Burning Down the Haus by Tim Mohr

Author:Tim Mohr
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Published: 2017-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

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Despite the arrests of Namenlos, the implosions of Wutanfall and Planlos, and the other police actions in motion against punks nationwide that fall of 1983, anticipation had still been running high for the second national punk festival, scheduled for October 22 in Halle’s Christus Church. The legend of the first festival, back in April, had spread far and wide in the DDR.

City authorities were determined not to be embarrassed a second time. Siggi, the minister—and enemy of the state—had been leaned on to cancel the event. Church officials had been asked to intervene. All to no avail. Siggi wasn’t backing down, and his congregation wasn’t going to force him to.

Unbeknownst to Siggi, though, the live-in maintenance man at his church had been informing on him. As a result, the Stasi had very detailed information about the planning of this second festival. This time the secret police were determined to smash it.

The Stasi had devoted a major and six underlings to run the operation, in conjunction with the Volkspolizei and the Transport Police. A three-page Stasi memo outlined a nine-point plan to subvert the event, complete with the streets and tunnels they planned to blockade to prevent anyone reaching the church, and the plans for fake speed traps that would be set up along incoming highways to filter out punks.

As October 22 approached, Department XX’s Operation Decadence was well underway.

Once again, the geography room in the school opposite the church had been closed all week. Once again, the pupils had been warned about the enemy of the state operating behind the church walls. This time, in fact, students all over Halle were warned. Of course, for some kids, anything that bothered the authorities that much just had to be cool—whatever the hell was going to happen at Christus Church sounded adventurous and conspiratorial, and it further piqued their interest in punk. In fact, for exactly that reason, hordes of very young teens planned to make their way to the festival, and not just from Halle. They wanted in on the scene and—perhaps—out of society.

On the Thursday before the festival, all known Halle punks and their associates were issued summonses. Those who didn’t accept the invitation to come down to the police station for a chat were picked up and driven there. After they were interrogated, more than a hundred were issued orders not to attend the upcoming “criminal event” at Christus Church. They had to sign papers stating that they would comply with the orders. The major in charge had already cabled Stasi offices in nearby cities and towns like Erfurt and Eisleben and ordered them to undertake similar measures against their own punks, and to hinder any from traveling to Halle.

Otze and Schleim-Keim warranted their own telegram to Erfurt police from the Stasi.

Some concert-goers were clever enough to travel to Halle a day or two in advance, but by Saturday morning, train stations all over the country bristled with extra transport police, all on the lookout for punks. Recognizable punks

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