Horst Linowski

Horst Linowski (* 1933 in Ortelsburg ; † October 1, 2003 in Magdeburg ) was a participant in the popular uprising of June 17, 1953 and a victim of the SED dictatorship in the GDR.

Life

Linowski attended the vocational school for metalworking in Magdeburg and from 1951 worked as a crane driver in Magdeburg.

Events on June 17, 1953

On the day of the popular uprising in the GDR, he worked at the Magdeburg SAG company VEB Schwermaschinenbau "Ernst Thälmann" from 6:00 am . At 7:00 a.m. work was stopped in the operating section. The workers had learned of work stoppages the night before by construction workers in East Berlin via radio news . The strikers, including Linowski, gathered in front of the factory gate and then moved to neighboring factories to get the workers there to strike as well. Then they moved north to downtown Magdeburg . Via Hasselbachplatz we went to the street Am Krökentor in the north of the old town and the vocational school for metalworking and the engineering school for electrical engineering located there. Linowski urged the students in the schools to join the strikers. After further demonstrations from the northern districts of Neue Neustadt and Rothensee had arrived, the strikers moved south via Otto-von-Guericke-Strasse to the Sudenburg prison , where the release of political prisoners was requested. Around 1 p.m., tanks of the Soviet Army appeared and were greeted by a hail of stones from the demonstrators. There were machine gun salvos. Then the situation calmed down a bit, but remained serious.

Linowski went back to his company around 2 p.m. and then went home to his mother around 4 p.m. Around 7.30 p.m. went back to the street. He tore up a leaflet of the Soviet military administration on which the order for the declaration of a state of emergency was announced. Immediately afterwards, Linowski was arrested by a Soviet soldier, using rough violence. He was first brought to the Encke barracks . This was followed by a trip on an open truck to various Soviet offices in Magdeburg, ultimately at 10.30 p.m. it was handed over to the German People's Police in Magdeburg's police headquarters. Against 24.00 o'clock he was in the neighboring prison Sudenburg for detention brought. He suffered a broken nose from rough treatment by a servant . There was no medical care.

Sentencing and imprisonment

Linowski was then taken to a Soviet interrogator. Various long interrogations followed, both day and night. Linowski was repeatedly threatened with the death penalty. To heighten the threat, press reports were presented to him reporting the execution of Alfred Dartsch and Herbert Strauch . Linowski had been taken to the State Security Detention Center, where he remained until June 24, 1953. He and two other prisoners were then driven to the Soviet headquarters at Klausener Strasse 19 in Magdeburg. There his head was shaved. Several interrogations took place that night. Linowski was kicked by the Soviet examining magistrate and particularly hit in the heart area. In addition, cigarettes were put out on his forearm.

On July 4, 1953, Horst Linowski was sentenced to eight years in a labor camp by the Soviet military court at Troop 92401 for participating in the armed uprising .

First he was sent to the military prison in Potsdam's cockchafer barracks , and on August 3, 1953, he was transferred to Bautzen . There he was first in Block West I, then in West II. From May 1955 he was part of the Cunewalde Command , Operation III. During the work assignments he suffered two work accidents. On November 29, 1960, 6 months and 16 days before the end of his prison sentence, he was released by a pardon from the State Council.

Life after imprisonment

Linowski took up a job assigned to him as a milling cutter in the machine tool factory in Magdeburg. However, he felt bullied and physically overwhelmed. He suffered from the health effects of imprisonment and had to undergo an operation which resulted in a nine-month incapacity for work. In January 1961 he had already switched to a private company, where he then worked as a precision mechanic .

After the Peaceful Revolution in the GDR , he became involved in commemorative work and worked as district chairman of the Association of Persecuted Stalinists in his place of residence in Magdeburg. On January 4, 1996 he was rehabilitated by Russia and compensated by the Federal Republic of Germany .

Honor

On July 3, 2003 he was allowed to enter himself in the Golden Book of the city of Magdeburg .

Web links

• Horst Linowski on www.17juni53.de
• Horst Linowski on foerderverein-gedenkstaette-bautzen.de