Heinz Zöger (19 November 1915 in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

– 21 March 2000 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

) was a German political

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

. Between 1968 and his death in 2000 he was married to

Carola Stern Carola Stern ( 14 November 1925 – 19 January 2006) was the name under which Erika Assmus reinvented herself as a serious journalist and (subsequently) author and politically committed television presenter, after she was obliged to relocate at s ...

Biography

Heinz Zöger was born in Leipzig: his adoptive father was a

lithographer Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

. On leaving school Zöger, between 1930 and 1933, undertook an apprenticeship as a type setter. In 1932, he was a member of the "Antifaschistischen Roten Garde" and also around this time of Revolutionary Union Opposition (RGO / ''Revolutionäre Gewerkschafts Opposition''). After

1933 Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...

he was twice arrested and sentenced to terms of imprisonment because of his

resistance Resistance may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Either of two similarly named but otherwise unrelated comic book series, both published by Wildstorm: ** ''Resistance'' (comics), based on the video game of the same title ** ''T ...

activities. After the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

, almost all of which he had spent in prisons in Germany, he joined the

German Communist Party The German Communist Party (german: Deutsche Kommunistische Partei, ) is a communist party in Germany. The DKP supports left positions and was an observer member of the European Left. At the end of February 2016 it left the European party. His ...

(KPD / ''Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands'') and held senior positions in what became the East German Broadcasting Corporation. From 1955 till autumn 1956, he was Editor in Chief of the weekly Newspaper "Sonntag" (''"Sunday"''). On 8 March 1957, during the trial of the

Harich Group Harich Group (''Gruppe Harich'') was the originally derogatory name given by the East German justice and media establishments to the defendants in a high-profile 1957 criminal trial against a "circle of like minded persons". Wolfgang Harich was ...

, Zöger was arrested in the courtroom for taking part in the counter-revolutionary activities of the group. In July of the same year, he was sentenced to a prison term along with

Walter Janka Walter Janka (29 April 1914 – 17 March 1994) was a German communist, political activist and writer who became a publisher. Janka is notable for having spent time incarcerated as a political prisoner under the rule of the Nazis and later impri ...

, then in charge of the

Aufbau-Verlag Aufbau-Verlag is a German publisher. It was founded in Berlin in 1945 and became the biggest publisher in the GDR. During that time it specialised in Socialist literature, socialist and Russian literature. It is currently led by Matthias Koch ...

, a major East German publishing house,

Gustav Just Gustav Just (16 June 1921 – 23 February 2011)''Alte ...

and Richard Wolf for crimes against Article 6 of the

East German Constitution The Constitution of East Germany refers to the constitution of the German Democratic Republic (), commonly known as East Germany. Its original constitution was promulgated on 7 October 1949. It was heavily based on the "Weimarer Reichsverfassung" ...

. He was released in 1959 and fled to

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. In May 1990, the East German Supreme Court set aside the judgement of 1957 under which Zöger had been sentenced. He later obtained a job as an editor with

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

-based West German national broadcaster,

Westdeutscher Rundfunk Westdeutscher Rundfunk Köln (''West German Broadcasting Cologne''; WDR, ) is a German public-broadcasting institution based in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a constituent member of the conso ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zoeger, Heinz 1915 births 2000 deaths Writers from Leipzig People from the Kingdom of Saxony Communist Party of Germany politicians Socialist Unity Party of Germany members German male journalists Communists in the German Resistance German male writers German adoptees 20th-century German journalists German newspaper editors