What was the East German uprising of 17 June 1953?
The uprising of 17 June
Der Volksaufstand vom 17. Juni
17 June 1953. On 16 June 1953 construction workers on East Berlin's Stalinallee stopped work in protest against a ten percent rise in their work quotas.
Where: Germany
What happened
On 16 June 1953 construction workers on East Berlin's Stalinallee stopped work in protest against a ten percent rise in their work quotas. The next day more than a million people in over 700 places across the GDR went on strike or took to the streets, demanding free elections as well as lower quotas. Soviet tanks and troops crushed the uprising within hours. At least 55 people were killed, though estimates vary widely. West Germany made 17 June its national holiday, the Day of German Unity, and kept it until reunification in 1990.
Say it
Am 17. Juni 1953 protestierten in der DDR über eine Million Menschen.
On 17 June 1953 more than a million people protested in the GDR.