in the GDR and Erich Honecker's visit to the Federal Republic of Germany 1987. Krenz recalled October 7, 1989, when peaceful demonstrations were broken. The former politician emphasized that a greater catastrophe was prevented on this day, and that political problems would always have to be solved politically to avoid violence.

Another important moment was October 9, 1989, where there were no more violent clashes between demonstrators and the state power. This was considered crucial for the course of the peaceful revolution in the GDR. Krenz admitted that people had come to death due to his decisions and expressed regret about every single death. At the same time, he assured that he always had the peaceful transformation process in mind.

Review and current challenges

The event was sold out and was considered applause by the audience. Friedrich thanked Krenz for his political foresight, which prevented bloodshed in the GDR in the crucial phase of the turn. After the official reading, there was a signing lesson in which Krenz came into conversation with interested parties. The relevance of the events of 1989 remains a remarkable part of German history, which is reflected from various perspectives.

October 9, 1989 is one of the key moments in history in which numerous citizens in the east of Germany protested for their rights and freedom. These peaceful demonstrations demonstrated the desire for change and ultimately faltered the existing system. In retrospect of these events, the challenge is also visible to defend themselves against current problems such as right-wing extremism and populism, as well as bpb.de emphasized in one article.

Krenz, who is 80 years old today and was in various professions after his release, has not lost sight of the development of German politics and society since the turn. As reported wikipedia, he expressed his regret about the current political tensions in the Russian embassy in Berlin in 2023 and asked for an end to the arms deliveries to Ukraine.