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Tuesdav. March 19. 1991 / University Daily Kansan
Demonstrators in Germany cry for relief from economic woes
The Associated Press
LEIFZIG, Germany — More than 70,000 people gathered in eastern German cities last night in demonstrations reminiscent of 1989 pro-democracy protests. But this time they were demanding an end to their economic misery.
Protests against communism help bring freedom, not prosperity, to East Germany, said those who marched in this city considered the birthplace of the East German revolution.
"Misery. Our lives are misery," said Claus Paetzold, a chemical factory worker in Leipzig. "We stood here in the fall of 1989 to put down a dictator, and now we are in another kind of dictatorship. We are victims so that people can live better in the West."
Rally organizers said that between 50,000 and 60,000 people gathered for the Leipzig
The demonstrators were receiving a series of Monday night protests, first begun in Leipzig, which helped overthrow the east's rebellion and pave the way toward reunification.
Elsewhere, more than 20,000 rallied in Chemmitz, and thousands more protested in Schwerin, Cottbus and Loebau.
This time, demonstrators were demanding that Bonn take swift steps to stop eastern Germany's dramatic economic climate. They vowed to continue the revived protests each Monday until the troubled regional economy improves.
In central Leipzig, several hundred people
"We hope through peace prayers to contribute to the changes so necessary and that the street protests will remain peaceful," said the Rey. Christian Fuehrer.
attended a prayer service at the Nikolai
institution in September 1982, and instructions
began in September 1983.
People in eastern Germany are becoming restless as their living standards drop and they lose their jobs, while the better times promised by politicians from western Germany show no sign of arriving.
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