Record of Main Content of Conversation Between Mikhail Gorbachev and Members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Socialist United Party of Germany

During Mikhail Gorbachev's historic visit to East Germany on the occasion of the GDR's 40th anniversary, he met with the SED politburo. In his remarks, Gorbachev urged reform and uttered what would become one of the most famous phrases of the period: "Life itself will punish us if we are late."

Using a variety of analogies, Gorbachev lectured the East German politburo that the only course moving forward was a course of reform. He spoke of his own attempt to initiate reforms in an attempt to ease the tension with the nationalities in the USSR. He also pointed out that opportunities for reform were missed in both Poland and Hungary - where the democratic forces had made even more headway than in the GDR. All of this was meant to serve as a warning to the East German leadership - the only path forward was reform.