Exhibition in Plovdiv marking 60th anniversary of East German uprising
An exhibition marking the 60th anniversary of the June 1953 uprising in East Germany is to open in Bulgaria’s second city, Plovdiv, on June 24.
The June 17 1953 rebellion in then-communist East Germany, formally known at the time as the German Democratic Republic, began as a protest in Berlin against working conditions and severe living conditions, and rapidly spread to hundreds of other cities and towns in East Germany.
Soviet-led intervention forced the suppression of the rebellion, brutally but not easily.
The exhibition, entitled “We want to be free” is to open at Stefan Stambolov Square on June 24 at 5pm. The opening will be led by Plovdiv deputy mayor Stefan Stoyanov and by Matthias Derner, cultural and press attache at the German embassy.
In a note announcing the exhibition, the German embassy said that the theme of social rebellion was relevant not only to Bulgaria but also to many other countries in and outside the EU.
(Photo, of a Soviet tank in Leipzig in June 1953: Bundesarchiv, Bild 175-14676 / CC-BY-SA)
