Egon Krenz
Encyclopedia
Egon Krenz is a former politician from East Germany (the German Democratic Republic), and that country's last Communist leader. He succeeded Erich Honecker
as leader of the ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany
(SED) and head of state in October 1989, but was ousted just under three months later amid the collapse of the communist regime.
Throughout his career, Krenz held a number of prominent positions in the communist regime. He was Honecker's deputy from 1984 onward, and thus the second most influential politician in the GDR from 1984 until he succeeded Honecker in 1989 amid protests against the regime. Krenz was unsuccessful in his attempt to retain the communist regime's grip on power, and was forced to resign some weeks after the fall of the Berlin Wall
.
After the German reunification
in 1990 he was sentenced to six and a half years in prison for manslaughter
, for his role in the crimes of the regime.
in what was then Germany, now Poland. His family were resettled in Damgarten in 1944, when Germans were expelled
from Farther Pomerania
.
(SED) in 1955. Throughout his career, Krenz held a number of posts in the SED and the communist government. He was leader of the Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation
from 1971 to 1974, and became a member of the central committee of the communist party in 1973. He was also a member of the People's Chamber (the GDR's legislature) from 1971 to 1990, and a member of its presidium from 1971 to 1981. Between 1974 and 1983, he was leader of the communist youth movement, the Free German Youth
. From 1981 to 1984 he was a member of the Council of State.
In 1983 he joined the Politburo
and became a secretary of the central committee. He rose to supreme prominence when he became Honecker's deputy on the Council of State in 1984. Around the same time, he replaced Paul Verner
as the unofficial number-two man in the SED leadership, thus making him the second-most powerful man in the country. Although he was the youngest member of the Politburo (and indeed, one of only two people elevated to full membership in that body from 1976 to 1984), speculation abounded that Honecker had tapped him as his heir apparent.
Krenz visited West Germany for the first time in June 1989, when he was invited by Oskar Lafontaine
, who was then Minister-President of Saarland
for the Social Democratic Party of Germany
(SPD). Reportedly, the West German social democrats were not impressed. Brigitte Schulte, the parliamentary floor leader for the SPD, who accompanied him during his visit, described Krenz as "utterly unsympathetic". Krenz spoke knowledgeably of choice foods, fine wines, and the privileges of power. "He struck me as the consummate apparatchik, a true child of the system, surrounded by the oiliest advisers, the sort of people who would do anything. I was totally shocked", Schulte would later tell reporters. Her impression was not that of a would-be reformer, but of a tough, cynical politician, interested first and foremost in his own career.
. Krenz had been approached several months earlier about ousting Honecker, but was reluctant to move against a man he called "my foster father and political teacher." He was willing to wait until the seriously ill Honecker died, but by October was convinced that the situation was too grave to wait for what he'd called "a biological solution."
Despite many protests, Krenz was elected by the People's Chamber to Honecker's other posts as Chairman of the Council of State (a post equivalent to that of president) and Chairman of the National Defence Council
. For the second time (the first was on the law on abortion) in the parliament's forty-year history, the vote was not unanimous; 26 deputies voted against and 26 abstained.
In his first address as leader, Krenz promised democratic reforms. However, he ended up lapsing into the wooden language
typical of Communist speeches. He claimed that he'd always wanted to open up the regime, but few East Germans believed him. For instance, they still remembered that after the Tiananmen Square massacre, he'd gone to China
to thank Deng Xiaoping
on behalf of East Berlin. Indeed, almost as soon as he took power, thousands of East Germans took to the streets to demand his resignation.
Also on the same day he took office, Krenz received a top secret report from planning chief Gerhard Schürer that showed the depths of East Germany's economic crisis. It showed that East Germany didn't have enough money to make payments on the massive foreign loans that propped up the economy, and it was now DM123 billion in debt. Although Krenz had been the number-two man in the regime, Honecker had kept the true state of the economy a secret from him. Krenz was forced to send Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski
to beg West Germany for a short-term loan to make interest payments. However, West Germany was unwilling to even consider negotiations until the SED abandoned power and allowed free elections—something that Krenz was unwilling to concede.
On 7 November, Krenz approved the resignation of Prime Minister Willi Stoph
and his entire cabinet along with two-thirds of the Politburo. However, the Central Committee unanimously re-elected Krenz to the position of General Secretary. In a speech, Krenz attempted a reckoning with history, which also criticized his political mentor Honecker. Yet, by this stage, events were rapidly spiralling out of his control.
Despite promises of reform, public opposition to the regime continued to grow. In an attempt to stem the tide, Krenz authorized the reopening of the border with Czechoslovakia
, which had been sealed to prevent East Germans from fleeing to West Germany. The newly formed Politburo agreed to adopt new regulations for trips to the West by way of a Council of Ministers resolution.
, that the regulations were going to come into effect the following afternoon. Thus, at the daily press conference, when a reporter asked when the regulations would come into force, Schabowski assumed they were already in effect and replied, "As far as I know—immediately, without delay." This prompted a mass exodus to the Berlin Wall
by thousands of East Berliners, believing the statement to be a decision to open the border crossings at the Wall. Krenz and the rest of the leadership were unwilling to order the use of deadly force. Finally, the unprepared and outnumbered border guards, on their own authority, let the crowds pass into West Berlin.
The fall of the Berlin Wall destroyed Krenz and the SED politically. On 18 November, Krenz swore in the new coalition government. Instead of an oath, it consisted of a simple handshake. However, in the first days of December, the entire SED Central Committee and Politburo resigned; a working committee assumed the duties of Party leadership in its place. The CDU
and the LDPD
announced that they were leaving the so-called democratic bloc
. The CDU Presidium also demanded the resignation of Krenz as head of the Council of State and Chairman of the National Defense Council.
On 6 December 1989, Krenz—the GDR's last Communist head of state—resigned all of his leadership posts. In a desperate attempt to improve its image, the successor organisation to the SED, the Party of Democratic Socialism, stripped Krenz of his party membership in 1990.
crimes, specifically manslaughter
of four Germans attempting to escape the communist regime over the Berlin Wall
. He was also charged with electoral fraud
, along with other criminal offences.
He appealed, arguing that the legal framework of the newly reunited German state did not apply to events that had taken place in the former GDR. Krenz also argued that the prosecution of former GDR officials was a breach of a personal agreement given by West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl
to Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev
during their talks, which led to German reunification. However, the verdict was upheld in 1999. Krenz reportedly described his conviction as "victor's justice
" and "cold war in court".
Krenz began serving his sentence in Berlin-Spandau shortly thereafter. He was released from prison in December, 2003 after serving nearly four years of his sentence, and quietly retired to Dierhagen
in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. He remained on parole until the end of his sentence in 2006.
Unlike several other high ranking members of the communist regime, like Günter Schabowski
and Günther Kleiber
, Krenz continues to defend the former German Democratic Republic and maintains he hasn't changed his political views. Krenz has on several occasions referred to the German Reunification as "Anschluss
".
Erich Honecker
Erich Honecker was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic as General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party from 1971 until 1989, serving as Head of State as well from Willi Stoph's relinquishment of that post in 1976....
as leader of the ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany
Socialist Unity Party of Germany
The Socialist Unity Party of Germany was the governing party of the German Democratic Republic from its formation on 7 October 1949 until the elections of March 1990. The SED was a communist political party with a Marxist-Leninist ideology...
(SED) and head of state in October 1989, but was ousted just under three months later amid the collapse of the communist regime.
Throughout his career, Krenz held a number of prominent positions in the communist regime. He was Honecker's deputy from 1984 onward, and thus the second most influential politician in the GDR from 1984 until he succeeded Honecker in 1989 amid protests against the regime. Krenz was unsuccessful in his attempt to retain the communist regime's grip on power, and was forced to resign some weeks after the fall of the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
.
After the German reunification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
in 1990 he was sentenced to six and a half years in prison for manslaughter
Manslaughter
Manslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...
, for his role in the crimes of the regime.
Early years
Krenz was born in KolbergKolobrzeg
Kołobrzeg is a city in Middle Pomerania in north-western Poland with some 50,000 inhabitants . Kołobrzeg is located on the Parsęta River on the south coast of the Baltic Sea...
in what was then Germany, now Poland. His family were resettled in Damgarten in 1944, when Germans were expelled
Expulsion of Germans after World War II
The later stages of World War II, and the period after the end of that war, saw the forced migration of millions of German nationals and ethnic Germans from various European states and territories, mostly into the areas which would become post-war Germany and post-war Austria...
from Farther Pomerania
Farther Pomerania
Farther Pomerania, Further Pomerania, Transpomerania or Eastern Pomerania , which before the German-Polish border shift of 1945 comprised the eastern part of the Duchy, later Province of Pomerania, roughly stretching from the Oder River in the West to Pomerelia in the East...
.
Political career in the GDR
Krenz joined the Socialist Unity Party of GermanySocialist Unity Party of Germany
The Socialist Unity Party of Germany was the governing party of the German Democratic Republic from its formation on 7 October 1949 until the elections of March 1990. The SED was a communist political party with a Marxist-Leninist ideology...
(SED) in 1955. Throughout his career, Krenz held a number of posts in the SED and the communist government. He was leader of the Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation
Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation
The Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation, consisting of the Young Pioneers and the Thälmann Pioneers, was a youth organisation of schoolchildren aged 6 to 14, in East Germany...
from 1971 to 1974, and became a member of the central committee of the communist party in 1973. He was also a member of the People's Chamber (the GDR's legislature) from 1971 to 1990, and a member of its presidium from 1971 to 1981. Between 1974 and 1983, he was leader of the communist youth movement, the Free German Youth
Free German Youth
The Free German Youth, also known as the FDJ , was the official socialist youth movement of the German Democratic Republic and the Socialist Unity Party of Germany....
. From 1981 to 1984 he was a member of the Council of State.
In 1983 he joined the Politburo
Politburo
Politburo , literally "Political Bureau [of the Central Committee]," is the executive committee for a number of communist political parties.-Marxist-Leninist states:...
and became a secretary of the central committee. He rose to supreme prominence when he became Honecker's deputy on the Council of State in 1984. Around the same time, he replaced Paul Verner
Paul Verner
Paul Verner was a German communist politician. He joined the communist movement at a young age, and went into exile during Hitler's rule. Verner became a prominent political personality in the German Democratic Republic after the war.-Early life:His father was a metal worker while his mother...
as the unofficial number-two man in the SED leadership, thus making him the second-most powerful man in the country. Although he was the youngest member of the Politburo (and indeed, one of only two people elevated to full membership in that body from 1976 to 1984), speculation abounded that Honecker had tapped him as his heir apparent.
Krenz visited West Germany for the first time in June 1989, when he was invited by Oskar Lafontaine
Oskar Lafontaine
Oskar Lafontaine is a German politician, former German finance minister, former chairman of the Social Democratic Party and former Minister-President of the state of Saarland. Since 2007 he was co-chairman of The Left...
, who was then Minister-President of Saarland
Saarland
Saarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states...
for the Social Democratic Party of Germany
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
(SPD). Reportedly, the West German social democrats were not impressed. Brigitte Schulte, the parliamentary floor leader for the SPD, who accompanied him during his visit, described Krenz as "utterly unsympathetic". Krenz spoke knowledgeably of choice foods, fine wines, and the privileges of power. "He struck me as the consummate apparatchik, a true child of the system, surrounded by the oiliest advisers, the sort of people who would do anything. I was totally shocked", Schulte would later tell reporters. Her impression was not that of a would-be reformer, but of a tough, cynical politician, interested first and foremost in his own career.
Leader of the German Democratic Republic
Following popular protests against the GDR's Communist regime, the SED Politburo voted to remove Honecker on 18 October 1989, and Krenz was elected as the new General Secretary of the SED Central CommitteeCentral Committee
Central Committee was the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, whether ruling or non-ruling in the twentieth century and of the surviving, mostly Trotskyist, states in the early twenty first. In such party organizations the...
. Krenz had been approached several months earlier about ousting Honecker, but was reluctant to move against a man he called "my foster father and political teacher." He was willing to wait until the seriously ill Honecker died, but by October was convinced that the situation was too grave to wait for what he'd called "a biological solution."
Despite many protests, Krenz was elected by the People's Chamber to Honecker's other posts as Chairman of the Council of State (a post equivalent to that of president) and Chairman of the National Defence Council
National Defense Council of East Germany
The National Defense Council of the German Democratic Republic was created in 1960 as the supreme state body of the GDR in charge of national defense matters, including mobilization planning...
. For the second time (the first was on the law on abortion) in the parliament's forty-year history, the vote was not unanimous; 26 deputies voted against and 26 abstained.
In his first address as leader, Krenz promised democratic reforms. However, he ended up lapsing into the wooden language
Wooden language
In rhetoric, wooden language refers to a diverting of attention from reality by using vague and ambiguous words, such as banalities too abstract or pompous, which appeal to sentiment and emotionality rather than to facts.Wooden language was commonly used in political speeches and newspaper...
typical of Communist speeches. He claimed that he'd always wanted to open up the regime, but few East Germans believed him. For instance, they still remembered that after the Tiananmen Square massacre, he'd gone to China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
to thank Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping was a Chinese politician, statesman, and diplomat. As leader of the Communist Party of China, Deng was a reformer who led China towards a market economy...
on behalf of East Berlin. Indeed, almost as soon as he took power, thousands of East Germans took to the streets to demand his resignation.
Also on the same day he took office, Krenz received a top secret report from planning chief Gerhard Schürer that showed the depths of East Germany's economic crisis. It showed that East Germany didn't have enough money to make payments on the massive foreign loans that propped up the economy, and it was now DM123 billion in debt. Although Krenz had been the number-two man in the regime, Honecker had kept the true state of the economy a secret from him. Krenz was forced to send Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski
Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski
Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski was a politician and trader in the German Democratic Republic. He was director of a main department in the Ministry for Foreign Trade and German Domestic Trade , the Deputy Minister for External Trade , and head of the GDR's Kommerzielle Koordinierung .He was born in...
to beg West Germany for a short-term loan to make interest payments. However, West Germany was unwilling to even consider negotiations until the SED abandoned power and allowed free elections—something that Krenz was unwilling to concede.
On 7 November, Krenz approved the resignation of Prime Minister Willi Stoph
Willi Stoph
Willi Stoph was an East German politician. He served as Prime Minister of the German Democratic Republic from 1964 to 1973, and again from 1976 until 1989.-Biography:...
and his entire cabinet along with two-thirds of the Politburo. However, the Central Committee unanimously re-elected Krenz to the position of General Secretary. In a speech, Krenz attempted a reckoning with history, which also criticized his political mentor Honecker. Yet, by this stage, events were rapidly spiralling out of his control.
Despite promises of reform, public opposition to the regime continued to grow. In an attempt to stem the tide, Krenz authorized the reopening of the border with Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, which had been sealed to prevent East Germans from fleeing to West Germany. The newly formed Politburo agreed to adopt new regulations for trips to the West by way of a Council of Ministers resolution.
The opening of the Berlin Wall
On the evening of 9 November, the Politburo finished the draft of the new travel regulations, which allowed anyone who wanted to go to West Germany to do so through East Germany's border crossings with official permission. However, no one briefed the regime's de facto spokesman, East Berlin party boss Günter SchabowskiGünter Schabowski
Günter Schabowski is a former official of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany , the ruling party during most of the existence of the German Democratic Republic...
, that the regulations were going to come into effect the following afternoon. Thus, at the daily press conference, when a reporter asked when the regulations would come into force, Schabowski assumed they were already in effect and replied, "As far as I know—immediately, without delay." This prompted a mass exodus to the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
by thousands of East Berliners, believing the statement to be a decision to open the border crossings at the Wall. Krenz and the rest of the leadership were unwilling to order the use of deadly force. Finally, the unprepared and outnumbered border guards, on their own authority, let the crowds pass into West Berlin.
The fall of the Berlin Wall destroyed Krenz and the SED politically. On 18 November, Krenz swore in the new coalition government. Instead of an oath, it consisted of a simple handshake. However, in the first days of December, the entire SED Central Committee and Politburo resigned; a working committee assumed the duties of Party leadership in its place. The CDU
Christian Democratic Union (East Germany)
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany ) was an East German political party founded in 1945. It was part of the National Front with the Socialist Unity Party of Germany until 1989....
and the LDPD
Liberal Democratic Party of Germany
The Liberal Democratic Party of Germany ) was a political party in East Germany. Like the other allied parties of the SED in the National Front it had 52 representatives in the Volkskammer.-Foundation:...
announced that they were leaving the so-called democratic bloc
National Front (East Germany)
The National Front of the German Democratic Republic was an alliance of political parties and mass organisations in East Germany...
. The CDU Presidium also demanded the resignation of Krenz as head of the Council of State and Chairman of the National Defense Council.
On 6 December 1989, Krenz—the GDR's last Communist head of state—resigned all of his leadership posts. In a desperate attempt to improve its image, the successor organisation to the SED, the Party of Democratic Socialism, stripped Krenz of his party membership in 1990.
Trial and imprisonment
In 1997, Krenz was sentenced to six-and-a-half years imprisonment for Cold WarCold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
crimes, specifically manslaughter
Manslaughter
Manslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...
of four Germans attempting to escape the communist regime over the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
. He was also charged with electoral fraud
Electoral fraud
Electoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an election. Acts of fraud affect vote counts to bring about an election result, whether by increasing the vote share of the favored candidate, depressing the vote share of the rival candidates or both...
, along with other criminal offences.
He appealed, arguing that the legal framework of the newly reunited German state did not apply to events that had taken place in the former GDR. Krenz also argued that the prosecution of former GDR officials was a breach of a personal agreement given by West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl
Helmut Kohl
Helmut Josef Michael Kohl is a German conservative politician and statesman. He was Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and the chairman of the Christian Democratic Union from 1973 to 1998...
to Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
during their talks, which led to German reunification. However, the verdict was upheld in 1999. Krenz reportedly described his conviction as "victor's justice
Victor's justice
The label "victor's justice" is a situation in which an entity partakes in carrying out "justice" on its own basis of applying different rules to judge what is right or wrong for their own forces and for those of the enemy. Advocates generally charge that the difference in rules amounts to...
" and "cold war in court".
Krenz began serving his sentence in Berlin-Spandau shortly thereafter. He was released from prison in December, 2003 after serving nearly four years of his sentence, and quietly retired to Dierhagen
Dierhagen
Dierhagen is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Rügen district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Numbered among the 1,659 inhabitants, since 2006, has been Egon Krenz, formerly the leader of the GDR....
in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. He remained on parole until the end of his sentence in 2006.
Unlike several other high ranking members of the communist regime, like Günter Schabowski
Günter Schabowski
Günter Schabowski is a former official of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany , the ruling party during most of the existence of the German Democratic Republic...
and Günther Kleiber
Günther Kleiber
Günther Kleiber is a former communist politician from the German Democratic Republic . He was a member of the politburo of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany from 1984 to 1989, and a member of the GDR government as minister for machinery, agricultural machinery and vehicle construction from...
, Krenz continues to defend the former German Democratic Republic and maintains he hasn't changed his political views. Krenz has on several occasions referred to the German Reunification as "Anschluss
Anschluss
The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....
".
Quotes
- "The victorious power is revenging itself on the representatives of the defeated power" (Die siegreiche Macht rächt sich an den Vertretern der besiegten Macht).