East Germany: Still Voices

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For weeks, East Germany's Communists have been quibbling over details of the much-discussed speakers' exchange to debate East-West problems with the West German Social Democrats. Last week the Reds stopped quibbling and called the whole thing off.

The reason, of course, was fear that plain talk from West Germans might unduly stir East Germany's masses. But in the looking-glass world behind the Wall, the Communists had a different version; they made it sound as though the West Germans had fouled up the show. Walter Ulbricht told a collective-farm fair near Leipzig that debates could not take place under the "Damocles sword" of the special safe-conduct law that was enacted—in response to Ulbricht's own requests—by the West German Parliament two weeks ago in order to permit Communist speakers to attend the second debate in West Germany without fear of arrest. Ulbricht's theme was amplified by his chief propagandist, Albert Norden. Norden demanded that the "monstrous" safe-conduct be repealed, that the Social Democrats break with the Christian Democrats on all policy relating to Ulbricht's regime and unilaterally recognize East Germany. Then, said Norden, the debates might take place.

Faced with such impossible demands, the Social Democrats' Willy Brandt could only abandon the whole project and denounce Norden's performance as "a total relapse into the positions of the cold war." Brandt was still determined to pursue open East-West discussion on questions of reunification. In fact, his Social Democrats were already toying with a compromise scheme to replace the speakers' exchange: revival of an old idea to invite East German politicians to speak in a televised panel discussion on West German TV.