The leadership of East Germany on trial: German public reactions towards the prosecution of Erich Honecker and Erich Mielke.

Abstract

The fall of the German Democratic Republic in 1989 necessitated a thorough confrontation between victims of the regime and the GDR's former rulers. Unlike a real revolution, unified Germany put the Socialist Unity Party (SED) leaders on trial instead of standing them against a wall. During the investigation and court procedures, German newspapers served as the public's mouthpiece about the defendants. They expressed a strong need to vindicate the victims. The courts in a rush to charge the top leaders seemed to be satisfied with any charge, as long as it led to a trial. This resulted in the separation of the prosecution of former security chief Erich Mielke from the main trial involving him, former party chief, Erich Honecker and several other SED-leaders. The court decided to try Mielke first for the murder of two policemen, a crime committed more than sixty years earlier. Honecker on the other hand was prosecuted for the deaths of escapees at the West GermanlEast German border. His health, however, was failing and so his prosecution was