Political Leaders & Revolutionaries Codexery

Erich Honecker

East German leader who oversaw the Berlin Wall.

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From 1971 until just before the Berlin Wall's fall in November 1989, Erich Honecker, a German communist politician, was the leader of East Germany.[1] He served as General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party and Chairman of the National Defence Council, later becoming Chairman of the State Council in 1976, and was considered a dictator.[2]

Key facts and history

Honecker was born into a devout Protestant family in Neunkirchen, Saarland, on 25 August 1912.[3][1] He studied at the International Lenin School in Moscow under the cover name "Fritz Malter"[4] After the war, he resumed his political career and was named a candidate member of the Politbüro in 1950.[5] Honecker was appointed First Secretary of the Central Committee in 1971 and elected Chairman of the State Council on 29 October 1976.[6][7]

Under his leadership, East Germany adopted a programme of "consumer socialism" that improved living standards.[8] He was ousted as general secretary on 17 October 1989 after a Politburo vote.[9] The Gestapo arrested Honecker on 4 December 1935, and on 3 July 1937 he received a ten-year prison sentence for preparing high treason.[10] As the Party Security Secretary, Honecker was the main organizer behind the Berlin Wall's construction in August 1961.[11]

What the research sources say

Der Spiegel also reported that Honecker was arrested by the Gestapo in December 1935 and sentenced to ten years in prison for "preparation for high treason"[12] A 2012 article in Unsere Zeit stated that Honecker was born in Neunkirchen in a worker's family and had three sisters and two brothers.[13] That article also noted that in August 1935 he travelled illegally to Berlin under the alias "Marten Tjaden" carrying a printing press.[13]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Erich Honecker" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Profile of Erich Honecker (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Erich Honecker" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Connolly, "Margot Honecker defends East German dictatorship", The Guardian, 2 April 2012; ""Er hielt sich für den Größten"", Spiegel Politik. More precisely, the term (= man who rules alone) is used, 2 August 1992; Sabrow, "Der blasse Diktator. Erich Honecker als biographische Herausforderung", Centre for Contemporary History. Here, it is argued Honecker was the biggest despot in recent German history, if you exclude Ludendorff and (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Erich Honecker" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Man Who Built the Berlin Wall: The Rise and Fall of Erich Honecker", Pen and Sword History, 30 September 2023; Wilsford, "Political Leaders of Contemporary Western Europe", Greenwood Publishing Group, 1995, p. 195 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Erich Honecker" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Erich Honecker (1912–1994), DDR-Staatsratsvorsitzender", rheinische-geschichte.de; Epstein, "The Last Revolutionaries: German Communists and their century", Harvard University Press, 2003, p. 239; Morina, "Legacies of Stalingrad: Remembering the Eastern Front in Germany since 1945", Cambridge University Press, 2011, p. 178; "Honecker's Geheimakte lagerte in Mielke's Tresor", Die Welt, 25 August 2012 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Erich Honecker" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Epstein, "The Last Revolutionaries: German Communists and their century", Harvard University Press, 2003, p. 112; Epstein, "The Last Revolutionaries: German Communists and their century", Harvard University Press, 2003, p. 112 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Erich Honecker" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Erich Honecker on the 'Unity of Economic and Social Policy' (June 15–19, 1971)", German History in Documents and Images (GHDI); Allison, "More from Less: Ideological Gambling with the Unity of Economic and Social Policy in Honecker's GDR", Central European History, 2012, p. 102–127; Winkler, "Germany: The Long Road West, Vol. 2: 1933–1990", Oxford University Press, 2007, p. 266–268; Winkler, "Germany: The Long Road West, Vol. 2: 1933–1990", Oxford University Press, 2007, p. 266–268; Winkler, "Germany: The Long Road West, Vol. 2: 1933–19 en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Erich Honecker" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Overview 1971", chronik-der-mauer.de; Staar, "Communist Regimes in Eastern Europe", Hoover Press, 1984, p. 105 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Erich Honecker" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Honecker, "The GDR: A State of Peace and Socialism", Calvin College German Propaganda Archive, 1984 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Erich Honecker" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Sekt statt Blut", 30 August 1999, p. 60; "Die Genossen opfern Honecker – zu spät", Der Tagesspiegel, 17 October 2009; "Honecker was forced to resign by secret police", The Independent, 6 June 2011; ; "Sekt statt Blut", 30 August 1999, p. 60; "Gorbachev visit triggered Honecker's ouster, former aid says", Associated Press, 27 December 1989; Sebetsyen, "Revolution 1989: The Fall of the Soviet Empire", Pantheon Books, 2009; "1989: East Germany leader ousted", BBC, 18 October 1989; "Honecker ousted in East Germany, ending 18 years of Iron R en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Erich Honecker" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Immer bereit", Der Spiegel, 3 October 1966, p. 32; "Zum 100. Geburtstag Erich Honeckers", Unsere Zeit: Zeitung der DKP, 24 August 2012 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Erich Honecker" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Winkler, "Germany: The Long Road West, Vol. 2: 1933–1990", Oxford University Press, 2007, p. 266–268; "Der unterschätzte Diktator", Der Spiegel, 20 August 2012, p. 46 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  12. "Immer bereit", Der Spiegel, 3 October 1966, p. 32. facts only, no text reused. spiegel.de
  13. "Zum 100. Geburtstag Erich Honeckers", Unsere Zeit: Zeitung der DKP, 24 August 2012. facts only, no text reused. web.archive.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Erich Honecker (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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