Erich Honecker and, despite his resistance, at the insistence of the regime's number-two man, Egon Krenz, a public statement was issued that called for "suggestions for attractive socialism". Over the following days Krenz worked to secure himself the support of the military and the Stasi and arranged a meeting between Gorbachev and Politburo member Harry Tisch, who was in Moscow, to inform the Kremlin about the now-planned removal of Honecker; Gorbachev reportedly wished them good luck. The sitting of the SED Central Committee planned for the end of November 1989 was pulled forward a week, with the most urgent item on the
Erich Bär Erich Bär Erich Bär (born May 23, 1916 in Dresden; died April 5, 2005) was a resistance against Nazism and later Lieutenant Colonel of Ministry of State Security (Stasi) of the GDR. He was, from 1957 to 1972 head of the executive offices of the Stasi in East Berlin. Bär, son of a worker made after Volksschule a training for tinsmith and plumber. Early on, he was active in communist organizations and was 1931-1935 a functionary in the Young Communist League of Germany. After the Nazi seizure of power Bär supported the KPD also in the underground and was charged