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People of the Revolution and the USSR
Activity
Affiliation(set)
Position
Citizenship
Background
Era(set)
People of the Soviet Union
People of the wider world
GlossaryCommunist Party of Germany (KPD)→
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Wilhelm Pieck Wilhelm Pieck
From the Spartacus League to GDR head of state, the sole founding member who lived the full arc of German communism
Political and party leadership · East Germany
1876–1960
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Ernst Reuter Ernst Reuter
The social democrat who became the voice of divided Berlin
Government and administration · Germany state institutions
1889–1953
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Wilhelm Zaisser Wilhelm Zaisser
First East German Minister for State Security, purged in 1953 after trying to replace Ulbricht
Security, intelligence and policing · East Germany
1893–1958
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Hermann Matern Hermann Matern
SED Politburo member and chairman of the Central Party Control Commission who stood by Ulbricht in 1953
Political and party leadership · Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED)
1893–1971
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Walter Ulbricht Walter Ulbricht
German communist leader who built the GDR and erected the Berlin Wall
Political and party leadership · Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED)
1893–1973
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Ernst Wollweber Ernst Wollweber
Communist who ran an anti-fascist sabotage network before the war and headed the Stasi from 1953 to 1957
Security, intelligence and policing · East Germany
1898–1967
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Heinrich Rau Heinrich Rau
Communist who chaired the German Economic Commission, the forerunner of the GDR government, and led East German economic policy
Economy, finance and planning · East Germany
1899–1961
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Fritz Selbmann Fritz Selbmann
East German heavy-industry minister who faced the striking workers outside the House of Ministries on 16 June 1953
Industry and production · East Germany
1899–1975
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Hilde Benjamin Hilde Benjamin
East German jurist who succeeded Fechner as justice minister after the 1953 uprising and led its harsh political trials
Law and justice · East Germany
1902–1989
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Rudolf Herrnstadt Rudolf Herrnstadt
Editor of Neues Deutschland who helped draft the 1953 New Course, moved against Ulbricht and was purged as a “faction”
Ideology and propaganda · Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED)
1903–1966
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Fred Oelßner Fred Oelßner
Economist and the SED’s chief ideologue until 1958, when he was expelled from the Politburo in the Schirdewan affair
Ideology and propaganda · Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED)
1903–1977
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Anton Ackermann Anton Ackermann
German communist who drafted the KPD’s 1945 appeal and argued for a “special German road to socialism”
Ideology and propaganda · Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED)
1905–1973
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Erich Fritz Emil Mielke Erich Mielke
East Germany's 'Master of Fear': the Stasi chief who ruled state security for 32 years
Security, intelligence and policing · East Germany
1907–2000
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Bruno Leuschner Bruno Leuschner
East German planner who ran planning in the German Economic Commission and then chaired the State Planning Commission
Economy, finance and planning · East Germany
1910–1965
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Erich Honecker Erich Honecker
The long-serving East German leader of the walled republic
Political and party leadership · East Germany
1912–1994
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Wolfgang Leonhard Wolfgang Leonhard
Youngest member of the Ulbricht Group who fled to Yugoslavia in 1949 and became a leading Western scholar of Soviet communism
Ideology and propaganda · Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED)
1921–2014
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Markus Wolf Markus Wolf
A long-serving architect of Cold War intelligence
Security, intelligence and policing · East Germany
1923–2006