Lecture and Discussion on November 5 in Rostock
“My expatriation in 1976 is regarded by historians as the beginning of the end of the GDR. But what shook Germany at the time was not the fate of a German-German singer-songwriter with a guitar, but the unexpected protest movement—in the GDR itself!—against this expatriation.” (*)
This is how Wolf Biermann reflects on his expulsion from the GDR during a concert tour in West Germany. Although the plan devised by the Stasi succeeded, no one had anticipated such consequences. Arno Polzin (Federal Archives – Stasi Records Archive, Berlin) will discuss these significant events on the 50th anniversary and will then lead a discussion together with Dr. Volker Höffer (Federal Archives – Stasi Records Archive, Rostock).
*From the Federal Archives document booklet “Gross Violation of Civic Duties: The Expulsion of Singer-Songwriter Wolf Biermann from the GDR in 1976” (Berlin 2016)
