I defended myself at the first opportunity I had, which was a meeting of writers in which I proved that Honecker had based his whole attack.

I not only saw the possibility of nuclear war, I feared it very much. If they started a military conflagration, it would automatically lead to nuclear warfare.

People who were not active in the intellectual life of the country could go on without feeling restricted, except they could not go where they wanted. They could not cross the border to the West whenever they liked.

We certainly hoped perestroika would win out and that there would be changes. We knew all along that socialism could flourish only with a certain amount of freedom and democracy.

The idea of a socialism with a human face was something that I absolutely could support, because it was my idea from the very first.

These were the things that the government supplied you with - in turn, of course, demanding obedience. But you must not imagine that it was a constant feeling of outrage that was in the minds of people and the hearts of people.

A great number of people in the East German parts had been Nazis, so the change of mind was not altogether there.