Havel at Columbia



This Day in The Velvet Revolution, 1989

November 3: East German leader purges Politburo, promises extensive reforms

After returning from meetings with Gorbachev in Moscow and the Solidarity-led government of Poland in Warsaw, East German Communist Party leader Egon Krenz dismisses several senior Politburo members and promises extensive reforms. Despite the changes going on in neighboring Eastern Bloc countries, the Czechoslovak communist leadership maintains its hard-line stance. Havel and other opposition activists continue to press for changes in the regime's position and for dialogue between the government and citizens' groups.