Unsung heroes: A short voyage into recent history | Hubertus Knabe | TEDxVilnius

The true heroes in history and present are not the great generals and heads of state, but the brave – and often unknown – people who revolt against injustice. Hubertus Knabe presents some of the “unknown heroes” during the communism in East-Germany – men and women who were imprisoned in Berlin-Hohenschönhausen due to political reasons and raises the question who will be our heroes in the future? Hubertus Knabe is a historian and the scientific director of Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial, where he studies the inner workings of the East German Ministry of State Security (MfS) -- or Stasi -- between 1945 and 1989. The memorial, once the main remand prison used by the Stasi, is devoted to raising awareness of the brutal oppression that once stemmed from the agency. Before the fall of the Berlin Wall Knabe was under surveillance himself, for smuggling banned books from the West into East Germany. He is the author of over a dozen books on German history, including 17. Juni 1953 - Ein deutscher Aufstand. While working at the Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial Hubertus learnt a lot of stories of true heroes around us. He witnessed that most oftenly those heroes are not the great generals and heads of state, but the brave -- but often unknown -- people who revolt against injustice. We just can’t wait to welcome Hubertus Knabe to TEDxVilnius and hear his amazing story. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx