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Harich Group (''Gruppe Harich'') was the originally derogatory name given by the East German justice and media establishments to the defendants in a high-profile 1957 criminal trial against a "circle of like minded persons". 〔''"Kreis der Gleichgesinnten"''〕 Wolfgang Harich was a leading member of The Group: he was also a man whose name had been on the list of potentially helpful supporters that Walter Ulbricht brought with him from Moscow on 2 May 1945 when he arrived on his nation building mission. Two days later, invited to join Ulbricht's team, Harich had firmly declined, while nevertheless expressing his willingness to make his contribution in the cultural field and in journalism.〔"Nein, dafür hätte ich wohl kaum Interesse. Aber ich bin gern bereit, auf kulturellem Gebiet, in der Presse oder bei Studentenorganisationen mitzuwirken." ''"No, I have very little interest in that. But I am more than ready to participate in the cultural sector, in the press, and with student organisations."''〕 == Background == During the de-Stalinization period, and particularly after First-secretary Khrushchev's "secret" speech of February 1956, in which he criticized Stalin, discussion groups developed spontaneously in Poland, Hungary and in East Germany, comprising Marxist intellectuals, and calling for reforms from within The Party that were, for the most part, aligned with the national objectives of the communist states. The "Bloch circle" (focused on Ernst Bloch), met together in Leipzig. In Berlin there was a "circle of like minded persons" centred on Walter Janka and Gustav Just. There was also a "Thursday circle" around Fritz J. Raddatz and there was another group around the sculptor Fritz Cremer. The most important of these discussion groups was identified as the "circle of like minded persons", which for the most part comprised employees and authors of the country's leading publishing house, Aufbau-Verlag, and of the weekly newspaper "Sonntag" (''"Sunday"''). Contacts existed between Georg Lukács in Hungary, Ernst Bloch in Leipzig, Paul Merker and Johannes R. Becher (known as the author of East Germany's recently adopted national anthem). Wolfgang Harich was mandated to summarize the discussion groups' conclusions on paper. In this way Harich composed the "Platform for the special German route to Socialism".〔 Key demands were as follows: * Replacement of Walter Ulbricht as party boss and head of state, and of several other named political leaders including the state prosecutor, Ernst Melsheimer who later played a leading role in the affair,〔 * Free elections, freedom of expression and government under the rule of law, * Full sovereignty for the German Democratic Republic and the withdrawal of Soviet troops, * Economic reforms designed to increase personal responsibility of producers, * A coming together of East Germany's ruling SED and West Germany's SPD (political parties) so as to create the conditions for: * Reunification of Germany as a neutral demilitarized state with a socialist stamp. Th "Platform" document was intended to serve as the basis for comprehensive discussions within the party, and would be published in the party newspaper Einheit (''Unity''). However, Harich handed a copy to Georgi Pushkin, the Soviet ambassador in Berlin, in the hope of receiving his support against the unreformed Stalinist national leader, Walter Ulbricht. Pushkin told Ulbricht about it. In a face to face conversation Ulbricht warned Harich against further activity. Harich, however, shared the document with employees of the East Germany office of the (West German) SPD, and with Rudolf Augstein, the hands-on proprietor-editor of West Germany's Der Spiegel magazine. West German media duly published the contents of the "Platform" document.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Harich Group」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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