Krenz Goes From Hated to Wait-and-See

For East German dissidents, Egon Krenz is the man they loved to hate.

While Krenz’s predecessor as national leader, Erich Honecker, was viewed as misguided but well-meaning, Krenz was seen as the rock-hard anti-reformer.

After his first week in the nation’s top three offices--head of state, Communist Party chief and chairman of the Defense Council--Krenz is being given a second look, not only by East Germans but by Western diplomatic observers.

Baerbel Bohley, a founder of the opposition New Forum, says Krenz--who at 52 is the youngest member of the ruling Politburo--should be given a chance to show what he can do. So far, what he has said and done has given rise to optimism in some quarters and skepticism in others.

“His first speech was not impressive,” a diplomat said, “but he has started seeing churchmen and workers and saying some conciliatory things. But he is going to be judged not by what he says but what he does.”

A 21-year-old mechanic taking part in a church vigil for arrested dissenters said, “He’s making some good gestures, but they are only gestures, maybe just tactical moves to give the right impression.”

Gethsemane Church, where the vigil is taking place, is papered with statements from dissenters, and anyone on the steps may be questioned by agents of the security service. The mechanic ignored a bystander who appeared to be such an agent and said, “We want to see results: more travel and free elections.”

West German political figures have adopted a wait-and-see attitude toward Krenz, but one West German party aide said he thinks Krenz will make an effort to improve the relationship between the two Germanys.

Karsten Voigt, a foreign affairs expert with the opposition Social Democratic Party, said in a recent conversation that he has known Krenz for 15 years.

“He may surprise us,” Voigt said. “He may turn out to be much more flexible and open than depicted.”

There does not seem to have been much flexibility in Krenz’s past. For a dozen years, under Honecker, he was head of the state security apparatus; he was in charge of the electoral commission that approved what was widely regarded as rigged voting; he complimented the Chinese government for its crackdown on the pro-democracy movement last summer in Beijing, and early this month, while Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev was in Berlin, Krenz ordered the police to break up popular demonstrations.

In private, he is reportedly less austere than his public persona.

“His background would indicate that Krenz knows what’s going on, which is more than you could say about Honecker,” a political observer here said. “In a police state, the police may be the only ones who know what’s going on.”

Other analysts suggested that Krenz’s tough background may be just what is needed for the introduction of much-needed political and economic reforms.

“He has a hard reputation, and only a hard man will lead this country out of its problems,” a Western diplomat said.

The diplomat pointed out that it was conservative President Richard M. Nixon who made the breakthrough with Communist China, and that it was a conservative successor, Ronald Reagan, who came to terms with Gorbachev.

“People change in jobs,” a West German diplomat remarked, “particularly when faced with the realities of life.”

How Krenz deals with East Germany’s realities has become a fascinating area of speculation.

“Krenz says he wants to discuss reforms,” a diplomat said, “but not the socialist system itself. Yet it is the system itself that needs changing.”

Krenz and the party’s ruling Politburo are faced with the problem of how to liberalize East Germany’s rigid society and at the same time hold to the socialist ideal. Without this ideal there would be no need for a separate East German state, and Communist leaders admit this.

Rolf Heinrich, another of the New Forum leaders, talked about this problem with a reporter. A lawyer, Heinrich was barred from practice earlier this year after publishing a book, “The Guardian State,” that was critical of the government.

“The thing for Krenz and his people to do is to show that things are going to change,” Heinrich said.

What could the government do quickly to regain public confidence?

“First,” Heinrich said, “he could restore the possibility for travel, East and West. Then he could declare a law for free elections.

“Third, he could abolish political offenses as criminal acts. At a stroke of the pen, he could recognize opposition groups like New Forum. These would cost nothing. And if they are really serious, they would announce changes in the socialist system--for example, that a worker would be paid more for extra work.”

Already, Heinrich said, “Things are moving. Last spring I was considered an enemy of the state. Now I am only considered useless to the state. That’s an improvement under Krenz.”