As the most prominent living defender of communist East Germany, Egon Krenz offers support to those who feel they landed on the wrong side of history
Germany has turned observance of the Wall’s falling on November 9, 1989 into an annual ritual to reflect on why the chasm between East and West remains. This year, the mood has been particularly somber, especially in light of the strong showing by the far-right Alternative for Germany in a string of states that once belonged to the GDR.
Ten days later, the East German politburo forced Honecker to step down, replacing him with his deputy and protégé, Krenz, then 52. In contrast to his mentor, Krenz was a strong believer in Gorbachev and immediately promised “transformation,” including liberalizing travel for citizens of the GDR.
“What really happened is that the border was opened at the invitation of a politician of the GDR,” says Krenz. “Honecker was right about Gorbachev,” he said. “I believed in him for much too long. My relationship to Honecker was destroyed because he knew how much I admired Gorbachev. Today I know more than I could have then.”Like most failed communists, Krenz insists that the GDR’s problems weren’t ideology but execution. “The logic and analysis of Marx’s 'Das Kapital' make it clear that capitalism cannot be the last word of history,” he says, sipping his third orange juice and soda.
As a Soviet-trained politician, Krenz still knows how to parry critical questions with a flurry of moral relativism and whataboutism.The Stasi? “The CIA has engineered wars,” he says, before citing the revelations of U.S. spying detailed by WikiLeaks and others.The scores of East Germans killed trying to get past the Wall? “I regret every death, but it was a military zone, there were laws.”
France Dernières Nouvelles, France Actualités
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