Achim Beyer

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Achim Beyer (born October 4, 1932 in Werdau ; † September 28, 2009 in Erlangen ) was a German opposition activist in the GDR who became known primarily for his political imprisonment . 19 Werzeit high school students were sentenced in 1951 to a total of 130 years imprisonment for leafleting actions. After fleeing to the Federal Republic of Germany , he wrote scientific analyzes on the economy and society of the GDR and worked in political education until the end of his life.

Live and act

Childhood and youth

Achim Beyer grew up in Werdau in Saxony and, after the end of the National Socialist dictatorship, wanted to actively shape the promise of a new life "without coercion and drill" that was also given in the Soviet occupation zone . In 1948, he was initially involved in the Junge Gemeinde and in the FDJ , as the state youth organization was initially non-partisan and ideologically neutral. One of his political tutors was the social democrat Gerhard Weck (1913–1973), who had survived the Buchenwald concentration camp and was mayor of Werdau until his renewed political imprisonment in the Bautzen special camp in 1948 (because he opposed the compulsory union of the SPD with the KPD ) . Beyer dealt age of 17 with the actions and the fate of the Scholls and secretly read forbidden under the Communists novel 1984 by George Orwell . The totalitarian system described in it reminded him very much of the political constitution of the Soviet Zone / GDR .

resistance

For a long time the Werzeit students had been discussing the situation in the newly founded GDR intensively. Many revolted indignantly against the renewed establishment of a dictatorship. However, an open discussion seemed futile and dangerous. So they decided to secretly distribute leaflets based on the example of the Munich student group White Rose . The first 150 leaflets were produced with a hand-operated print box. The production process is described in detail in the court files and the documents of the Ministry of State Security . Initially, the students protested against the undemocratic Volkskammer election in October 1950: "We long for peace, for the unity of Germany in freedom - get rid of the traitors, vote with NO!" Achim Beyer knew the risk he was taking with such actions. As a punishment, a death sentence could be imposed, as happened to Hermann Flade , against whose conviction in January 1951 the group also protested: "Curse the SED executioners!" Parents were not privy to the activities, but the KgU in West Berlin was who provided technical support. On the night of May 19, 1951, two group members were caught handing out leaflets. An adventurous escape began for Achim Beyer, which finally ended with his arrest.

Criminal proceedings

On the day of his 19th birthday, Achim Beyer was sentenced to eight years in prison. With him another 18 high school students were sentenced - to a total of 130 years in prison. Before the trial, everyone had been banned from attending any high school in the GDR. Not even relatives of the young people were allowed into the courtroom.

Penal system

He spent five years of his political imprisonment in Waldheim prison . First he was in a cell with 16-year-old Karl-Heinz Eckhard from his group, who had been sentenced to 14 years. As with all prisoners there, the heads of the young people were shaved. They were bothered by vermin and hunger. The conditions of detention were horrific. In 1956, during the brief “thaw” , Beyer's remaining sentence was suspended.

Life After Release

Shortly after his release from prison in October 1956, Achim Beyer fled to West Germany . He soon met his wife Marga, with whom he lived in Erlangen until she died in 2007. She was always full of understanding for his traumatizing stress from 66 months imprisonment in Waldheim prison. Beyer obtained his university entrance qualification and studied economics in Erlangen. There he co-founded the student group Collegia Politica and the Institute for Society and Science at the University of Erlangen , where he worked as a research assistant from 1963 to 1993. For 25 years he was a member of the board of trustees of Indivisible Germany . He wrote numerous books and essays on the society and economy of the GDR, including a publication on the history of Werzeit high school students. Just as he worked all his life with the issue of GDR, also pursued him Stasi : it monitored him after his escape continues. In 1967 the Stasi began to observe Achim Beyer even more intensively. About a dozen unofficial employees were deployed in the West to monitor him. The reunification he had always hoped for and strived for led to the dissolution of his institute in 1992. Until 2009 he appeared as a contemporary witness at political educational events and in front of students.

In October 1997, a memorial plaque was unveiled for the Werzeit high school students at the Alexander von Humboldt Gymnasium.

Publications

literature

  • Achim Beyer: Contemporary witness report. In: Materials of the Enquete Commission Processing of the history and consequences of the SED dictatorship in Germany (12th electoral term of the German Bundestag). Edited by the German Bundestag. Volume IV. Pp. 243-251.
  • The star . 4th year, issue 48 from December 2, 1951.
  • Falco worker : Achim Beyer. In: Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk & Tom Sello (eds.): For a free country with free people. Opposition and Resistance in Biographies and Photos. Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-938857-02-1 . Pp. 106-108.
  • Falco Werkentin: "No compulsion and no drill". Resistance and tireless educators: Achim Beyer. In: Listen and Look . 18th year, issue 66 (4/2009), pp. 42–43.
  • Short biography for:  Beyer, Achim . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 1. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gerhard Weck
  2. ↑ a b Falco Werkentin: “No compulsion and no drill”. Resistance and tireless educators: Achim Beyer. In: Listen and Look . 18th year, issue 66 (4/2009), pp. 42–43.
  3. ↑ Achim Beyer on  jugendopposition.de  ( Federal Center for Political Education  /  Robert Havemann Society  eV), viewed on March 8, 2017.
  4. ↑ Leaflet campaigns against the Volkskammer elections in 1950 and contacts to the KgU on  jugendopposition.de  ( Federal Agency for Civic Education  /  Robert Havemann Society  eV), viewed on March 8, 2017.
  5. ↑ Achim Beyer's escape on  jugendopposition.de  ( Federal Agency for Civic Education  /  Robert Havemann Society  ), viewed on March 8, 2017.
  6. ↑ Achim Beyer: Judgment: 130 Years of Prison - Youth Resistance in the GDR and the Trial of the Werzeit high school students 1951. Evangelische Verlagsanstalt , Leipzig 2003, ISBN 3-374-02070-4 .
  7. ↑ Achim Beyer: The process on  jugendopposition.de  ( Federal Agency for Civic Education  /  Robert Havemann Society  eV), viewed on March 8, 2017.
  8. ↑ Detention in the Waldheim prison on  jugendopposition.de  ( Federal Agency for Civic Education  /  Robert Havemann Society  ), viewed on March 8, 2017.
  9. ↑ Hans-Jürgen Beier / Gymnasium Werdau: The Oberschüler process ( memento from March 20, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) on the website of the Gymnasium, accessed on September 11, 2019
personal data
SURNAME Beyer, Achim
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German civil rights activist and economist
DATE OF BIRTH October 4, 1932
PLACE OF BIRTH Werdau , Saxony
DATE OF DEATH September 28, 2009
Place of death gain