The anti-fascist writer Anna Seghers speaks with Kurt Hager, a Politburo member and Secretary for National Education and Culture with the Central Committee of the SED. Their conversation took place at the VII. GDR Writers’ Congress (November 14–16, 1973). From 1952 until 1978, Seghers was president of the German Writers’ Association, the GDR’s state-controlled organization for writers. The group held congresses approximately every five years. Photo by Manfred Uhlenhut.