Vortrag und Gespräch »Mut zur Freiheit«

In the organizer's words:

Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk presents his new book "Freiheitsschock".

East Germany is currently the subject of intense debate and Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk is one of the most important voices in this debate. He has written several standard academic works on the GDR - most recently a two-part biography of Ulbricht. But now he is concerned with the present and the future. The disappointments of the reunification period prevent many East Germans today from embracing democracy. The book wants to get them out of their role as victims. It wants to encourage them to take more active personal responsibility. In this book, the SED dictatorship remains a dictatorship, the revolution of 1989 a liberation and German unification a success story. This is where Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk remains true to himself.

In conversation:
Dr. Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk, historian, Berlin/Bayreuth
Dr. Stefan Wolle, Scientific Director DDR Museum, Berlin