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Heinz Kessler | |
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| Born | 26 January 1920 Lauban, Weimar Germany |
| Died | 2 May 2017 Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany |
| Political orientation | Marxism–Leninism |
Heinz Kessler (26 January 1920 – 2 May 2017) was an East German military commander and communist politician. After the overthrow of socialism and annexation of East Germany, he continued to defend the legacy of the DDR and Joseph Stalin.[1]
Early life[edit | edit source]
Kessler was born in Lauban in German Silesia and grew up in Chemnitz, which was later renamed to Karl-Marx-Stadt. He joined the Young Pioneers of the German Communist Party as a child. After Hitler's rise to power, he agitated agains the Nazis.[1]
Great Patriotic War[edit | edit source]
Kessler was drafted into the Wehrmacht in 1940 and forced to fight against the Soviet Union. The Soviets took him prisoner in 1941 and he pledged allegiance Red Army along with other German communists. He fought against the Nazis for the rest of the war, and Nazi authorities sentenced him to death in absence.[1]
German Democratic Republic[edit | edit source]
Kessler and Erich Honecker founded the Free German Youth, the German equivalent of Komsomol. Kessler became head of the Air Force in 1956. He became Minister of Defense in 1985 and joined the Politburo in 1986.[1]
Later life[edit | edit source]
After the annexation of the DDR, West German authorities sentenced Kessler to 7.5 years in prison for alleged crimes committed while protecting the Anti-Fascist Wall. He spent two years in prison and three more under house arrest. He and his deputy Fritz Streletz wrote the memoir Without the Wall, There Would Have Been War in 2011.[1]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Harpal Brar (2017-06-01). "A tribute to East Germany’s General Heinz Kessler" Proletarian. Archived from the original on 2022-09-30. Retrieved 2022-12-18.