Erich Honecker

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

After German re-unification, he first fled to the Soviet Union but was extradited by the new Russian government to Germany, where he was imprisoned and tried for high treason and crimes committed during the Cold War (specifically the deaths of 192 Germans who tried to escape the Honecker regime). However, as he was dying of cancer, he was released from prison. He died in exile in Chile about a year and a half later.

Early political career

Honecker was born in Neunkirchen (Saar), now in Saarland, as the son of a politically militant coal miner. 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. That year he was sent to Moscow to study at the International Lenin School.

He returned to Germany in 1931 and was arrested in 1935 after the Nazis had come to power (Machtübernahme). In 1937 he was sentenced to ten years for Communist activities and remained in captivity 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), made up of the old KPD and the Social Democrats of eastern Germany.

Following a sweeping victory in the October 1946 elections, he took his place amongst the SED leadership in the short-lived parliament. The German Democratic Republic was proclaimed on October 7, 1949 in the Soviet Occupation Zone with the adoption of a new constitution. In a political system similar to that of the Soviet Union, he was a candidate member for the secretariat of the Central Committee in 1950 and full member in 1958.

Leadership of East Germany

In 1961 Honecker was in charge of the building of the Berlin Wall. In 1971, he initiated a political power struggle that led, with Soviet support, to himself becoming the new leader, replacing Walter Ulbricht as General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party. In 1976 he also became Chairman of the Council of State (Staatsratsvorsitzender).

Under Honecker's rule, 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." ^* Yet, despite improved living conditions, internal dissent remained oppressively subdued. A number of East German citizens were killed during this period while trying to cross the border into West Berlin.

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.

Despite Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's efforts to liberalize communism in the late 1980s, Honecker refused to implement any substantial political or economic reforms in the GDR, reportedly telling Gorbachev: "We have done our perestroika, we have nothing to restructure." ^* However, as the reform movement spread throughout Central and Eastern Europe, mass demonstrations against the East German government erupted, most prominently the 1989 Monday demonstrations in Leipzig. Faced with civil unrest, Honecker's politburo comrades colluded to replace him. He was forced to resign on October 18, 1989, and was replaced by his protégé Egon Krenz.

Depictions of Erich Honecker

As in many communist countries, the image of the leader was ever-present (the main photo on this page is an example) in public offices, in newspapers, and on television news. The record for most photographs of Erich Honecker in the official SED newspaper, Neues Deutschland, was 41, in the edition of 16 March 1987, on the occasion of Honecker's opening of the Leipzig Trade Fair, as he was shown with different politicians and exhibitors.

Post-1989

After the GDR was dissolved in October 1990, Honecker remained in a Soviet military hospital near Berlin before later fleeing with Margot Honecker to Moscow, trying to avoid prosecution over Cold War crimes by the unified German government, specifically involving the deaths of 192 East Germans who tried to escape from East Germany. 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 moved to Chile where he died in exile of liver cancer in Santiago on 29 May 1994. His body was cremated and the remains are believed to be in the possession of his widow Margot.

Personal

Honecker married Margot Feist in 1953 and remained married until his death. They had a daughter named Sonja in 1951. Margot Honecker was the Minister for National Education in East Germany (1963-1989).

Famous quotes

"The Wall will be standing in 50 and even in 100 years, if the reasons for it are not removed." (Berlin, January 19 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"

(Original: "Den Sozialismus hält in seinem Lauf weder Ochs noch Esel auf", Berlin, October 7 1989)

External links

CNN Cold War - Profile: Erich Honecker
Honecker im Internet (in German)