The next document in my file is dated June 26, 1978; it is a report on my visit with the Sorbian poet, Kito Lorenc, and writer/translator Adolf Endler, in the tiny Lusatian village of Wuischke am Czorneboh, located in eastern Saxony. The report was prepared in the nearby city of Bautzen and is based on information provided by an unofficial source—i.e., an informant. The purpose of my visit was to gather materials from Lorenc for my book on GDR literature, DDR-Literatur im Tauwetter, as well as texts for the above-mentioned anthology of contemporary East German poetry.
Lorenc and his wife lived on what once had been a farm located in an idyllic, rural setting in the Lusatian countryside. The farmhouse and other buildings had been purchased by a group of poets who were friends—Adolf Endler and Elke Erb, who were married at the time, and the Halle poet Heinz Czechowski. Lorenc resided there permanently; the others used their farmhouses as weekend and vacation retreats from their apartments in the city. Lorenc invited me to stay overnight in his house, which gave me an opportunity to have lengthy discussions with him and Endler about problems associated with the 8th GDR Writers Congress that had just concluded and the recent developments in the GDR literary scene.
The one-page report on my visit with Kito Lorenc, his wife, and Adolf Endler on June 3 and 4, 1978 was prepared in Bautzen and then sent to secret police headquarters in Dresden, and forwarded from there to the Ministry for State Security (MfSS) in Berlin. The date, June 27, 1978 is stamped onto the report, along with the following information: MfSS/DR 32, 3422, Main Department XX. It is particularly interesting to see that there is no reference to Lorenc’s wife in the report, which appears in its entirety below.
Regional Headquarters forBautzen, 06/26/1978
State Security DresdenReh/Thr
County Authority BautzenBinder-No.: 2332/78
Ministry for State Security
Main Department XX
Comrade Generalmajor Kienberg
B e r l i n
via Regional Headquarters Dresden – Division XX
Visitation of the American Germanist Z i p s e r with the Sorbian lyric poet L o r e n c, Kito und the translator E n d l e r, Adolf
Unofficially, it became known that the American Germanist Zipser spent time visiting the Sorbian lyric poet Lorenc, Kito in 8601 Wuischke, Bautzen County. Zipser was seeking contributions from Lorenc for a GDR poetry anthology as well as for another book on the topic of GDR literature, which is supposed to be about 1,000 pages in length. For this purpose he plans to interview 40 prose writers and poets from the GDR; he will present these interviews together with a short biography and a picture of each writer as well as some poems or short prose works by each.
Zipser stayed overnight at Lorenc’s place and engaged in a longer conversation with the translator Endler, Adolf in his dwelling, also located in Wuischke. It was not possible to gather any information regarding the content of their conversation.
The discussions between Lorenc and Zipser focused on, among other things, problems associated with the Writers Congress as well as with the development of GDR literature. Zipser was very cautious during this process and noncommittal in his comments. His conduct was characterized by constant self-control and impartiality. Zipser confirmed that he would get back in touch with Lorenc and also with Endler in due course. A fixed date was not set. Nothing was learned about Zipser’s further travel destinations.
Director of the County Authority
[signature]
On behalf of K u b e l
– Major –
Remembering East Germany 