page_title: Erich Mielke
section_title: 40th anniversary of the GDR
hierarchical_section_title: Erich Mielke / The Peaceful Revolution / 40th anniversary of the GDR
caption_attribution_description: Title: Berlin, 40. Jahrestag DDR-Gründung, Ehrengäste&#160; People in the image: Honecker, Erich: Staatsratsvorsitzender, Generalsekretär des ZK der SED, DDR (GND 118553399) Stoph, Willi: Ministerpräsident, Staatsratsvorsitzender, Armeegeneral, SED, DDR Keßler, Heinz: Minister für Verteidigung, Armeegeneral, DDR (GND 119196719) Sindermann, Horst: Volkskammerpräsident, stellvertretender Staatsratsvorsitzender, DDR Eberlein, Werner: Sekretär der Bezirksleitung Magdeburg der SED, DDR Jaruzelski, Wojciech: Staatspräsident, General, Polen Ceausescu, Nicolae: Präsident, Staatsratsvorsitzender, Generalsekretär des ZK der KP, Rumänien Gorbatschow, Michail: Präsident, Vorsitzender des Obersten Sowjets, Friedensnobelpreisträger, Sowjetunion Jakeš, Miloš: Generalsekretär der Kommunistischen Partei der Tschechoslowakei Gorbatschowa, Raissa: Ehefrau von Michail Gorbatschow For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. Factual corrections and alternative descriptions are encouraged separately from the original description. Additionally errors can be reported at this page to inform the Bundesarchiv. Alemannisch&#160;| Boarisch&#160;| беларуская&#160;| беларуская (тарашкевіца)‎&#160;| català&#160;| čeština&#160;| Deutsch&#160;| English&#160;| Esperanto&#160;| español&#160;| suomi&#160;| français&#160;| हिन्दी&#160;| hrvatski&#160;| magyar&#160;| italiano&#160;| 한국어&#160;| македонски&#160;| Plattdüütsch&#160;| polski&#160;| português&#160;| română&#160;| русский&#160;| sicilianu&#160;| slovenčina&#160;| slovenščina&#160;| svenska&#160;| українська&#160;| 中文&#160;| 中文（简体）‎&#160;| 中文（繁體）‎&#160;| +/− Original historic description:&#160; Berlin: 40. Jahrestag DDR/ Parade/ Eine Ehrenparade der Nationalen Volksarmee leitete die Feierlichkeiten am 7.Oktober ein. Auf der Ehrentribüne in der Karl-Marx-Allee wurden herzlich begrüßt der Generalsekretär des ZK der SED und Vorsitzende des Staatsrates der DDR, Erich Honecker, und weitere Mitglieder der Partei- und Staatsführung der DDR sowie der Generalsekretär des ZK der KPdSU und Vorsitzende des Obersten Sowjets der UdSSR, Michail Gorbatschow (7.v.l.), und weitere Repräsentanten aus dem Ausland.
context_page_description: Erich Fritz Emil Mielke was a German communist official who served as head of the East German Ministry for State Security, better known as the Stasi, from 1957 until shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
  A native of Berlin and a second-generation member of the Communist Party of Germany, Mielke was one of two triggermen in the 1931 murders of Berlin Police Captains Paul Anlauf and Franz Lenck. After learning that a witness had survived, Mielke escaped arrest by fleeing to the Soviet Union, where the NKVD recruited him. He was one of the key figures in the decimation of Moscow's German Communists during the Great Purge as well as in the savage persecution of suspected anti-Stalinists in the International Brigade during the Spanish Civil War.
  Following the end of World War II in 1945, Mielke returned to the Soviet Zone of Occupied Germany, which he helped organize into a Marxist-Leninist satellite state under the Socialist Unity Party, later becoming head of the Stasi; according to John Koehler, he was "the longest serving secret police chief in the Soviet Bloc".
  The Stasi under Mielke has been called by historian Edward N.
context_section_description: As the fortieth anniversary of the GDR approached, Mielke ordered, "We must stop the internal enemy. At the least hint of a disturbance of the celebration, isolate and arrest them."
  One former Stasi Major recalled, "We mixed inconspicuously with the demonstrators, accompanied by our IMs. Hundreds of us stood at the sides of the street in order to stop any activity before it got started. We barely got any sleep toward the end. Never did I sense that the people were afraid of the MfS. The Stasi was more afraid of the people than the people were of them."
  According to Koehler, "Despite the unrest, the regime celebrated its fortieth with a huge, pompous ceremony in Berlin on 7 October, while tens of thousands ofoutside the ornate building of the State Council. The People's Police cordons were utterly ineffectual. As Stasi Minister Erich Mielke drove up and was greeted by General Günter Kratsch, the counterintelligence chief, Mielke screamed at police: "Club those pigs into submission!" (German: "Hau sie doch zusammen, die Schweine!") The police ignored Mielke's ranting.
  As more and more East Germans were arrested for protesting the 40th anniversary celebrations, many of them sang The Internationale in Vopo and Stasi custody to imply that they, rather than their captors, were the real working class and the real revolutionaries.
  According to Anna Funder, "There was a sea of red flags, a torchlight procession, and tanks. The old men on the podium wore light-grey suits studded with medals. Mikhail Gorbachev stood next to Honecker, but he looked uncomfortable among the much older Germans. He had come to tell them that it was over, to convince the leadership to adopt his reformist policies. He had spoken openly about the danger of not 'responding to reality.' He pointedly told the Politburo that, 'life punishes those who come too late.' Honecker and Mielke ignored him, just as they ignored the crowds when they chanted, "Gorby, help us! Gorby, help us!"
caption: The 40th Anniversary of the GDR, 7 October 1989.
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