MEDFORD MAIL i'RIBUNE. MEDFORD. OREGON
Anniversary of East Berlin Uprising Being Observed Today
SUNDAY. JUNE 17. 1962
Br EDWARD SHIELDS
United Presi International
Berlin - OIPD - If the world
hadn't known It before, it
learned Just nine years ago
this week end what Soviet
Russia was prepared to do if
any Red-ruled "people's dem
ocracy" tried to be demo
cratic. In East Berlin at 7 a.m.
on June 16, 1953, a small
obtained In Linn
Final deadline is
PROPOSAL ATTACKED
Albany-IUPD-Proposed salary
increases for elected officials
ranging up to $2,340 per year
were attacked in an editorial
in the Albany Democrat
Herald. Only 6,000 Sign for Korean Vet's Bonus
Albany-(UPI)-Only 6,000 sig- American Legion, said Friday,
natures statewide have been The petition must have
obtained for the initiative pe- 53,000 names to place the
tition for a Korean veterans measure on the November
bonus, Charles Draper, Al- ballot.
bany, state commander of the There have been 3,000 Big-
natures
County.
July 5.
Korean veterans eligible
would be those serving be
tween June 25, 1950 and July
27, 1953 inclusive.
group of building workers -
there were about 80 of them -decided
to strike for higher
wages. It was a spark that
flared into a two-day rebellion
now known as "the uprising
of the 17th of June."
The world was to witness
similar Russian ruthlessncss in
Hungary a little more than
three years later. But it was
In East Berlin in 1953 that the
cloak of "friendship treaties"
and faked "elections" the
Kremlin had thrown over its
post-war satellites was lorn
away in naked force.
Much Has Changed
Much has changed since
then in East Berlin, but not
its Communist rule. And since
lost Aug. 13 - the days the
Reds began to build "The
Wall" that now shuts off East
from West - it has been more
a prison than ever. More than
40 persons have been slain
trving to get through the wall.
Mayor Willy Brandt of West
Berlin referred to tne wan in
a 17th of June anniversary
statement in which he called
It a second major confession
of failure by Walter UlbricM
diehard Stalinist boss of East
Germany.
"Ulbricht has misjudged the
situation for the second time,"
Brandt said. "On the 17th of
June, 1953, the angry bitter
ness of the people (of East
Berlin) exploded. With the
wall, the Communists have
provoked the anger and ab
horrence of all freedom lov
ing mankind. The shabby fa
cade of the last nine years has
collapsed for the second
time."
On that June 18 morning,
the men who went on strike
had been working on shops
and apartment houses being
erected to provide East Ber
lin with a showpiece street
along broad Stalinallee (now
ric-Stalinized to Frankfurter
allee). There was an economic
squeeze on at the time. Work
ers' pay had been reduced and
their working hours raised in
a Communist effort to step up
production but keep down
wages due to wide shortages
in consumer goods. Food and
clothing prices were higher.
Some had risen as much as
100 per cent in less than a
year.
There had been some minor
protest walkouts for a few
hours and there had been talk
of a general strike. Commun
ist authorities ignored the pro
tests and only demanded more
work. By June 16, the build
ing workers on Stalinallee
had had enough, and at 7 a.m.
they walked off the job.
2 pi. -
'taaskJ
.-Lj. !;
TANK ATTACKED-A Russian tank is attacked by stone
throwing East Berltners in this photo taken during the
short-lived anti-Soviet uprising in 1953. The Russians de-
SW wA-Sf" '"' 11 JIV
dared martial law In several East German cities and,
with the aid of tanks and armored cars, crushed the re
volt within 36 hours. (UP1)
-- U' n'M1
MARCH THROUGH GATE - Flag-waving
East Berlin workers march through the
Brandenburg Gate into the Western sector
of the city after the start of the short
lived workers' revolt, as shown In the photo
taken June 17, 1953. The anti-Soviet upris
sing was crushed within 36 hours by Rus
sian tanks and guns. (UPI)
Having quit, the men decid
ed to carry their complaints
1o officials at the main minis
terial council building on
Lcipzigerstrasse a couple of
miles away. They started
walking. It was too casual a
parade to be called a march.
But as the strikers, still a
lillle indecisive, walked along
something began to happen.
Other workers along the
route, learning what the build
Ing men were doing, stopped
working and joined them. By
9:30 a.m. the handful of strik
ers had become a line of hun
dreds shouting "on to the min
istry!"
Then the first violence oc
curred. A small band of Vopos
(people's police) met the par
aders at Strausbcrger Platz
' and tried to break them up
They were punched in a brief
tussle and shoved aside.
Grow In Numbers
Growing in numbers by the
minute, the parades - shout
ing louder now and increas
ingly excited moved through
the city, to Alexander Platz,
from there to the Lustgarten
and then along Under den
Linden to the Wilhrlmstraj.ie
By 1 p.m. the throng had
grown into several thousands
of persons as they reached the
ministerial building. The
streets echoed with their
roared demands. "End the
work norms!" "Give us pro
per pay!" A Soviet zonal offi
cial appeared at ministry
window. He tried to speak to
the crowd, to quiet it. He was
shoute-l down.
Sudaenly, a voice was heard
above the rest crying: "We
want to be free! This is a peo
ple's uprising! We demand
free, secret elections!"
As one observer remarked
later, "that pushed the button."
The crowd, milling and
noisy, started moving away,
apparently back toward Stal
inallee. The shouting and de
mands increased. Now there
were cries of "free the polit
ical prisoners!" and a chanted
"General Strike! Genera'
Strike!"
loudspeakers the demonstra
tors were urged to go back to
work. They were promised
The council of ministers has
cancelled the work norms!"
But the cries of "General
Strike! General Strike!" and
"Free Elections!" continued.
And the size of the crowd
kept growing.
Demonstrating Continues
All through the afternoon
the demonstrating went on,
but without a mnjor blowup.
By 6 p.m. the main crowd
was back at Stalinallee and
again Communist functionar
ies, talking through Inud
socakers, tried to calm the at
mosphere. There were several
minor clashes and the Com
munists were chased from the
scene. Hour after hour the
noise, the marching and the
speech making went on, until
at 9 p.m., worried by the path
matters were taking, a radio
broadcast from the West Ger
man government seat at Bonn
urged the East Rerliners and
other East Germans to be pru
dent.
How many East Germans
heard this appeal was not
known. It had little, if any,
effect. The crowds' loaders
called for a mass meeting at
7 a.m. the following day, June
17, in Strausheiger Plntz.
The stage was set for blood
shed.
At 8 a m.. Soviet authori
ties look over the "practical
administration" ot the city, in
cluding command of the peo
ple's police.
At fl a m. five Red armored
cars drove full tilt Into a
crowd massed at Alexanrier
platz. Some demonstrators
were knocked down but most
scrambled safely out of the
way and there were no deaths
or serious Injuries. The crowd,
instead of dispersing, became
angrier and the anncd recon
naissance vehicles 'mid their
crews were in danger of be
ing overwhelmed.
First Real Trouble
The first real trouble, how
ever, was brewing at the So
viet zonal ministry building
in Lcipzigerstrasse. where by
10 a.m. more than 20.000 dem
onstrators had gathered.
There was another drmon-
stratien at the corner of
Frledrlchstras.se and Zunmer-
strasse. o
In Leiiaigerslras.se the h;i r-
racks of the people's police
trying to defend their build
ing. Fighting was hand-to-hand.
At noon the first Soviet T34
tanks rolled into the heart of
East Berlin, several rumbling
into the Lustgarten, 15 more
into Leipzigcrstrassc. At least
20 armored reconnaissance
cars and more than 30 other
armored Soviet military ve
hicles converged on demon
strators In different parts of
the city. In Lcipzigerstrasse,
the heart of the uprising, the
first shots were fired.
First Death Came
"Our first death came to us
at Brandenburgcr gate," a
survivor of the demonstra
tions said later. "Seven ar
mored reconnaissance cars
came and drove right into our
procession from behind and
there the first man was
killed."
Soviet tanks and many of
the armored cars were placed
strategically around govern
ment buildings. They opened
machincgun fire into the
crowds even as people scat
tered in panic. At Lcipziger
strasse the strikers fought the
tanks with stones and fists.
Some freedom fighters
wore crushed under the
treads.
Declare Martial Law
At 1:30 p.m. the Soviet
commandant declared martial
law. It was the beginning of
the end. Scattered demonstra
tions and fighting continued
through the afternoon. At the
old Berlin city hall, in mid
aftornoon, T34 tanks opened
up on a crowd there.
At 6 p.m. the East Berlin
radio broadcast an announce
ment by East German Pre
mier Otto Grotewohl that "the
decision of the government as
to the raising work norms of
May 28, 1053, Is rescinded . ."
By 9 p.m. Soviet armor was
in control and the West Ger
man radio told its listeners:
"The city is like a monumen
tal grave."
No one knows how many
fighters for freedom died in
East Berlin that day. Eight
wounded died in West Berlin
hospitals. At least 42 demon
strators were reported to have
been executed on the spot.
About 25,000 persons were ar
rested in East Germany and
hundreds sent to Jail for long
terms.
There was no announced
count of those who died in
the streets fighting machine-
guns and tanks with stones.
bricks and their bare hands
"The 17th of Juno," said
West Berlin's Mayor Brandt
in marking this anniversary,
"was not in vain. On this day.
the Communists were forced
to put their cards on the table.
Their double dealing was ex
posed to all the world. Now.
with their wall, they are try
ing to evade their defeat. But
one day they will have to give
up their game.
"Always, In history, have
freedom and truth been able
to hold out longer."
Oregon Delegation
Votes a st Debt Bill
Washington- H'P1 Reps. Edith
1 Green and Al Ullnian (D-Ore )
Thursday voted for President
j Kennedy's bill to temporarily
' lnoroitse the coiling on the
! national debt to Silllg billion.
The measure was ja,ssed by
I the llousr 211-Ifti and sent
In the Senate Rops. Edwin
Communist vans drove upwereset afire At 10 a m the ; Purno and Walter Norhlad
lo the crowd and throughcrowd clashed with Vopos R Ore ) voted against the bill-
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