Appendix: Short Biographies ACKERMANN, Anton (ne Eugen Hanisch) Born 25 December 1905 in Thalheim, Erzgebirge. Member KPD 1926. Graduated from Lenin School, Moscow, 1928. Worked in German section ofComintern 1932. Member of CC, member of Politburo, KPD 1935. Fought in Spanish Civil War 1936-7, afterwards in USSR. Co-founder of NKFD 1943. In Saxony as member of Matern Group 1945. Member of Secretariat of CC, KPD 1945. Member of Saxon Landtag 1946. Author of special German road to socialism 1946-8. Member of Central Secretariat of SED 1946. State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs October 1949- 0ctober 1953. Member ofCC October 1950-January 1954. Candidate member of Politburo October 1950-July 1953. Member ofVK 1950-4. Supporter of Zaisser-Herrnstadt 'faction'. Expelled from CC 23 Janu­ ary 1954. Rehabilitated 29 July 1956. Head of Film Section, Ministry of Culture 1954-8. Member, Head of Culture, Education and Health Section, State Planning Commission 1958-. Died 4 May 1973. APEL, Erich. Born 3 October 1917 in Judenbach, Thuringia. Mechanical engineer l939,then soldier. Engineer in USSR 1946-52 Member of SED 1952. GDR Deputy Minister of Mechanical Engineering 1953-5. Minister 1955-8. Head, economic commission of Politburo February 1958. Candidate 1958-60. Member of CC 1960-5. Member of VK 1958-65. Candidate member of Politburo 1961-5. Secretary ofCC July 1961-June 1962. Named Minister July 1962. Chairman of State Planning Commission and Deputy Chairman of Council of Ministers January 1963-65. Committed suicide 3 December 1965. AXEN, Hermann. Born 6 March 1916 in Leipzig. Member of KJV 1932. Sentenced to three years' imprisonment 1935. Moved to USSR 1939. Member ofKPD 1942 (according to GDR sources in prison in France and in Auschwitz and Buchenwald 1940-5). Co-founder of FDJ 1946. Secretary for organisation, then for agitation and propaganda, Central 229 230 Marxism-Leninism in the German Democratic Republic Council of FDJ 1946-9. Secretary for agitation, CC, SED 1950. Member of CC, SED 1950-. Second SED secretary, Bezirk Berlin 1953-6. Member ofVK 1954-. Chief editor Neues Deutschland 1956- 66. Candidate member 1963-December 1970. Member of Politburo December 1970-. Secretary of CC, responsible for relations with fraternal parties February 1966-. BARTSCH, Karl-Heinz. Born 25 November 1923 in Loblau, Danzig. Member of Hitler Youth Movement (HJ) 1932-9. Member of SS July 1940. MemberofWaffen-SSApri11941. MemberofSED 1949. Member of SED Bezirk Erfurt executive 1954-60. Professor of Animal Hus­ bandry, Humboldt University November 1960-February 1963. Wor­ ked in, then Head of agricultural section of CC, SED 1960-2. Deputy Minister of Agriculture, early 1963. Member ofCC January-February 1963. Candidate member of Politburo January-February 1963. Chair­ man of Agricultural Council of Council of Ministers and member Presidium of Council of Ministers 7-9 February 1963. Expelled from CC and relieved of all his government functions because he 'concealed his membership of the Waffen-SS and thereby greatly damaged the party' 9 February 1963. BAUMANN, Edith. Born 1 August 1909 in Berlin. Member ofSPD 1927, 1945. Member of SAP 1931. Imprisoned 1933-6. Member of CC, SED 1946-73. Deputy Chairman of FDJ 1946-9. First wife of Erich Honecker. Secretary of CC, then of SED Bezirk Berlin 1949-53. Candidate member of Politburo 1958-63. Member of VK 1950-73. Secretary of East Berlin city council 1963-73. Died 7 Apri11973. BECHER. Johannes R. Born 22 May 1891 in Munich. Member of KPD 1923. Emigrated to USSR 1935. President of League of Culture 1945- 58. Member of PEN centre in GDR 1948-53. Member ofVK 1949-58 Member ofCC, SED 1946-58. Wrote words ofGDR national anthem. Minister of Culture 1954-8. Author of many books. Died 1958. BELING, Walter. Born 19 May 1899. Member of KPD 1924. Lecturer, Reich Party School ofKPD, until1933. Afterwards two and a half years in prison, then emigrated to France. Member ofKPD 1945. Member of CC, SED 1946-. Member of Central Secretariat of SED 1947-50. Relieved of his functions in August 1950 in connection with Field affair. Rehabilitated 29 July 1956 Chief section Head, Ministry of Foreign Affairs 1957-9. Permanent GDR Representative in Economic Commis­ sion for Europe 1959 until retirement on pension. Appendix: Short Biographies 231 BENJAMIN, Hilde (nee Lange). Born 5 February 1902 in Bernburg. Member of KPD 1927. Lawyer in Berlin 1928-33. Reinstated by SMAD as lawyer in Berlin-Steglitz May 1945. Head of personnel department, Central Administration of Justice 1947-9. Vice-President, Supreme Court ofGDR 1949-53. Member ofVK 1949-67. Minister of Justice 1953-67. Member ofCC, SED 1954-. Professor of Law 1967-. DAHLEM, Franz. Born 13 January 1892 in Rohrbach, Lorraine. Member of SPD 1913-7. Member USPD 1917-20. Member of KPD 1920. Member of Reichstag 1928-33. Member of CC, KPD 1928-. Head of section on trade unions in CC, KPD 1928-. Illegal work for KPD in Berlin 1933-summer 1934. Emigrated to Paris. Member of KPD committee abroad. Political Head of International Brigade in Spain 1937-8. Fled to France 1938. In Vernet concentration camp 1939-42. In Mauthausen 1942. Returned to Germany October 1945. Member of KPD 1945. MemberofCC, SED 1946-53. MemberofPolitburo 1950- 3. Member of Secretariat of CC 1950-3. Member of VK 1949-54, 1963-. Relieved of all his functions for 'political blindness' by CC decree of 14-15 May 1953. Head of Section in state secretariat for Higher Education March 1955. Later first Deputy State Secretary for Higher Education, Deputy Minister of Higher and Technical Education 1967- 74. Rehabilitated 29 July 1956. Co-opted on to CC January 1957. Member of CC 1958-75. Died 1975. DOHLUS, Horst. Born 30 May 1925 in Plauen, Vogtland. Member of KPD 1946. Member ofVK 1950-4, 1971-. Candidate member 1950- 63. Member of CC 1963-. Second Secretary SED Gebiet Wismut 1953- 4. SED Secretary of Schwarze Pumpe Kombinat, Hoyerswerda 1956-8. Second Secretary Bezirk Cottbus 1958-60. Head of Party organs section of CC 1960-. Head of Politburo commission on party and organisational questions 1964. Member of secretariat of CC June 1971- 3. Secretary ofCC 1973-. Candidate member of Politburo May 1976-. EBERT, Friedrich. Born 12 September 1894 in Bremen, son of the first German President. Member of SPD 1913. Soldier 1915-8. Editor of Vorwiirts and Sozialdemokratischer Pressedienst 1919-25. Member of Reichstag 1928-33. Imprisoned for eight months in 1933; under police surveillance until 1945. Soldier 1939-40 then employed by Reich publishing board. Member of SPD 1945. Secretary of SPD Bezirk Brandenburg-Land executive. Member of CC, SPD 1945-6. Member of CC, SED 1946-. Member of Central Secretariat/Politburo 1946-. 232 Marxism-Leninism in the German Democratic Republic Oberbiirgermeister of East Berlin November 1948-July 1967. Member of VK 1949-. Member of State Council of GDR September 1960-71. Deputy chairman 1971-. EWALD, Georg. Born 30 October 1926 in Buchholz, Kreis Stralsund. Member of SED 1946. Student at SED Party High Schooll953-4. First Secretary of Kreis Doberan 1954-5. First Secretary of Kreis Riigen 1955-60. First Secretary of Bezirk Neubrandenburg 1960-3. Member ofCC 1963-73. Candidate member of Politburo 1963-73. Chairman of Agricultural Council of Council of Ministers and member of Presidium of Council of Ministers February 1963-73. Member of VK 1963-73. Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food November 1971- September 1973. Killed in road accident 14 September 1973. FECHNER, Max. Born 27 July 1892 in Rixdorfbei Berlin. MemberofSPD 1911-7, 1921. Member of USPD 1917-21. Imprisoned several times between 1933 and 1945. Chairman of CC, SPD 1945. Deputy chairman of SED 1946. President of Central Administration of Justice 1948-9. Minister of Justice 1949-53. Member ofCC, SED 1950-3. After June 1953 uprising arrested and expelled from the SED on 26 July 1953 as an 'enemy of the state and party,' then amnestied. Re-admitted to SED June 1958. FELFE, Werner. Born 4 January 1928 in Grossrohrsdorf. Member of KPD 1945. Instructor for SED in Land Saxony 1949-50. First Secretary of Kreis Floha 1950-3. Second Secretary of Central Council, FDJ 1954-7. Member of VK 1954-8, 1971-. Candidate member 1954-63. Member of CC 1963-. Chairman of council of Kreis Zschopau 1957- 60. Chairman of council of Bezirk Karl-Marx-Stadt 1960-3. Deputy Section Head in CC, SED 1965-6. Secretary for agitation 1966-8. Second Secretary 1968-71. First Secretary Bezirk Halle May 1971-. Candidate member 1973-6. Member of Politburo 1976-. FISCHER, Oskar. Born 19 March 1923 in A~. Czechoslovakia. Soldier of Wehrmacht 1941-4. Prisoner-of-war in USSR 1944-6. Member of SED 1946. Worked in Czech factory 1946-7, then expelled from Czechoslovakia. Member of Central Council of FDJ 1949-52. Sec­ retary of Central Council of FDJ 1951-5. GDR Ambassador to Bulgaria 1955-9. Head of Section, Ministry of Foreign Affairs 1959-65. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs 1965-73. State Secretary and Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs 1973-5. Minister of Foreign Affairs January 1975-. Appendix: Short Biographies 233 FLORIN, Peter. Born 2 December 1921 in Cologne. Grew up in Moscow. Graduate of Comintern School in the USSR. Member of KPD 1945. Deputy Landrat of Kreis Wittenberg 1945, then chief editor of Freiheit in Halle. Departmental Head, Ministry of Foreign Affairs 1949-53. Head of department of international relations of CC, SED 1953-67. Member ofVK 1950-. Candidate member 1954-8. Member ofCC 1958-. GDR Ambassador to Czechoslovakia 1967-9. State secretary and First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs 1969-73. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Permanent Representative ofGDR in UN 1973-. FROHLICH, Paul. Born 21 March 1913 in Niederplanitz, Kreis Zwickau.