Erich Honecker

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(b. Neunkirchen, Saar, 25 Aug. 1912; d. Chile, 29 May 1994) German; first/general secretary of the SED 1971 – 89, head of GDR 1976 – 89 Born the son of a coal miner, Honecker was brought up in a Communist (KPD) house-hold. He went through the various stages of the Communist youth movement and, although apprenticed as a roofer, soon became a full-time KPD official. By 1931 he was Communist youth leader in the Saar. Honecker continued underground activities after the Saar was incorporated into Nazi Germany in 1935. He was arrested in that year and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment in 1937. In 1945 he was liberated from Brandenburg jail by the Red Army and immediately resumed KPD youth work. When the Free German Youth (FDJ) was established in 1946 he was elected chairman and remained in this office until 1955. He was also elected to the Executive Committee (later Central Committee) of the ruling Socialist Unity Party (SED) in 1946, and as a candidate member of the Politburo in 1950. He spent a year on a course in Moscow, 1956 – 7, a city where he had spent a similar year in 1930. His election to full membership of the Politburo followed in 1958. From 1956 Honecker had been responsible for security matters on behalf of the Politburo, and he is credited with the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961.

Erich Honecker owed his success to the support of Ulbricht, who at one period looked upon him as his natural successor. However, the relations between the two cooled. Honecker got tired of waiting as the "crown prince". He also felt Ulbricht was verging on revisionism with his economic reforms, his attempts to woo the West German Social Democrats, and his arrogance towards the Soviet Union. He sought, and gained, Soviet blessing for the removal of Ulbricht as SED first secretary in 1971. He was then unanimously elected to that office, which he occupied until October 1989. Honecker sought to dispel his austere image. For a time he allowed more freedom in the arts. In 1976 he also announced a mass of social welfare measures designed to increase the birth rate. He followed the Soviet line on détente with West Germany, which paved the way for mutual recognition by the two German states in 1973, and led to the international recognition of the GDR. Détente, and with it millions of West German visitors, made it increasingly difficult for the SED to maintain its hard-line stance within the GDR. Increasingly, intellectuals, environmentalists influenced by the West German Greens, and active Christians challenged its authority. Western television helped East Germans to get a clearer picture of the world. Consumers were increasingly dissatisfied with the poor range and quality of goods on offer and the restrictions of travel.

Honecker followed Ulbricht in amassing power and pursuing the personality cult. He took over as head of state in 1976 and chairman of the Defence Council of the GDR. After 1985 he found himself at odds with the CPSU by rejecting General Secretary Gorbachev's glasnost reforms. In the summer of 1989 thousands of East German tourists escaped to the West through Hungary, whose Communist rulers had opened their frontier to the West. This, and the fortieth anniversary of the GDR celebrations in October, provoked demonstrations throughout the Republic and calls for free elections. The sickly Honecker was forced out of office in much the same way as Ulbricht. Egon Krenz replaced him for a few weeks before the whole edifice of the SED state collapsed. After being expelled from the party he had helped to found, imprisoned and forced abroad, Honecker died in Chile.

A German Communist Party leader, Erich Honecker (1912-1994) was instrumental in establishing a Communist government in East Germany after World War II (East Germany was reunited with West Germany in 1990). He became general secretary of the Communist Party in East Germany and head of the German Democratic Republic in 1971 until 1989.

Erich Honecker was born on August 25, 1912, to a working-class family in Neunkirchen, in the Saar province. He grew up in a strongly Communist milieu. His father was a militant coal miner who joined the Communist Party after it was founded in 1918. He spent his youth in Wiebelskirchen, which voted heavily for the Communists. Honecker joined the Communist Party's children's group in 1922 and its youth organization (KJVD) in 1926. His upbringing, youthful experiences, and early intellectual development convinced him that Communism was the solution to the troubles of the working class and that the Soviet Union (now Russia/The Commonwealth of Independent States) was the best friend of all Communist movements. Despite the imposition of a restrictive form of Communism upon Eastern Germany by the Soviet Union after 1945, Honecker never changed his mind about these two basic ideas. He gave his life to German communism.

Honecker finished high school in 1926. University study was out of the question for the son of a coal miner in those days, so he worked on a farm for two years. Returning to Wiebelskirchen, he became a roofer's apprentice. Honecker's most important work, however, was for the Communist Party, where his sober dedication and organizational skills were rewarded. In 1928 he became head of the local youth group. In 1930 the party offered him his only opportunity for formal study, at a party school in Moscow. By 1934 he was a member of the KJVD's central committee.

The Nazis outlawed the German Communist Party in 1933, but Honecker continued to fight against them. Because the Saar was separated from Germany by the Versailles Treaty of 1919, he could work there openly until a plebiscite in 1935 reunited it with Germany. When an acquaintance admired his courage in agitating against the Nazis despite certain reprisals after the plebiscite, Honecker replied it was simply his conviction, not any special courage. Forced to flee to France after the vote, he reentered Germany in the fall under a false passport to lead the illegal Communist youth organization in Berlin. The Gestapo arrested him in December 1935, and in 1937 he was sentenced to life imprisonment. He was freed by the Soviet Army in 1945.

After the war Honecker participated enthusiastically in building a new state in eastern Germany according to the Soviet model of socialism. He held leadership positions beginning in 1946 and was one of those responsible for turning the ideas of German communism into a state run by one party, the Socialist Unity Party (SED), in which the leaders determine and satisfy the interests of the populations as they see fit. In 1950 he became a member of the SED's Central Committee. A co-founder of the Free German Youth, he headed that organization from 1946 to 1955. He spent 1955 and 1956 studying security issues in Moscow, returning to play an increasingly important role within the party. By 1960 he was a full member of the Politburo, with responsibility for security and military questions. When Walter Ulbricht resigned in 1971, the party elected Honecker its general secretary, effectively making him head of state.

Honecker's policies bore both similarities and differences to those of Ulbricht. The SED still dominated the government and continued to forbid public criticism of its policies. In the most spectacular example of this, during 1976 and 1977 many artists who had protested the party's restrictions on artistic freedom lost their citizenship and were forced to emigrate to the West. The German Democratic Republic (GDR) also remained closely tied to the Soviet Union: 70 percent of the GDR's trade in 1980, for example, was with the U.S.S.R. and its socialist allies. Although Honecker mentioned the advantages of superpower negotiations perhaps more than the Soviet leadership wished, he supported the Soviet Union publicly on every issue.

Honecker's leadership differed in his emphasis on the material needs of the working class. Arguing that class differences still existed in the GDR, he began a program to improve the "well-being of people." In 1976 the SED increased the minimum wage and raised retirement benefits. In 1977 it shortened the working day for shift workers. Perhaps most important, in 1973 the party began a massive program to construct three million low-cost apartments.

During the 1970s détente between the United States and the Soviet Union provided a favorable climate for the improvement of relations between the German states. Honecker signed three treaties with the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). The "Transit Agreement" and "Traffic Treaty" of 1972 facilitated trade and travel between the two countries. In the "Fundamentals Treaty" of 1973 the two countries agreed on the "inviolability of borders" and "respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty." Honecker achieved further recognition of the GDR's sovereign status through his position as signatory to the 1975 Helsinki accords. Trade with the West, and especially with the FRG, which these accords made possible, helped the East German economy and thus Honecker's program to improve citizens' well-being. The provisions which allowed freer travel were also widely popular in the GDR, especially because they allowed greater contact among family members separated by the border.

Further improvement in the relations between the GDR and FRG seemed unlikely. Honecker linked further concessions about travel with recognition of GDR citizenship, which the West German government refused. Tensions between the superpowers also reduced Honecker's freedom to make new overtures. After 1982 Helmut Kohl's new government in West Germany stressed anti-communism and German reunification rather than coexistence. Honecker appeared to want to retain good relations, but canceled a trip to the FRG in the fall of 1984 after hostile comments from conservative West German politicians, and, it was widely speculated, pressure from the Soviet Union.

Domestically, Honecker's greatest problems were economic. His campaign for economic improvement raised hopes in the GDR, but world-wide recessions made their fulfillment more difficult. Hopes for greater freedom to visit relatives in the West were threatened by stagnation in relations between the two governments. Honecker was expected to continue to seek rapprochement with the FRG, for diplomatic and economic reasons, but to pursue this only insofar as it could be reconciled with Soviet foreign policy. Not only was the GDR dependent upon the Soviet Union economically and militarily, but Erich Honecker remained loyal to the Soviet model of Communism.

Following the reunion of East and West Germany in 1990, Honecker was arrested on charges of treason and manslaughter and stayed in Moscow Hospital until 1991, when he sought asylum through the Chilean Embassy in Moscow. He was later charged with 13 counts of manslaughter for ordering the shooting of persons attempting to escape the German Democratic Republic, and was deported to Germany. Trial began in November, 1992, but was discontinued under controversy in January, 1993. Honecker was released and fled to Chile. He died there in exile at the age of 81 in May, 1994.

Further Reading

Honecker's autobiography, From My Life (Oxford 1980; Pergamon 1981), discusses all stages of his life. The last chapter contains an interview with a Western publisher.

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Erich Honecker
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany
In office 1971 – 1989
Preceded by	Walter Ulbricht
Succeeded by	Egon Krenz
Chairman of the Council of State of the German Democratic Republic
In office 1976 – 1989
Preceded by	Willi Stoph
Succeeded by	Egon Krenz
Chairman of the National Defense Council of the German Democratic Republic
In office 1971 – 1989
Preceded by	Walter Ulbricht
Succeeded by	Egon Krenz
Born	August 25, 1912(1912-08-25) Neunkirchen, German Empire
Died	May 29, 1994 (aged 81) Santiago, Chile
Nationality	German
Political party	Socialist Unity Party of Germany
Spouse(s)	Edith Baumann (1950-1953) Margot Feist Honecker (b. 1927)
Profession	Politician
Religion	Atheism

Erich Honecker (25 August 1912 – 29 May 1994) was a German Communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1971 until 1989.

After German reunification, Honecker first fled to the Soviet Union but was extradited to Germany by the new Russian government. Back in Germany, he was imprisoned and tried for high treason and crimes committed during the Cold War. In particular, he was indicted for ordering border guards to shoot any person trying to cross the East German border into West Germany or West Berlin. However, during the trial, Honecker became ill with terminal cancer and was subsequently released from prison. He died in exile in Chile about a year and a half later.

Contents 1 Origins and early political career 2 Leadership of East Germany 3 Post-1989 4 Personal 5 Famous quotes 6 In popular culture 7 Notes 8 Further reading 9 External links

Origins and early political career

Honecker was born on Max-Braun-Straße in Neunkirchen, now Saarland, as the son of a coal miner, Wilhelm, who in 1905 had married Caroline Catharina Weidenhof. There were six children born to the family: Katharina (Käthe), Wilhelm (Willi), Frieda, Erich, Gertrud (b. 1917; m. Hoppstädter), and Karl-Robert.

He joined the Young Communist League of Germany (KJVD), the youth section of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), in 1926 and joined the KPD itself in 1929. Between 1928 and 1930 he worked as a roofer, but did not finish his apprenticeship. Thereafter he was sent to Moscow to study at the International Lenin School and for the rest of his life remained a full-time politician.

He returned to Germany in 1931 and was arrested in 1935, two years after the Nazis had come to power. In 1937, he was sentenced to ten years for Communist activities and remained a prisoner until the end of World War II. At the end of the war, Honecker resumed activity in the party under leader Walter Ulbricht, and, in 1946, became one of the first members of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, SED), which was formed by the merger of the KPD and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the Soviet occupation zone of Germany.

Following the SED victory in the October 1946 elections, Honecker took his place amongst the SED leadership in the first postwar East German parliament, the German People's Congress (Deutscher Volkskongress). The German Democratic Republic was proclaimed on 7 October 1949 with the adoption of a new constitution, establishing a political system similar to that of the Soviet Union. Honecker was a candidate member for the secretariat of the Central Committee in 1950; by 1958, he had become a full member of the Politbüro.

Leadership of East Germany

Erich Honecker

In 1961, Honecker, as the Central Committee secretary for security matters, was in charge of the building of the Berlin Wall. In 1971, he initiated a political power struggle that led, with Soviet support, to his becoming the new leader, replacing Walter Ulbricht as First Secretary of the SED Central Committee and as chairman of the National Defense Council. In 1976, he also became Chairman of the Council of State (Vorsitzender des Staatsrats der DDR) and thus the de facto head of state.

Under Honecker's leadership, the GDR adopted a program of "consumer socialism," which resulted in a marked improvement in living standards already the highest among the Eastern bloc countries. More attention was placed on the availability of consumer goods, and the construction of new housing was accelerated, with Honecker promising to "settle the housing problem as an issue of social relevance." [1] Yet, despite improved living conditions, internal dissent was not tolerated. Around 125 East German citizens^{[citation needed]} were killed during this period while trying to illegally cross the border into West Germany or West Berlin.

During a National People's Army exercise in southern East Germany: Ivan Yakubovsky, Otto Grotewohl, Erich Honecker, Heinz Hoffmann

In foreign relations, Honecker renounced the objective of a unified Germany and adopted the "defensive" position of ideological Abgrenzung (demarcation). He combined loyalty to the USSR with flexibility toward détente, especially in relation to rapprochement with West Germany. In September 1987, he became the first East German head of state to visit West Germany.

In the late 1980s Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced glasnost and perestroika, reforms to liberalise communism. Honecker and the East German government, however, refused to implement similar reforms in the GDR, with Honecker reportedly telling Gorbachev: "We have done our perestroika, we have nothing to restructure." [2] However, as the reform movement spread throughout Central and Eastern Europe, mass demonstrations against the East German government erupted, most prominently the 1989 East German Monday demonstrations in Leipzig. Faced with civil unrest, Honecker's Politbüro comrades colluded to replace him. The elderly and ill Honecker was forced to resign on 18 October 1989, and was replaced by Egon Krenz.

Post-1989

After the GDR was dissolved in October 1990, the Honeckers stayed with the family of the Lutheran pastor Uwe Holmer. Honecker then stayed in a Soviet military hospital near Berlin before later fleeing with Margot Honecker to Moscow, to avoid prosecution over charges of Cold War crimes. He was accused by the German government of involvement in the deaths of 192 East Germans who tried to illegally leave the GDR. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991, Honecker took refuge in the Chilean embassy in Moscow, but was extradited by the Yeltsin administration to Germany in 1992. However, when the trial formally opened in early 1993, Honecker was released due to ill health and on 13 January of that year moved to Chile to live with his daughter Sonja, her Chilean husband Leo Yáñez, and their son Roberto. He died of liver cancer in Santiago. His body was cremated and the ashes are believed to be in the possession of his widow Margot.^{[citation needed]}

Personal

Honecker married Edith Baumann in 1950 and divorced her in 1953. They had a daughter, Erika (b. 1950). In 1953 he married Margot Feist and they remained married until his death. They had a daughter, Sonja, born in 1952. Margot Honecker served for more than 20 years as the GDR Minister for People's Education.

It is claimed that Honecker was addicted to game hunting and was directly involved in the over-hunting a number of native game species. Such was his passion that animals bred and reared in neighbouring communist countries had to be supplied for his regular hunting parties.^[1]

Famous quotes

• "The Wall will be standing in 50 and even in 100 years, if the reasons for it are not yet removed." (Berlin, 19 January 1989) (Original: "Die Mauer wird in 50 und auch in 100 Jahren noch bestehen bleiben, wenn die dazu vorhandenen Gründe noch nicht beseitigt sind")
• "Neither an ox nor a donkey is able to stop the progress of socialism." (A rhyming couplet in the original German: "Den Sozialismus in seinem Lauf hält weder Ochs noch Esel auf", Berlin, 7 October 1989), one of Honecker's favorite adages, originally coined by August Bebel
• "The future belongs to socialism" (Original: Die Zukunft gehört dem Sozialismus) (early 1980s)
• "Always forwards, never backwards." (Original: Vorwärts immer, rückwärts nimmer) (early 1980s)

In popular culture

• Honecker was famously depicted passionately kissing Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in a satirical mural entitled "Brotherhood Kiss" on the Berlin Wall (East Side Gallery), painted by artist Dmitri Vrubel.

Notes

1. ^ "The Lost World of Communism", Episode 2 - A Socialist Paradise: East Germany, BBC 1, broadcast 14 March 2009

Further reading

• Honecker's autobiography Aus meinem Leben is translated into English as From my life. New York : Pergamon, 1981. ISBN 0080245323.
• Fulbrook, Mary, The people's state: East German society from Hitler to Honecker, Yale University Press, c2005.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Erich Honecker

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Erich Honecker

• CNN Cold War - Profile: Erich Honecker
• Honecker im Internet (in German)
• www.warheroes.ru - Erich Honecker (in Russian)
• Welcoming Address to 1979 Session of the World Peace Council Erich Honecker's speech to the WPC
• A Successful Policy Seared to the Needs of the People Volkskammer pamphlet including material by Honecker

Political offices
Preceded by Walter Ulbricht	General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany 1971 – 1989	Succeeded by Egon Krenz
Preceded by Willi Stoph	Chairman of the Council of State of the German Democratic Republic 1976 – 1989

v • d • e General Secretaries of the Socialist Unity Party (SED) Walter Ulbricht · Erich Honecker · Egon Krenz

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Persondata
NAME	Honecker, Erich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	East German politician
DATE OF BIRTH	25 August 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH	Neunkirchen (Saar), Germany
DATE OF DEATH	29 May 1994
PLACE OF DEATH	Santiago, Chile

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