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People of the Revolution and the USSR
Activity
Affiliation(set)
Position(set)
Citizenship
Background
Era
People of the Soviet Union
People of the wider world
GlossaryIndependent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD)→
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Clara Zetkin Clara Zetkin
Creator of International Women's Day, she set women's liberation at the heart of class struggle
Political and party leadership · Communist Party of Germany (KPD)
1857–1933
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Leo Jogiches Leo Jogiches
The revolution's underground organizer, always behind the scenes, until he had to lead
Political and party leadership · Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania (SDKPiL)
1867–1919
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Paul Levi Paul Levi
From Rosa Luxemburg's lawyer to KPD leader, his 'anti-putschism' took on Comintern adventurism
Political and party leadership · Communist Party of Germany (KPD)
1883–1930
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Ernst Thälmann Ernst Thälmann
Hitler's personal prisoner, unbroken by eleven years in solitary
Political and party leadership · Communist Party of Germany (KPD)
1886–1944
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Hugo Eberlein Hugo Eberlein
German Communist who abstained on the Comintern’s founding at its first congress and was later shot in the Great Purge
Social movements and organizing · Communist Party of Germany (KPD)
1887–1941
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Max Fechner Max Fechner
First East German justice minister, dismissed and imprisoned in 1953 after opposing the prosecution of striking workers
Law and justice · East Germany
1892–1973
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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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Otto Grotewohl Otto Grotewohl
The Social Democrat who led a divided state into being
Government and administration · East Germany
1894–1964
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Richard Gustavovich Sorge Рихард Густавович Зорге
The spy who stole the war’s timetable in Tokyo
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union
1895–1944
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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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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