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Salient: Victoria University Students' Paper. Vol. 27, No. 11. 1964.
Totalitarianism: ISC looks behind the Berlin Wall
Totalitarianism: ISC looks behind the Berlin Wall
The Soviet Union opposes the applciation of the right to selfdetermination from considerations of power policy. It is keeping in power in East Germany a regime contrary to the wish of the overwhelming majority of the people, the Eleventh ISC has staled. It has thereby prevented a peaceful solution of the German problem which can only be the result of the free expression of the will and aspirations of the German people, the conference feels.
Up to now, their declaration continued, the policy of the Soviet Union disregards the wishes of the German people to unify in freedom, to determine their own social system and to co-operate as an independent nation with all people of the world peacefully and with mutual respect and aid. Also it states that the German people, despite division into East and West, are united in the opinion that Germany must never again be the cause of a war. The future unified German state has to give a satisfactory guarantee to all nations of the world, excluding any future threat from a reunified Germany but not endangering its own existence.
- That the regime in East Germany, while claiming to be constructing a socialist State, presses the whole life of the people into the all-embracing: framework of a totalitarian ideology which serves to ensure the power of a ruling group of State functionaires.
- That, to maintain its power, the East German regime violates the democratic and constitutionally guaranteed rights of the citizens in order to control all their activities; an instance was the right to leave the country either permanently or temporarily.
- That for the sake of the allembracing imposition and dissemination of the totalitarian ideology the regime has subordinated the whole educational system. The freedom of research and teaching in the universities and parental wishes concerning children's education has been disregarded.
- That the regime expels from universities and otherwise persecutes professors and students who oppose the official ideology.
- That for a student to be admitted to an institution of higher education not only his academic qualifications are considered but his and his family's actual and presumed political backgrounds, attitudes and convictions.
- That the regime has been unable to establish a wav of life acceptable to the people. The result has been that a considerable part of the population have left East Germany realising that their effort to gain democratic participation in the political life for citizens of dissident political opinion were in vain. Even almost three years after the erection of the Berlin wall German citizens risk their lives every day to escape from the coercion of the totalitarian system.