Crowd in Berlin on June 17, 1953

Description

Crowd in Berlin on June 17, 1953; Photo; Licensed article; Original: 2880×2160; Photographer: Unknown;a0 Licensable; Rights: a9 Bleek/zb Media. The photo shows demonstrators in Berlin on June 17, 1953, during the popular uprising in the GDR. On this day, hundreds of thousands of people in East Berlin and many other cities in the GDR protested against the government of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). The demonstrations began as workers’ strikes against rising work norms but quickly developed into a widespread uprising against the communist regime.

The GDR government was unable to suppress the protests alone, which led to the Soviet Union intervening. Soviet tanks and military troops marched into East Berlin to violently suppress the uprising. Numerous demonstrators were arrested, many were killed or injured. Martial law was imposed, and the protest was brutally ended.

The photo is a powerful symbol of the repression in the GDR and the Soviet control over East Germany. It shows the harsh reality of the Cold War: While democracy and freedom were propagated in the West, an authoritarian regime supported by the Soviet Union prevailed in the East. June 17, 1953, was later declared as the “Day of German Unity” in the Federal Republic of Germany, as a reminder of the first major popular uprising against the communist dictatorship in the GDR.