The Silence of the Clerks

THERE ARE times when silence is more articulate than any number of words. One of the most striking things about 1989 was the silence with which the intelligentsia of the Federal Republic and the GDR met the year’s revolutionary events. This became a silence compounded by despondency when the results of the first free election in East Germany were declared. There is a somewhat ironic angle to this. The words that poured out ad nauseam on the bicentennial of the French Revolution only made the silent response to the current revolution all the more audible. Critical awareness had suddenly become speechless.

This astonishing reticence deserves some consideration. It can be interpreted as a mark of embarrassment in face of the failure of an idea, namely socialism, which, more than any other, could rely on the sympathy of those who love dreaming up plans for social happiness. Furthermore, as long as the people stayed put, and the Wall stayed up, this silence could be justified as concern for a status quo which secured peace (even though this ultimately amounted to a justification of the existing repression). But the grounds for that explanation have now been destroyed, and it is fair to ask whether there are deeper reasons for this dumbness.

JF

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Joachim Fest

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THERE ARE times when silence is more articulate than any number of words. One of the most striking things about 1989 was the silence with which the intelligentsia of the Federal Republic and the GDR met the year’s revolutionary events. This became a silence compounded by despondency when the results of the first free election in East Germany were declared. There is a somewhat ironic angle to this. The words that poured out ad nauseam on the bicentennial of the French Revolution only made the silent response to the current revolution all the more audible. Critical awareness had suddenly become speechless.

This astonishing reticence deserves some consideration. It can be interpreted as a mark of embarrassment in face of the failure of an idea, namely socialism, which, more than any other, could rely on the sympathy of those who love dreaming up plans for social happiness. Furthermore, as long as the people stayed put, and the Wall stayed up, this silence could be justified as concern for a status quo which secured peace (even though this ultimately amounted to a justification of the existing repression). But the grounds for that explanation have now been destroyed, and it is fair to ask whether there are deeper reasons for this dumbness.