II. Anna Busse to the High Commissioner of the USSR in Germany, Vladimir Semyonov, October 20, 1953
Back on March 29, 1950, my husband, Ernst Busse, a resident of Berlin-Niederschönhausen, Wahnschaffestr. 38, was taken from his office, where he worked as the chairman of the agricultural cooperatives, by the Soviet Control Commission. He was taken for a discussion and has not returned to this day.
On the evening of March 29, 1950, at 11 o’clock, I received a phone call in our apartment from the Soviet Control Commission. During the call, I was informed that my husband was with the commission and that I need not worry. With the sense of trust I have always had, and have, toward the Soviet Union, I waited every day for my husband’s return. But when, after eight months, the time became too long for me, I trustingly turned to our state president and chairman of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, of which my husband was also a member and to which I still belong today. Unfortunately, Comrade Wilhelm Pieck could only tell me that there were accusations against my husband dating back to his time in the Fascist concentration camp Buchenwald, and that the investigation was in the hands of the authorities of the Soviet Union.
I was also questioned by the Soviet authorities in December 1950. From that questioning, it is still unclear to me to this day whether the accusations against my husband have any grounds.
That is why I am asking you to give me and my husband’s mother, who is 77-years old and emotionally deeply shaken by this uncertainty, a sign of life from my husband through your office.
I assure you that I will show understanding for every measure that might have been taken by your office regarding my husband. But in my life, which I have devoted to the progressive and peaceful development [of society], it is now nearly impossible for me (indeed a strong impediment, given the uncertainty over my husband’s fate) to continue to work as a person fully ready for service.
With the utmost confidence that you will view this entreaty as a request from one human being to another, I look forward to your esteemed response.
Most respectfully yours,
Anna Busse
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