Dhe historian Rainer Eckert, who headed the Contemporary History Forum in Leipzig from 1997 to 2015, has written a book. It is titled “Troubled Memories? The SED dictatorship in the current historical policy of the Federal Republic” and was to be published by Mitteldeutscher Verlag in Halle in August. On six hundred printed pages, Eckert deals with the change in the landscape of remembrance in the GDR, using examples such as the “Battle for Hohenschönhausen” or the demise of the Andreasstrasse memorial in Erfurt. But he also goes into the history of the institution in Leipzig, which he managed himself until his retirement. The Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship had approved a subsidy for printing costs of more than 7,000 euros, the edition was to be five hundred copies. Although the publisher had already sent out proof copies, he no longer wants to publish the book. What happened?
Eckert, born in Potsdam in 1950, was involved in the peaceful revolution. He had already criticized the SED regime in his youth, especially as a member of the Junge Gemeinde. In 1968 he protested against the demolition of the garrison church in Potsdam and against the suppression of the popular uprising in Czechoslovakia. He worked in the Potsdam State Archives as an assistant and was then allowed to study history, but in the seventh semester he was exmatriculated because of “anti-state agitation and group formation”. After the fall of the Wall, he became a historian who researched the unjust state of the GDR. He received scholarships, awards and the Federal Cross of Merit, worked on committees and foundations and was involved in debates.