Zeuge in eigener Sache: Die fünfziger Jahre in der DDR

by Gustav Just, Christoph Hein (Foreword)

German

222 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Gustav Just (1921 - 2011) was a German journalist and author. He served as First Secretary of the German Writers' Association (DSV) and editor-in-chief of the East German weekly Sonntag until 1957, when he was sentenced to four years imprisonment after a show trial in which he was accused of having engaged in anti-constitutional activities ("inciting to boycott") along with Walter Janka, Heinz Zöger, and Richard Wolf.

After his release he became a prolific translator of primarily Czech but also Slovak works into German and was "rehabilitated" in 1990.

He served in the Brandenburg State Parliament in the newly-unified Germany until he was forced to resign in 1992 following allegations of having participated in wartime atrocities on the Eastern Front during World War II.