Background: Germany — People | Cyber-Lenin

Background: Germany

136 people

By birth A–Z List Cards

Georgy Erikhovich Langemak Георгий Эрихович Лангемак Father of the Katyusha rocket, the engineer who perfected the RS‑82 and RS‑132 and coined the word 'cosmonautics' Industry and production · Soviet Union 1898–1938
Bertolt Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht Bertolt Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht Marxist playwright who weaponized theatre for class struggle through epic theatre and the Verfremdungseffekt Literature and arts · Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD) 1898–1956
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
Herbert Marcuse Herbert Marcuse Frankfurt School philosopher and the pre-eminent theorist of the 1960s New Left Scholarship and theory · Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) 1898–1979
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
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
Walter Stahlecker Walter Stahlecker SS officer who led Einsatzgruppe A in 1941, instigating the Kaunas pogrom and directing the murder of Baltic Jews Security, intelligence and policing · Nazi party and regime 1900–1942
Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Himmler A principal architect of the Nazi racial state Security, intelligence and policing · Nazi party and regime 1900–1945
Otto Braun Otto Braun “Li De”, the only Westerner on the Long March and the Comintern military adviser blamed at Zunyi Military command · Comintern 1900–1974
Karl Friedrich Otto Wolff Karl Friedrich Otto Wolff A senior Nazi SS coordinator who became a late-war negotiating envoy Security, intelligence and policing · Nazi party and regime 1900–1984
Erich Ollenhauer Erich Ollenhauer Exiled SPD functionary who succeeded Schumacher as SPD leader and leader of the West German opposition Political and party leadership · Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) 1901–1963
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
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
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
Heinz Reinefarth Heinz Reinefarth The SS general who commanded the repression of the Warsaw Uprising Military command · Nazi party and regime 1903–1979
Reinhard Heydrich Reinhard Heydrich Nazi official who led SS intelligence and police agencies in implementing the Holocaust. Security, intelligence and policing · Germany state institutions 1904–1942
Edmund Veesenmayer Edmund Veesenmayer SS diplomat who, as Reich plenipotentiary in Hungary in 1944, pressed the Hungarian government to deport its Jews to Auschwitz Diplomacy and international organization · Germany state institutions 1904–1977
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
Ruth Rewald Ruth Rewald Exiled writer who recorded children’s experiences of the Spanish war Literature and arts 1906–1942
Adolf Eichmann Adolf Eichmann SS officer who ran the deportation of Europe’s Jews to the death camps and in 1944 oversaw that of Hungary’s Jews to Auschwitz Security, intelligence and policing · Nazi party and regime 1906–1962
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
Annamarie Doherr Annamarie Doherr The West German journalist whose question drew Ulbricht's 'No one intends to build a wall' Literature and arts 1909–1974
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
Robert Havemann Robert Havemann East German chemist who survived a Nazi death sentence and later, expelled from the SED, became a dissident under house arrest Science and technology · East Germany 1910–1982
Erich Honecker Erich Honecker The long-serving East German leader of the walled republic Political and party leadership · East Germany 1912–1994
Klaus Barbie Klaus Barbie The Nazi Gestapo chief who made Lyon a center of terror Security, intelligence and policing · Nazi party and regime 1913–1991
Willy None Brandt Willy Brandt A social democrat who made reconciliation a politics of divided cities Government and administration · Germany state institutions 1913–1992
Boris Viktorovich Rauschenbach Борис Викторович Раушенбах From labor camp to Vostok: pioneer of spaceflight control and guidance Science and technology · Soviet Union 1915–2001
Helmut Gröttrup Helmut Gröttrup From Peenemünde to Gorodomlya, the German rocket engineer who designed the conceptual ancestor of the R-7 Science and technology · Soviet Union 1916–1981
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
Markus Wolf Markus Wolf A long-serving architect of Cold War intelligence Security, intelligence and policing · East Germany 1923–2006
Henry Alfred Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger The architect of détente who used 'linkage' to build the first framework for superpower arms control, the face of American realism Diplomacy and international organization · United States state institutions 1923–2023
Günter Schabowski Günter Schabowski The East German Politburo spokesman whose mistake brought down the Berlin Wall Ideology and propaganda · Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) 1929–2015
Helmut Josef Michael Kohl Helmut Kohl The chancellor who seized the initiative on the German question with a ten-point unification plan days before Malta Political and party leadership · Christian Democratic Union (CDU) 1930–2017
Egon Rudi Ernst Krenz Egon Krenz The last communist leader of East Germany, who succeeded Honecker, opened the Wall, and fell in 50 days Political and party leadership · East Germany 1937–
Frederick Kempe Frederick Kempe A journalist-historian of Cold War crises Scholarship and theory 1954–

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