Honecker Erich: biography, political activity

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:42

Erich Honecker's memoirs - a story about the fate of a communist in Nazi Germany. The party leader, who was the General Secretary of the GDR, was imprisoned several times, he fought cancer and believed in the inviolability of his ideas.

Childhood and youth of the leader of the GDR

Erich Honecker became one of six children in a miner's family. The future general secretary of the GDR was born on August 25, 1912 in Neunkirchen, in the Saarland, Germany. Already at ten, Erich became a member of the Communist Children's Group, and at fourteen he joined the Communist Youth League of Germany. At the age of seventeen, Erich Honecker joined the Communist Party.

After graduating from high school, the young man could not decide on further education, so for a couple of years he worked as an agricultural worker in Pomerania. At twenty-six, Erich Honecker returned to Wiebelskirchen, where his family had moved when the boy was still young, and enrolled as a roofer uncle. Then the young man became the head of the local branch of the Komsomol organization.

In 1930, Erich received a referral where he could go to the USSR andstudy at the International Summer School at the Communist International in the capital of the Soviet Union. Of course, the young man took advantage of this chance. In 1930-1931. he worked on the construction of the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works.

Beginning of political activity

Erich Honecker's political mentor in Germany was Otto Niebergal, who was later elected to the Bundestag. Upon his return from Moscow, Erich became the head of the communist organization in the Saarland. After the National Socialists came to power, Honecker was under arrest for some time, but then he was released. When the Saar was reunited with Germany, the young politician fled to France.

A few months later, Erich Honecker, under a false name, returned to his homeland and launched a fight against the Nazis. Four months later, he was arrested and placed in jail. Two years later, the politician was sentenced to ten years in prison. Shortly before the surrender of the Third Reich, Erich Honecker and other prisoners were sent to construction work. When the air raid began, the prisoner managed to escape, but a few days later he returned to prison. The bosses and guards managed to hide the escape in front of the higher authorities.

When the Soviet troops liberated the prison, Honecker joined the communists.

Post-war period

After the end of the war, Erich Honecker, whose biography was already firmly connected with communist ideals, was appointed secretary of youth affairs and head of the anti-fascist committeeyouth. True, a party worker was severely punished for escaping from prison, which caused some difficulties.

Honecker's career in the GDR

When the GDR was founded, Erich Honecker's position improved dramatically. The politician organized three youth festivals in Berlin, and after that he was appointed as a candidate member of the Politburo.

In 1955-57, the party worker was again sent to the Soviet Union to study at the Higher Party School. In the USSR, Erich Honecker attended the 20th anniversary party congress and personally heard Khrushchev's famous speech exposing Stalin's personality cult.

After Honecker was accepted as a member of the Politburo in Germany, the politician became responsible for security, and later became a member of the Defense Council. A little later, Erich Honecker, whose political activities were in full swing, was one of the organizers of the construction of the Berlin Wall.

As General Secretary of the GDR, Honecker staked on the unity of social and economic policy. Enlisting the support of the top Soviet leadership, he made a change of personnel in the party apparatus. Thus, Honecker became at the pinnacle of power in the GDR.

The biggest achievements of Erich Honecker are the conclusion of the Founding Treaty with Germany, participation in the work of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the fact that Germany became a full member of the League of Nations (UN) under him. In the domestic political direction, under him there were tendencies towardscentralization, nationalization, liberalization.

The leadership of the USSR awarded Erich Honecker the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for his contribution to the fight against fascism.

Illness and retirement

In 1989, Honecker was admitted to the hospital - his gallbladder became inflamed, and a malignant neoplasm in the kidney also made itself felt. Erich Honecker retired from duty, all information came to him only from Günther Mittag and Joachim Hermann. Meanwhile, dissatisfaction in German society and tension in Honecker's relationship with the leader of the USSR, Gorbachev, increased. Then the government of the GDR accused Honecker of all troubles and unanimously dismissed him.

Criminal prosecution

In the same 1989, the new government accused Erich Honecker of corruption and abuse of office, he was even suspected of treason. Honecker was arrested, then he was released several times. The former party leader was ill, they found another tumor in him, so they could not keep him in custody all the time. Doctors were allowed to see Erich Honecker. When a new warrant was issued for his arrest, Honecker flew to Moscow with his family.

Extradition to Germany

Pressure on Moscow in the Honecker case intensified. After Gorbachev left and the independence of the Soviet republics was declared, the leadership of the RSFSR demanded that the spouses leave the country. The family hid in the Chilean embassy. The DPRK and Syria could also provide asylum. It played in favor of Chile that the daughter of ErichSonya was already married to a Chilean.

A real international scandal erupted. As a result, Honecker flew to Berlin, where he was arrested. His wife flew from Moscow to Chile, where her daughter Sofia took her in.

Departure to Chile

Honecker was charged with assassinations while in office, breaching the trust of citizens, and damaging public property. Honecker admitted his moral guilt, but not legal.

By that time he was already seriously ill. The case could continue for many more years, it is likely that the accused would not even live to see the final decision, so the German Constitutional Court dismissed the case against Erich Honecker. He was allowed to fly to Chile, to his family. He died in May 1944 (about a year after his release) at the age of 81.