Erich Honecker Quotes

Regardless of some speculation in the West, we were confident that our people, on the basis of their own experiences, could reach no other decision. Our party, our government, will of course do everything in their power, in cooperation with the forces united in the National Front, to realize the election program of the National Front of the GDR in the interest of the prosperity of the people, in the interests of peace everywhere.

Recognition of the principle of the inviolability of frontiers remains the criterion of whether or not a policy really serves peace and thus the interests of man.

As an inseparable part of the socialist community the German Democratic Republic has had its share in the set of European treaties, and has thus contributed to the successful course of the Security Conference. At each phase of this process, which was not without contradictions, the German Democratic Republic has proved that it is guided in its actions by the interest in peace and detente, and that it is a stabilizing factor for peace in Europe.

You, dear friends, with your upright support of the ideals and values of socialism are a living guarantee that that which has been accomplished cannot be destroyed by those in the world who do not yet stand on the side of peace and cooperation, of disarmament. We are not alone in the world. We have powerful allies. We have them in the Soviet Union, in the People’s Republic of China, in the People’s Republic of Poland, in the Czechoslovakian Socialist Republic, and the other socialist nations, but also in those states in the West that are working to prevent an atomic inferno for humanity, who are working to abolish war forever from the life of humanity.

On the ruins left us by the Second World War developed everything that today surrounds us, what during the last forty years has been accomplished everywhere in the GDR, what each who visits us can see.

In order to defeat the counterrevolution, the [PUWP] must have a firm conception, a precise line, and these must be known by all Communists. The endless discussions about the mistakes made in the past will yield no results. The prejudice caused by propaganda is much more important. Naturally, we cannot admit the fact that the public opinion does not know the truth. It goes without saying that we must draw a line between the dissatisfied workers and the antisocialist forces. We must point out, however, who the enemy is, and what the causes of the current situation in Poland are.

It has been said, with good reason, that a revolution can take place peacefully or unpeacefully. Being Communists, we must be ready to consider both ways and, in certain moments, to act in accordance with the situation that was created, using various means. However, if the fate of the people's power is endangered, we will have no other choice but to have the organs of the popular power act decisively. We state this fact on the basis of our experience and of the conclusions we drew regarding the events in 1953. The same thing is apparent from the events in Hungary in 1956, and from the events in Czechoslovakia in 1968.

I bear the main political responsibility . . . for the fact that people trying to cross the border without authorization were shot.

In Berlin, the city of peace, your unshakable will now more than ever to do everything for the strengthening of our socialist fatherland, the German Democratic Republic, and for the safeguarding of peace, will be reinforced.

Without the wall through Berlin there could have been a nuclear war with thousands or millions of dead.

We consider the unrestricted application of these principles of security to be the basic prerequisite for the development of equal, mutually advantageous co-operation. Security provides a solid basis for co-operation. The German Democratic Republic is ready to work together peacefully with all States in the economic, technological and scientific fields, in education, culture and sports.

Forty years of the GDR mark a totally new chapter in the history of our people. At the same time, these forty years have impressed upon our consciousness the absolute necessity and also the preciousness of long-lasting peace. Never again shall war emanate from German soil; this declaration arises from a decisive lesson of the past. It has become our state policy. It has been the top priority behind all we have done up to now and all we will do in the future, so that the socialist GDR continues to thrive and the family of European peoples can live in safety and harmony. Our nation is reliably satisfying its responsibility at the center of the continent, at the division between the two major allied blocs.

We are in favor of freezing the arsenal of nuclear weapons and establishing nuclear-free zones, of freeing Europe from chemical weapons, of stopping the growth of military budgets and reducing them.

Like the Soviet Union, which liberated us, and the People’s Republic of China, which is also celebrating the 40th anniversary of its founding, the People’s Republic of Poland, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, and other socialist countries, the GDR will also cross the threshold into the year 2000 with the certainty that socialism is the future. Socialism is a young society, and yet it exerts a great influence on international developments. It has brought about significant social change and will continue to do so. Its existence gives hope, not only to our people, but to all of humankind.

Socialism has to be built in accordance with general principles. Hence the leading role of the party in the society: the party is the vanguard of the working class, the exponent of its vital interests. Many difficulties are known to have existed in the history of the revolution. For example, after the Great October Revolution, the Mensheviks said they would build a new society without Bolsheviks. The facts have shown, however, that only the Communist party is in a position to build a new society essentially different from the other societies.