Matthias Domaschk was a member of the Jena City Youth Parish (JG). After signing the petition against the expatriation of Wolf Biermann in 1976 he had his first experience with the Ministry for State Security of the GDR. He was barred from completing his school leaving exam (Abitur), his friends were involuntarily deported to West Germany and he was drafted into the National People’s Army. He continued to invest his time in the ‚open work‘ of the Youth Parish. Although the State Security Service portrayed him as a conspiring underground activist, this was far from the truth. Following long interrogation sessions on the 12 April 1981, Domaschk passed away under still-unsolved circumstances. According to the official report, Domaschk committed suicide, however, his friends disputed this and numerous protests were organized.

Domaschk’s death radicalized youth opposition to the GDR; his name became a symbol and manifested into legal proceedings which continue to this day. Both „Artists for others“ and the Berlin Environmental Library have named their collections detailing the History of Opposition and Non-violent resistance in the GDR after Matthias Domaschk.