Oskar Brüsewitz (May 30, 1929 – 22 August 1976) was an

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

pastor who committed public

self-immolation Self-immolation is the act of setting oneself on fire. It is mostly done for political or religious reasons, often as a form of protest or in acts of martyrdom, and known for its disturbing and violent nature. Etymology The English word ' ...

on August 18, 1976, to protest the repression of religion in the

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

state of

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. He died four days later.

Biography

With the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

nearing its end, Brüsewitz joined the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

in 1944 as a fifteen-year-old, was captured by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

and became a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

. He worked as a shoemaker after the war and converted to Christianity in 1954, then attended a Lutheran

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

from 1964 until 1969 in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...

. In 1970 he was ordained in the Evangelical Lutheran Church at Rippicha, near the town of

Zeitz Zeitz (; , ) is a town in the Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the river White Elster, in the triangle of the federal states Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Saxony. History First a Slavic pagan settlem ...

. He was critical of the East German Communist regime imposed by the Soviet Union after the war and symbolic acts of protest, including the installation of a cross of

neon lamp A neon lamp (also neon glow lamp) is a miniature gas-discharge lamp. The lamp typically consists of a small glass capsule that contains a mixture of neon and other gases at a low pressure and two electrodes (an anode and a cathode). When suffi ...

s at his church, brought him to the attention of the authorities. The leadership of his church sided with the state, rather than its priest, and asked, in 1976, for Brüsewitz to be moved to another rectorate. This was the immediate trigger for his suicidal protest in a crowded public square in front of the Michaelis church in

. In front of hundreds of persons, Reverend Brüsewitz "poured gasoline over himself and lighted up in flames". ''Neues Deutschland'', the daily newspaper of the Communist SED party, reported the event afterward and described Brüsewitz as "an abnormal and sick man who suffered from delusions." The fire was quickly doused by officials from the Ministry for State security, but Brüsewitz died four days later from his burns. On the day of his protest he carried pamphlets accusing the communists of repression which read; "Funkspruch an alle: Die Kirche in der DDR klagt den Kommunismus an! Wegen Unterdrückung in Schulen an Kindern und Jugendlichen" ("A radio transmission for all: The church in the GDR denounces Communism! Because of the oppression of children and youth in school"). In his suicide note he wrote of a "feigned deep peace, which had also intruded Christianity" in East Germany while in truth there was "a mighty war between light and darkness" ("zwischen Licht und Finsternis ein mächtiger Krieg"). Brüsewitz died of his severe burns on August 22, 1976, in a hospital in Halle Dölau. His self-sacrifice brought support from both his parishioners and figures in the church and led to a reappraisal within the church hierarchy of its relationship with the Communist dictatorship. The Protestant Church now sees Brüsewitz's protest as an early step towards the mass popular protests which led to the collapse of East Germany in 1989. The Communist authorities initially attempted to suppress news of the event then, when news leaked and public support for his action grew, they branded him a

psychopath Psychopathy, or psychopathic personality, is a personality Construct (psychology), construct characterized by impaired empathy and remorse, along with boldness, bold, disinhibited, and egocentrism, egocentric traits. These traits are often ma ...

. On August 31 ''

Neues Deutschland (, , abbr. nd) is a left-wing German daily newspaper, headquarters, headquartered in Berlin. For 43 years it was the official party newspaper of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), which governed East Germany (officially known as the ...

'', the official newspaper of the ruling Socialist Unity Party (SED), printed an article entitled "Du sollst nicht falsch Zeugnis reden" "You shall not bear false witness" which asserted that self-immolation was the action of a sick, crazy man. A similar article appeared in '' Neue Zeit'', the newspaper of the East German Christian Democratic Union. The Protestant church of the ecclesiastical province of Saxony commemorated his sacrifice twenty years later in 1996, six years after the reunification of Germany. Bishop Dehmke called his death an "act of desperation" in protest against the repressive nature of the Communist regime and the collaboration of church members who had grown too close to the state. To mark the 30th anniversary of his death, ''Neues Deutschland'' wrote an apology for the article they had carried at the time, admitting that the piece had been "slanderous" and not written by their journalists, but by an office of the Central Committee of the SED. In addition they published some of the thousands of critical letters to the editor they had received but not printed in 1976.''Warum dieser Hass? Reaktionen auf einen Artikel im ND''. Neues Deutschland vom 12. August 2006, S. 24 In the Federal Republic of Germany, the Paneuropa-Union established a Brüsewitz-Center to document the repression of opposition within the former East Germany. Brüsewitz's death is known in Germany as the ''Fanal von Zeitz'' or "Fire Signal of Zeitz".

References

Literature

* K. Motschmann: ''Oskar Brüsewitz'', Würzburg 1978, * H. Müller-Embergs, H. Schmoll, W. Stock: ''Das Fanal. Das Opfer des Pfarrers Brüsewitz aus Rippicha und die evangelische Kirche'', Berlin 1993. * Harald Schultze (Hrsg.): ''Das Signal von Zeitz. Reaktionen auf die Selbstverbrennung von Oskar Brüsewitz'', Leipzig 1993, * H. Müller-Embergs, W. Stock, M. Wiesner: ''Das Fanal. Das Opfer des Pfarrers Brüsewitz aus Rippicha und die evangelische Kirche'', Münster 1999 (erweiterte 2. Auflage), * Freya Klier: ''Oskar Brüsewitz. Leben und Tod eines mutigen DDR-Pfarrers'', Berlin 2004, * Krampitz, Karsten; Tautz, Lothar; Ziebath, Dieter: ''" Ich werde dann gehen..." - Erinnerungen an Oskar Brüsewitz'', Leipzig 2006,

Film

Der Störenfried. Ermittlungen zu Oskar Brüsewitz.
Dokumentarfilm von Thomas Frickel (1992)

External links

*
Biography
on the MDR website *
Leben und Wirken von Oskar Brüsewitz
'Biographie by Stiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur (PDF)
„Der Protestant“
Article in Berliner Tagesspiegel of 6 August 2006
„Du sollst nicht falsch Zeugnis reden“
Article in

Berliner Zeitung The ''Berliner Zeitung'' (; ) is a daily newspaper based in Berlin, Germany. Founded in East Germany in 1945, it is the only East German paper to achieve national prominence since Reunification of Germany, reunification. It is published by Berl ...

of 19./20. August 2006
UOKG-conference on 30th anniversary of Oskar Brüsewitz's death

Stiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brusewitz, Oskar 1929 births 1976 suicides 1976 deaths People from Šilutė District Municipality 20th-century German Lutheran clergy People from Bezirk Erfurt German Army personnel of World War II Burgenlandkreis East German dissidents Self-immolations in protest of the Eastern Bloc Suicides in East Germany German prisoners of war in World War II held by the Soviet Union People from East Prussia Suicides by self-immolation