radix leaves
The radix-sheets were a 1986-1990 in the GDR published underground magazine and therefore part of samizdat -literature.
Surname
The name of the radix leaves was inspired by Paul Celan's poem radix, matrix . Radix is the Latin word for root, and the problems in the GDR should not be viewed superficially, but from the root.
history
The magazine was brought into being by Stephan Bickhardt , who for camouflage reasons was the only one involved in all parts of the production process - such as typing, printing, collapsing - and Ludwig Mehlhorn in order to create a counter-public and enable various authors to write system-critical texts publish. Various underground publications that Bickhardt had got to know while traveling to other Eastern Bloc countries served as models . In the issue of Traces the “right to freedom of expression, right to free information, right to freedom of movement, right to unrestricted freedom of travel, right to assembly and association, equal opportunities in education, regardless of religion or belief” were named as goals. A Stasi analysis came to the conclusion that among other things a “democratization of the GDR from below”, the “abandonment of the“ political monopoly ”of the SED“ and a “change in the ecological situation” would be sought.
The radix sheets were printed in a back room in Bickhardt's parents' apartment with a printing machine that the West German politician Heinz Suhr (Greens) had smuggled into the GDR with the help of his diplomatic passport . 136 authors published their articles there under their real names.
The various editions were up to 130 pages thick and had a circulation of several thousand copies, the edition “New Trading” at Whitsun 1988 even a circulation of 25,000. The magazine was distributed in various ways and mostly sold for 5 to 10 marks. The proceeds not only covered material costs, but also paid for three printers, among other things. In total, more than a dozen issues were printed with, according to various sources, around 120,000 to 1 million pages. The content included topics such as environmental protection, elections in the GDR or the consequences of the building of the Wall , which would normally have been censored. However, the Stasi did not gain any important knowledge about the production and distribution channels of the radix sheets until recently.
expenditure
- breath
- Elevations 1. Rejection of practice and the principle of delimitation
- Elevations 2. Beyond the no
- New action
- Or
- Shadow shutters. To Paul Celan
- traces
- Because all demarcation ...
- Sense of living
literature
- Peter Wensierski : Window to Freedom: The radix leaves. Underground publishing and printing company of the GDR opposition . Mitteldeutscher Verlag, 2019, ISBN 978-3-96311-112-9 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Published for freedom - the radix sheets. bpb.de, March 13, 2019, accessed on June 18, 2019 .
- ↑ a b c And the Stasi didn't notice anything. spiegel.de, June 17, 2019, accessed on June 18, 2019 .
- ^ "Radix-Blätter": The Network of the Eastern Opposition 27/27. spiegel.de, June 17, 2019, accessed on June 18, 2019 .
- ^ "Radix-Blätter": The Network of the Eastern Opposition 18/27. spiegel.de, June 17, 2019, accessed on June 18, 2019 .
- ^ Book about the GDR opposition: The Stasi did not get this printer. mdr.de, March 16, 2019, accessed on June 18, 2019 .
- ^ "Radix-Blätter": The Network of the Eastern Opposition 11/27. spiegel.de, June 17, 2019, accessed on June 18, 2019 .