Margot Honecker
Encyclopedia
Margot Honecker née Feist (born April 17, 1927) is a former Communist politician
, who was a prominent member of the political elite in East Germany. From 1963 until 1989, she was Minister of Education ("Volksbildung") of the GDR.
Known for her hardline political views, Honecker was responsible for the enactment of the "Uniform Socialist Education System" in 1965 and mandatory military training in schools. She was also responsible for the forced adoption
of children of jailed dissidents or people who attempted to flee from East Germany
, which meant that their children were taken away from them and given to communist couples.
She was married to Erich Honecker
, the head of state of the GDR. Following the downfall of the communist regime in 1989, she fled to Russia with her husband to avoid criminal charges, but was expelled by the Yeltsin
government and subsequently emigrated to Chile.
, Margot Feist was the daughter of a shoemaker and a factory worker. After graduating from elementary school, she became a member of the Bund Deutscher Mädel from 1938 to 1945. Her mother died in 1940 when Margot was 13 years old.
Her brother, Manfred Feist, was the department leader for foreign information within the central committee of the SED
.
. A year later, with the coerced merger of the SPD
and KPD, she became a member of East Germany's new state party, the SED
, working as a shorthand typist with the land board of directors FDGB
in Saxony-Anhalt
.
In 1946 she became a member of the secretariat for the board of directors of the FDJ
in Halle. She then began a meteoric rise through various departments. In 1947 she was the departmental leader of the FDJ's culture and education in the land board of directors and in 1948 secretary of the FDJ's central council as well as chairperson of the Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation
.
By 1949/1950 Margot Feist was a member of the GDR's temporary People's Parliament. In 1950 at the age of 22 she was elected as a representative in the newly-founded People's Chamber .
She met her future husband, Erich Honecker
, at FDJ meetings when he was the director of the Freie Deutsche Jugend. Honecker was 15 years older and married. When she became pregnant and gave birth to their daughter Sonja in 1952, Honecker divorced his wife and remarried Margot in 1953.
In 1978 she introduced, against the opposition of the Church and many parents, military lessons for 9th and 10th grade high school students (this included training on weapons such as aerial gun
s and the KK-MPi
).
became for a short time her successor in the education minister's office.
In 1990, charges were made against her as Minister of Education. These included accusations that she had arranged politically-motivated arrests, had separated children against their will from their parents and made compulsive adoptions of children from persons deemed unreliable by the state.
Honecker then fled to Moscow with her husband to avoid possible criminal charges in 1991. However, after the fall of the Soviet Union, the new presidency in Russia forced her and her husband to leave.
with her daughter Sonja Yáñez Betancourt, and her daughter's Chilean husband Leo Yáñez Betancourt and their son Roberto Yáñez.
Erich Honecker lived with his wife after being released by German authorities on the grounds of ill health in January 1993. He died at the age of 81 years on 29 May 1994, in Santiago, of liver cancer
. His body was cremated. Margot Honecker is believed to have kept his ashes.
In 1999, she failed in her legal attempt to sue the German government for €60,300 of property confiscated following reunification. In 2001, her appeal to ECtHR failed. She receives a survivor's pension and the old-age pension of the German old age pension insurance federation.
In 2000 Luis Corvalán
, the former General Secretary of the Communist Party of Chile
, published the book The Other Germany – the GDR. Discussions with Margot Honecker, in which Honecker speaks about the history of the GDR from her perspective.
On 19 July 2008, on the occasion of the 29th anniversary of the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua, Margot Honecker received the order for cultural independence "Rubén Dario" from President Daniel Ortega
. The award was in recognition of Honecker's untiring support of the national campaign against illiteracy in the 1980s. This honor was the first public appearance of Margot Honecker since the fall of the Berlin Wall
. Honecker was reported to have said she was grateful for the honor; but publicly no words were spoken. The left-wing heads of state of Paraguay and Venezuela, Fernando Lugo and Hugo Chávez, also took part in the celebrations in Managua
.
In October 2009, Honecker celebrated the 60th anniversary of the founding of the GDR with former Chilean exiles who had sought asylum in East Germany. She participated in singing a patriotic East German song and gave a short speech in which she stated that east Germans "had a good life in the GDR" and that many felt that capitalism has made their lives worse.
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...
, who was a prominent member of the political elite in East Germany. From 1963 until 1989, she was Minister of Education ("Volksbildung") of the GDR.
Known for her hardline political views, Honecker was responsible for the enactment of the "Uniform Socialist Education System" in 1965 and mandatory military training in schools. She was also responsible for the forced adoption
Adoption
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...
of children of jailed dissidents or people who attempted to flee from East Germany
Republikflucht
"Republikflucht" and "Republikflüchtling" were the terms used by authorities in the German Democratic Republic to describe the process of and the person leaving the GDR for a life in West Germany or any other Western country .The term...
, which meant that their children were taken away from them and given to communist couples.
She was married to Erich Honecker
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....
, the head of state of the GDR. Following the downfall of the communist regime in 1989, she fled to Russia with her husband to avoid criminal charges, but was expelled by the Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
government and subsequently emigrated to Chile.
Early life
Born in HalleHalle, Saxony-Anhalt
Halle is the largest city in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is also called Halle an der Saale in order to distinguish it from the town of Halle in North Rhine-Westphalia...
, Margot Feist was the daughter of a shoemaker and a factory worker. After graduating from elementary school, she became a member of the Bund Deutscher Mädel from 1938 to 1945. Her mother died in 1940 when Margot was 13 years old.
Her brother, Manfred Feist, was the department leader for foreign information within the central committee of the SED
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...
.
Party worker
In 1945 Margot Feist joined the KPDCommunist Party of Germany
The Communist Party of Germany was a major political party in Germany between 1918 and 1933, and a minor party in West Germany in the postwar period until it was banned in 1956...
. A year later, with the coerced merger of the SPD
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
and KPD, she became a member of East Germany's new state party, the SED
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...
, working as a shorthand typist with the land board of directors FDGB
Free German Trade Union Federation
The Free German Trade Union Federation, in German Freier Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund , was the trade union federation in East Germany. It was part of the National Front and had representatives in the Volkskammer....
in Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt is a landlocked state of Germany. Its capital is Magdeburg and it is surrounded by the German states of Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia.Saxony-Anhalt covers an area of...
.
In 1946 she became a member of the secretariat for the board of directors of the FDJ
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....
in Halle. She then began a meteoric rise through various departments. In 1947 she was the departmental leader of the FDJ's culture and education in the land board of directors and in 1948 secretary of the FDJ's central council as well as chairperson 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...
.
By 1949/1950 Margot Feist was a member of the GDR's temporary People's Parliament. In 1950 at the age of 22 she was elected as a representative in the newly-founded People's Chamber .
She met her future husband, Erich Honecker
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....
, at FDJ meetings when he was the director of the Freie Deutsche Jugend. Honecker was 15 years older and married. When she became pregnant and gave birth to their daughter Sonja in 1952, Honecker divorced his wife and remarried Margot in 1953.
Education minister
In 1963 Margot Honecker, after a period as acting minister, officially took up the position as Minster of Education in the GDR . On 25 February 1965 she enacted the law that made "the uniform socialist education system “ standard in all schools, colleges and universities throughout East Germany.In 1978 she introduced, against the opposition of the Church and many parents, military lessons for 9th and 10th grade high school students (this included training on weapons such as aerial gun
ZU-23-2
The ZU-23-2, also known as ZU-23, is a Soviet towed 23 mm anti-aircraft twin-barreled autocannon. ZU stands for Zenitnaya Ustanovka - anti-aircraft mount.-Development history:...
s and the KK-MPi
AK-47
The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...
).
Revolution in 1989
In November 1989 Honecker resigned along with the council of ministers. Willi StophWilli 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:...
became for a short time her successor in the education minister's office.
In 1990, charges were made against her as Minister of Education. These included accusations that she had arranged politically-motivated arrests, had separated children against their will from their parents and made compulsive adoptions of children from persons deemed unreliable by the state.
Honecker then fled to Moscow with her husband to avoid possible criminal charges in 1991. However, after the fall of the Soviet Union, the new presidency in Russia forced her and her husband to leave.
Post-communist exile
Since 1992 Margot Honecker has lived in Santiago, ChileSantiago, Chile
Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...
with her daughter Sonja Yáñez Betancourt, and her daughter's Chilean husband Leo Yáñez Betancourt and their son Roberto Yáñez.
Erich Honecker lived with his wife after being released by German authorities on the grounds of ill health in January 1993. He died at the age of 81 years on 29 May 1994, in Santiago, of liver cancer
Liver cancer
Liver tumors or hepatic tumors are tumors or growths on or in the liver . Several distinct types of tumors can develop in the liver because the liver is made up of various cell types. These growths can be benign or malignant...
. His body was cremated. Margot Honecker is believed to have kept his ashes.
In 1999, she failed in her legal attempt to sue the German government for €60,300 of property confiscated following reunification. In 2001, her appeal to ECtHR failed. She receives a survivor's pension and the old-age pension of the German old age pension insurance federation.
In 2000 Luis Corvalán
Luis Corvalán
Luis Alberto Corvalán Lepe was a Chilean politician. He served as the general secretary of the Communist Party of Chile ....
, the former General Secretary of the Communist Party of Chile
Communist Party of Chile
The Communist Party of Chile is a Chilean political party inspired by the thoughts of Karl Marx and Lenin. It was founded in 1922, as the continuation of the Socialist Workers Party, and in 1934 it established its youth wing, the Communist Youth of Chile .In the last legislative elections in Chile...
, published the book The Other Germany – the GDR. Discussions with Margot Honecker, in which Honecker speaks about the history of the GDR from her perspective.
On 19 July 2008, on the occasion of the 29th anniversary of the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua, Margot Honecker received the order for cultural independence "Rubén Dario" from President Daniel Ortega
Daniel Ortega
José Daniel Ortega Saavedra is a Nicaraguan politician and revolutionary, currently serving as the 83rd President of Nicaragua, a position that he has held since 2007. He previously served as the 79th President, between 1985 and 1990, and for much of his life, has been a leader in the Sandinista...
. The award was in recognition of Honecker's untiring support of the national campaign against illiteracy in the 1980s. This honor was the first public appearance of Margot Honecker since 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...
. Honecker was reported to have said she was grateful for the honor; but publicly no words were spoken. The left-wing heads of state of Paraguay and Venezuela, Fernando Lugo and Hugo Chávez, also took part in the celebrations in Managua
Managua
Managua is the capital city of Nicaragua as well as the department and municipality by the same name. It is the largest city in Nicaragua in terms of population and geographic size. Located on the southwestern shore of Lake Xolotlán or Lake Managua, the city was declared the national capital in...
.
In October 2009, Honecker celebrated the 60th anniversary of the founding of the GDR with former Chilean exiles who had sought asylum in East Germany. She participated in singing a patriotic East German song and gave a short speech in which she stated that east Germans "had a good life in the GDR" and that many felt that capitalism has made their lives worse.