A very special science

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A very special science by Stefan Heym from 1992 appeared in the volume of essays Filz, Thoughts on the Latest in Germany . In the volume, Heym deals with the political, economic and social conditions in reunified Germany after reunification in the early 1990s.

As the basis of a very special science served Heym the fate of the urologist Professor Peter Althaus , Head of the Urological Clinic at the Charité Berlin , who was dismissed in 1991 after reference to him of documents from the former Ministry of State Security of the GDR , an activity as Unofficial employee of the Stasi had accused. Althaus always worked for the state security of the GDR.

action

Heym describes the stages of the professional development of Prof. Althaus in the work.

Professor Althaus, who worked as an assistant doctor at the University Clinic in Halle at the end of the 1960s , is building a dialysis machine. Such machines could not be imported from non-socialist countries. Althaus' team succeeds in putting together a usable dialysis machine that is used successfully in Halle.

The GDR government soon called for the construction of a dialysis machine 'Made in GDR' to be developed. This must be produced independently of western knowledge and licenses. The finished model "Aue" is praised as a true GDR achievement, so that the designers are awarded the national prize.

The model is also used by the young Dr. Old house used. However, the machine does not work in a serious operation and Althaus falls back on its own machine in this situation. Althaus is indignant about the faulty model. The “Aue” model endangers life. He then received a visit from the Stasi employee, with the code name Udo Hartloff. In order to clarify, Althaus demands that those responsible for “Aue” be identified and that action be taken against them. This also takes place and a new machine, now based on the American method, is used. During this time Hartloff and Althaus always stay in contact, go on excursions together, so that Althaus thinks they have made a new friend.

In July 1991, Professor Althaus was suddenly dismissed without notice from an employee of the Berlin Senate for Science and Research. He is accused of having worked as an unofficial employee under the code name "Junghans" for the State Security of the GDR from 1973 to 1986. As his command officer u. a. Hartloff named.

Althaus throws all these allegations from himself and confirms that he has never worked as an unofficial employee. He is then informed that the Gauck authorities have signed a declaration of commitment to work with the Stasi. Althaus confirms that he never signed such a declaration.

Heym states that the signature on the declaration of commitment does not match the signatures of two Althaus employment contracts and could therefore be forged.

Heym gives a prognosis about an upcoming court hearing in which evidence against Althaus will ultimately have to be presented. The outcome of this negotiation is kept open in the essay. In fact, Prof. Althaus wins the trial in 1992 and is rehabilitated.

With A very special science , Heym criticizes that only the suspicion of having worked as an unofficial employee legitimizes a dismissal and a person can lose their existence, reputation and inner peace as a result of the mere information provided by an authority.

In A Very Special Science, disappointment and unfulfilled hope arise over the unjustified but unrestricted power of the Gauck authority and the Treuhandanstalt.

literature

Primary literature
  • Stefan Heym: A very special science. In: felt. Thoughts on the newest Germany. C. Bertelsmann Verlag, Munich 1992, ISBN 3-570-01624-2 , pp. 77-86.
Secondary literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Stefan Heym Collection Chemnitz: In reunited Germany (1989–2001). [on-line]. 2012. ( http://www.stadtbibliothek-chemnitz.de/heym/pmwiki.php?n=Stefan-Heym-Sammlung.ImWiedervereintenDeutschland19892001 )
  2. ↑ Serge Pateau, Alfred Strasser: In search of the lost socialism. The writer Stefan Heym as the moral authority of the time of change. In: Germanica [online]. 2005. ( http://germanica.revues.org/2336?lang=de )
  3. ↑ Stefan Heym: Felt. Thoughts on the newest Germany. C. Bertelsmann Verlag. Munich 1992, ISBN 3-570-01624-2 . P. 82.
  4. ↑ Nic Frank: Stefan Heym. Built on sand. Felt. In: Nic's blog house [online]. 2010. ( http://nicsbloghaus.org/2010/10/05/stefan-heym-auf-sand-gebaut-filz/ ).