The Wendish Research Exchange - Kaleta, Petr: The Journal “Serbski student” – A Bridge between Totalitarianism and Democracy in Lusatia

Lětopis Abstract 2017 1: Kaleta, Petr: The Journal “Serbski student” – A Bridge between Totalitarianism and Democracy in Lusatia

The changes, which occurred in the Soviet Bloc following the rise of Mikhail Gorbachev in1985, did not have a marked effect on politics in the GDR, and the same applies to Sorbian Lusatia and its organizations, headed by the Domowina. Only at the end of the 1980s did a group of Sorbian students, led by Timo Meškank, attempt to react to the situation in the GDR and the life of the Sorbs by writing critical texts in the newly established journal, “Serbski student” (Sorbian Student), published during the period 1988–1990, which was designed to continue the democratic tradition of the journal with the same name from the interwar period. The editors of the journal, however, came into conflict with officials from the Sorbian organization, the Domowina, headed at that time by its First Secretary, Jurij Grós, because of its open criticism in relation to topics on which the regime of the GDR remained meticulously silent. This is why the publication of the journal was stopped immediately following the first year of its publication in 1988. Only the political changes in the GDR in the autumn of 1989 enabled the journal to be published again and thus to contribute to the democratization of Sorbian society. In 1990, when the GDR became part of unified Germany, publication of the journal permanently ceased. “Serbski student” became an important element in society-wide changes in Lusatia between the 1980s and 90s and, to a certain degree, even a symbol of the transition from totalitarianism to democracy in Sorbian society.