"Was hast du für den Frieden getan?": backdrop quoting Anna Seghers at the 3rd German Writers' Congress, Berlin
A speaker stands at a lectern marked 'DSV' beneath a stage panel: 'Für jeden Schriftsteller steht die Frage: Was hast du für den Frieden getan?', signed with the name of the author Anna Seghers and her prizes. The question is put in the voice of a celebrated writer, so the demand to take a public peace stance carries her authority.
- Date
- May 23, 1952
- Period
- Cold War
- Made by
- Deutscher Schriftstellerverband (DSV), 3rd German Writers' Congress; ADN-Zentralbild, photographer Lothar Gielow
- Country
- East Germany
- Medium
- Photograph
- Issuer type
- Mixed
- Leader
- Otto Grotewohl
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Event
- Cold War
- Techniques
- Testimonial
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Bundesarchiv (German Federal Archive), Bild 183-14811-0003, via Wikimedia Commons, retrieved October 2, 2026
- Rights
- CC BY-SA 3.0 de (Bundesarchiv release on Wikimedia Commons; file page states the licence)
Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-14811-0003 / Gielow, Lothar / CC-BY-SA 3.0
Text on the object
Für jeden Schriftsteller steht die Frage: Was hast du für den Frieden getan ? Trägerin des Stalin-Preises und Nationalpreisträgerin ANNA SEGHERS DSV
For every writer the question arises: What have you done for peace? Holder of the Stalin Prize and National Prize holder ANNA SEGHERS DSV
Read from the 547 px image and a 3x crop. The small attribution lines are low-resolution; 'Stalin-' is the reading judged most likely and is marked here as uncertain. 'DSV' is on the lectern.
