Rudolf Bahro - Responses To The Alternative

Responses To The Alternative

On 22 August 1977 the West German magazine Der Spiegel published an extract from the already announced longer book and an interview with Bahro, which he was first publicly known as the author of this book. The next day was Bahro was arrested and taken to the remand prison Berlin-Hohenschönhausen. On the same evening the West German television stations ARD and ZDF broadcast Bahro's interviews, made a few days before.

In early September, the book was on sale. The first edition was sold out prior to delivery, and soon published translations into other languages. The alternative sparked an intense debate in the West European left about real socialism and the ratio of this. For Herbert Marcuse Bahro's book was "the most important contribution to Marxist theory and practice that has appeared in recent decades." Similarly, expressed by the highly respected Trotskyist Ernest Mandel. Lawrence Krader Bahro designated as the "conscience of the revolution, the strength of the truth". Rudi Dutschke was critical, classifying Bahro a Detachment in Leninism and too little respect for human rights accused and his suggestions as "totally unrealistic".

This textual analysis was accompanied by a broad wave of publicly expressed solidarity with Bahro. The climax was a submsision by Heinrich Böll and Günter Grass in The Times from 1 February 1978, also signed by Arthur Miller, Graham Greene, Carol Stern, Mikis Theodorakis and many other celebrities. In the GDR, however, the whole affair was hushed up, and the jailed Bahro told nothing about the reactions to his book and on his arrest. Even the copies that had Bahro sent shortly before his arrest in the GDR and were being intercepted are not already in the mail, was handed over about half of the authorities.

To write and publish such a book was in itself not punishable in the GDR. Therefore designed the prosecution facts, Bahro was compiled from "greed" information (and misinformation fictitious) for the West German intelligence service and this by the publication of the book "transferred". On 30 June 1978 Bahro was sentenced in camera because of "treasonable collection of news" and "betrayal of state secrets" to eight years imprisonment. For the record shows that the sentence was clear even before the trial and the announcement of the ruling for the press was formulated in advance ready. The process, in which Bahro was defended by Gregor Gysi, was therefore only a formality. The subsequent appeal filed by Gysi in the Supreme Court of the GDR was immediately rejected as "manifestly unfounded".

The verdict sparked immediate violent and sustained protests and expressions of solidarity from the west. The highlight of the Committee for the release of Rudolf Bahro organized "International Conference for and about Rudolf Bahro", held 16 to 19 November 1978 in West Berlin and attended by over 2000 participants. The width of the Solidarity movement is illustrated by an appeal to the State Council of the GDR in the Frankfurter Rundschau of 11 May 1979, which was organized by Bahro Committee in 12 countries and signed by numerous celebrities. There were also awards: Bahro was awarded the Carl von Ossietzky of the International League for Human Rights and a member of the Swedish and appointed by the Danish PEN Centre.

11 October 1979 was the occasion of the 30th Anniversary of the founding of the GDR and Bahro received an amnesty from the state. On 17 October, he was deported together with his former wife, their two children and his partner Ursula Beneke to the Federal Republic of Germany. This corresponded to his desire, he had made a request in July, because in East Germany after the end of his detention did not see any opportunities for more meaningful activity.