Aram Radomski

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Aram Radomski (born February 19, 1963 in Neubrandenburg ) is a German photographer and designer . He belonged to the opposition in the GDR and was a political prisoner there . He became known because, during the Peaceful Revolution, he secretly made film recordings of the decisive Monday demonstration in Leipzig on October 9, 1989 , together with Siegbert Schefke , which were broadcast by German media and thus also reached the population of the GDR .

Life

Childhood and youth

Aram Radomski spent his childhood in Groß Nemerow on Lake Tollensesee . When he was three months old, his parents married. Aram was now called Neumann. His grandmother, the SED- related writer Margarete Neumann , came from East Prussia . His father, the later regime-critical writer Gert Neumann , went to Leipzig in 1967 to study at the Institute for Literature "Johannes R. Becher" and settled here. When he intended to publish his first book in 1979 in the German publishing house Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag - Gert Neumann, who was exmatriculated in 1969 for political reasons and excluded from the Writers' Association, was never allowed to publish in the GDR - his underage son was interrogated by the State Security Service . Aram Neumann was supposed to spy on his father, which the 15-year-old refused.

After training as an agricultural engineer, Aram Neumann first worked as an unskilled worker in the Neubrandenburg hospital, then in Plauen as a craftsman at the local college for economics.

Detention

In February 1983 he was beaten up at a carnival event in a youth club in Plauen. He did not know that the thugs were Stasi employees, he was arrested as a perpetrator and sentenced to thirteen by the Plauen district court for subversive agitation , and to six months in prison during the appeal hearing. The arrest and the facts twisting judgment were part of a Stasi - decomposition plan against his father, the writer Gert Neumann, who should be forced to leave the GDR. In Zeithain prison he met many young people who had been convicted for political reasons - and he decided to take action against the SED regime. His girlfriend, a Mongolian guest student, had been forced to leave the GDR while he was in prison. He never saw her again.

Opposition engagement

Aram Neumann now moved to Leipzig. Here he received a new identity card - but his first maiden name was entered in it: Radomski. He completed a second apprenticeship - as a photographer. In 1984 he moved to East Berlin and worked as a freelance photographer, making postcards, stickers and posters for events and often printing without obtaining the required printing permit. In 1985 he began working here in the Theater oN (Zinnober) .

In 1987 he met Siegbert Schefke in the environmental library , with whom he documented the destruction of the environment, the decay of historic cities and the resistance that was emerging in the GDR. Both made their photos and video reports available to various German television magazines ( Kontraste , Kennzeichen D ) and newspapers. This could be punished with long prison sentences in the SED state, especially since the dissident Roland Jahn, expatriated from the GDR in 1983, had the video equipment smuggled to East Berlin and established the media contacts. Schefke and Radomski pretended to work for church institutions.

Often they also attended the prayers for peace in Leipzig's Nikolaikirche for journalistic purposes . On October 9, 1989, Radomski and Siegbert Schefke delivered the first film recordings of the Monday demonstrations against the SED dictatorship that had been taking place since September , which were shown on the following day in the Tagesthemen with the protection claim that they had been shot by an Italian camera team. The following large demonstrations in Leipzig were also documented by Radomski and Schefke, which contributed to the further mobilization of the population, who were dissatisfied with the SED policy.

After the Peaceful Revolution

After the Peaceful Revolution he worked as a freelancer for various television stations and newspapers. In 1995 Radomski completed an apprenticeship as a multimedia manager and now worked as a photographer and graphic designer for theater projects. In 2002 he founded Berlintapete GmbH, which he is still managing director to this day.

Radomski was portrayed by Fabian Busch in Hans-Christoph Blumenberg's docu-drama Deutschlandspiel (2000) .

Awards

In 1991 he received the Siebenpfeiffer Prize , with which journalistic commitment to freedom and democracy, which has no consideration for professional career or financial advantages, is recognized. In 2004 he was awarded the iF communication design award and nominated for the 2006 design award of the Federal Republic of Germany. On November 26th, 2009 he was honored together with Siegbert Schefke and the Leipzig pastor Christoph Wonneberger with the Bambi in the category "Silent Heroes". When it came to awarding the award to the initiators of the Peaceful Revolution, the jury declared: "Your recordings are among the most valuable documentary images in German history."

In 2014 Radomski was awarded the Leipzig Prize for the Freedom and Future of the Media together with Christoph Wonneberger, Siegbert Schefke and Roland Jahn .

The Federal Cross of Merit and the Prize of the German Society followed in 2019 . V. "Silent Heroes" of the Peaceful Revolution.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 1999 Gert Neumann. (No longer available online.) In: Uwe-Johnson-Preis.de. Archived from the original on February 11, 2017 ; Retrieved July 4, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.uwe-johnson-preis.de
  2. ↑ Interview with Aram Radomski on jugendopposition.de ( Federal Agency for Civic Education / Robert Havemann Society ), viewed on March 6, 2017.
  3. ↑ a b Aram Radomski short biography on jugendopposition.de , viewed on March 6, 2017.
  4. ↑ a b c Frank Junghänel: In the time loop. Siegbert Schefke and Aram Radomski filmed the Monday demonstration on October 9, 1989, in: Berliner Zeitung on October 9, 2009, viewed on August 17, 2010.
  5. ^ A b Karl-Heinz Baum: Aram Radomski. In: Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk & Tom Sello (eds.): For a free country with free people. Opposition and Resistance in Biographies and Photos. Robert Havemann Society in connection with the Foundation for the processing of the SED dictatorship , Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-938857-02-1 , pp. 380–383, here p. 380. Article in the network
  6. ↑ Aram Radomski about the detention circumstances on jugendopposition.de , viewed on March 6, 2017.
  7. ↑ Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk : Endgame. The 1989 revolution in the GDR. CH Beck, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-406-58357-5 , p. 364.
  8. ↑ Roland Jahn is to become Birthler's successor  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Super Illu, October 29, 2010@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.superillu.de  
  9. ↑ Contemporary witness Aram Radomski about autumn 1989 on jugendopposition.de , viewed on March 6, 2017.
  10. ↑ Jens Bauszus: Miracles of Leipzig. The power of television images , Focus from October 9, 2009, viewed on August 17, 2010.
  11. ↑ Torben Waleczek: overturning helpers , in: Der Tagesspiegel from February 1, 2008, viewed on August 17, 2010.
  12. ↑ Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk : Endgame. The 1989 revolution in the GDR. CH Beck, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-406-58357-5 , pp. 403, 420.
  13. ↑ Deutschlandspiel in the IMDb, viewed on August 17, 2010.
  14. ↑ Siebenpfeiffer Prize Winner ( Memento of the original from June 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , viewed on August 17, 2010.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.siebenpfeiffer-stiftung.de
  15. ↑ Berlintapete Profile , viewed on August 17, 2010.
  16. ↑ Report from the Bambi Awards Hollywood Glitz and Memory of the Fall of the Wall, FAZ from November 27, 2009, viewed on August 17, 2010.
  17. ↑ Bambi award  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on Deutschlandradio , Kulturnachrichten from November 9th, 2009, viewed on August 17th, 2010.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.dradio.de  
  18. ↑ Media Foundation of the Sparkasse Leipzig "Prize for the freedom and future of the media: Prize winners 2014: Aram Radomski, Siegbert Schefke, Roland Jahn and Christoph Wonneberger" Media Foundation of the Sparkasse Leipzig. (No longer available online.) In: www.leipziger-medienstiftung.de. Archived from the original on November 9, 2016 ; Retrieved November 9, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.leipziger-medienstiftung.de
  19. ↑ Awarding of the "Courage for the Future: Overcoming Limits". Retrieved November 25, 2019 .
  20. ^ Prize of the German Society e. V. 2019 to »Silent Heroes« of the Peaceful Revolution. Retrieved November 25, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Radomski, Aram
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German photographer and designer
DATE OF BIRTH 19th February 1963
PLACE OF BIRTH Neubrandenburg