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Erich Honecker

Former leader of East Germany, General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party (1976-1989) · Germany · Politicians · Lived 1912 to 1994 · aged 81

Erich Honecker is read about 2,946 times a day, in 81 languages.

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He ran East Germany for eighteen years and built the Wall. When the Soviet wind shifted in the late 1980s, Honecker refused to bend - citing hardliners in Pyongyang, Havana, Bucharest - and was shoved aside weeks before the whole structure came down.

PoliticiansPoliticianPoliticsStand Up20th Century

A life in dates

1994Died29 May 19941992“Nobody in (unified Germany) has the right . . . to charge me, let alone sentence me, for things I did to fulfill my responsibilities to the East German state.”In their words3 December 1992"Honecker Says Berlin Wall Prevented Nuclear Conflict" in Deseret News (3 December 1992)

“Without the wall through Berlin there could have been a nuclear war with thousands or millions of dead.”In their words3 December 1992"Honecker Says Berlin Wall Prevented Nuclear Conflict" in Deseret News (3 December 1992)

1987Order of LeninAwardOrder of the Victory of SocialismAward1985Gold Olympic OrderAwardOrder of Karl MarxAward1982Gold medal with hero rank of GDRAwardHero of the Soviet UnionAwardOrder of LeninAward1980Medal "For Strengthening of Brotherhood in Arms"Award1977Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the White Rose of FinlandAwardOrder of the October RevolutionAward1975“The all-European Conference of States has no precedent in the changeful history of the European continent.”In their wordsAddress at the third stage of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, Helsinki (1975)

“A socialist State in the heart of Europe at the boundary between the most powerful alliance systems of our time, the German Democratic Republic accords high priority to security.”In their wordsAddress at the third stage of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, Helsinki (1975)

“We consider the unrestricted application of these principles of security to be the basic prerequisite for the development of equal, mutually advantageous co-operation.”In their wordsAddress at the third stage of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, Helsinki (1975)

“We note with concern that military detente is falling short of progressing political detente.”In their wordsAddress at the third stage of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, Helsinki (1975)

1972Order of Karl MarxAwardOrder of LeninAward1970Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin"Award1969Order of Karl MarxAward1912Born25 August 1912

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R1220-401, Erich HoneckerBundesarchiv Bild 183-R1220-401, Erich Honecker0545 1989 BERLIN Mauer (1 december) (14306777902)0545 1989 BERLIN Mauer (1 december) (14306777902)2014-09-23&2059222014-05-22&160752 Berlin Staatsratsgebäude Honeckers Büro Deckenlampe2014-09-23&2059222014-05-22&160752 Berlin Staatsratsgebäude Honeckers Büro DeckenlampeBerlin (4162854687)Berlin (4162854687)Berlin Wall SouvenirBerlin Wall SouvenirBerlin, East Side Gallery (Analog Aufnahme, Olympus OM10) (8600943246)Berlin, East Side Gallery (Analog Aufnahme, Olympus OM10) (8600943246)Berlin, East Side Gallery 2014-07 (Karsten Wenzel - Die Beständigkeit der Ignoranz)Berlin, East Side Gallery 2014-07 (Karsten Wenzel - Die Beständigkeit der Ignoranz)Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1989-1211-036, Leipzig, MontagsdemonstrationBundesarchiv Bild 183-1989-1211-036, Leipzig, Montagsdemonstration

In their own words 10

,
Erich Honecker
,
10 statements, newest first

  1. Nobody in (unified Germany) has the right . . . to charge me, let alone sentence me, for things I did to fulfill my responsibilities to the East German state.

    Dec 3, 1992, "Honecker Says Berlin Wall Prevented Nuclear Conflict" in Deseret News (3 December 1992), Own words

  2. I bear the main political responsibility . . . for the fact that people trying to cross the border without authorization were shot.

    Dec 3, 1992, "Honecker Says Berlin Wall Prevented Nuclear Conflict" in Deseret News (3 December 1992), Own words

  3. Without the wall through Berlin there could have been a nuclear war with thousands or millions of dead.

    Dec 3, 1992, "Honecker Says Berlin Wall Prevented Nuclear Conflict" in Deseret News (3 December 1992), Own words

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Awards

Order of the Victory of Socialism1987
Order of Lenin1987
Gold medal with hero rank of GDR1987
Gold Olympic Order1985
Order of Karl Marx1985
Order of Lenin1982
Gold medal with hero rank of GDR1982
Order of Karl Marx1982
Hero of the Soviet Union1982
Medal "For Strengthening of Brotherhood in Arms"1980
Order of Karl Marx1977
Order of the October Revolution1977
Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the White Rose of Finland1977
Order of Lenin1972
Order of Karl Marx1972
Hero of Labour1972
Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin"1970
Order of Karl Marx1969
Order of José Martí
Order of Augusto César Sandino
Banner of Labor
Order of Klement Gottwald
Patriotic Order of Merit (honor clasp)
Order of Hồ Chí Minh
Order of Playa Girón
Grand Star of the Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria
Order of Georgi Dimitrov
Grand Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta
Order of the White Lion
Order of the Yugoslav Star
Order of the National Flag
Order of Merit of the Polish People's Republic

Family

Erich Honecker

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About this person

Erich Honecker joined the German Communist Party in the 1930s, spent years in Nazi prisons, and emerged after the war to help found the Free German Youth in 1946. As Security Secretary in 1961, he organised the construction of the Berlin Wall and bore administrative responsibility for the shoot-to-kill orders along it. With Soviet backing, he ousted Walter Ulbricht in 1971 and led East Germany into a phase of "consumer socialism" and international normalisation, including UN membership and détente with Bonn. When Gorbachev's reforms swept through Moscow in the late 1980s, Honecker dug in and refused to follow, leaning on the example of Kim, Castro, and Ceaușescu. The Politburo forced him out in October 1989; the regime lasted one more month. After reunification he hid in the Chilean embassy in Moscow, was extradited in 1992 to face trial for human rights abuses, but terminal liver cancer ended the proceedings. He died in Chilean exile in May 1994.

Country
Germany
Category
Politicians
Type
Politician
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1912 to 1994 · aged 81

Politicians from Germany 6

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