“Especially the memories and fates of those involved, from strike leaders to former top SED officials, create an emotionally moving film about the course and consequences of the uprising in June 1953. GDR filmmakers approach a decisive chapter in the history of their own country.” —ARD Television, 2023

“June 17, 1953, and its consequences, remembered in the whirlwind of the events of November 1989. An observation on how history is re-written in the course of history.”   —DOK Leipzig, 2013

“For the first time and without censorship and political restriction, the DEFA Studio for Documentary Films was able to produce, using a lot of historic film footage, a film that reconstructs in detail the events of June 17, 1953, which were a taboo subject in the GDR.”   —film-dienst

“The film strives for balance. In addition to former participants in the uprising, some of whom were subjected to draconian punishments, the film also features editors and court officials who were once loyal to the regime, as well as functionaries who failed because of the uprising (such as Karl Schirdewan) and contemporary witnesses from West Germany. Still fresh under the impression of the just successful Peaceful Revolution, the film tries to build a historical bridge to the failed uprising, which at the time of the documentary film’s making was almost 40 years ago.”   —Brandenburgische Landeszentrale für politische Bildung