Heinz Kessler or Heinz Keßler (26 January 1920 – 2 May 2017) was a German communist politician and military officer in
East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...
.
His career in the military started when he was conscripted into the
Wehrmacht, the armed forces of
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
, in
WWII. Due to his communist convictions, he deserted the Wehrmacht and fought for the Soviet Union on the
Eastern Front. Upon his return to East Germany, he was given the rank of ''
Armeegeneral
''Army general'' (german: Armeegeneral), was the highest peacetime general officer rank in the so-called ''armed organs of the GDR'' (), that is, the Ministry of National Defence, the Stasi, and the Ministry of the Interior. It is comparable t ...
'' in the
National People's Army
The National People's Army (german: Nationale Volksarmee, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1956 to 1990.
The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) an ...
(''Nationale Volksarmee''). Later, he was Minister of Defense of the GDR, a member of the ''
Politbüro'' of the
Central Committee of the
Socialist Unity Party of Germany
The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, ; SED, ), often known in English as the East German Communist Party, was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germa ...
(SED), and a deputy of the GDR's ''
Volkskammer
__NOTOC__
The Volkskammer (, ''People's Chamber'') was the unicameral legislature of the German Democratic Republic (colloquially known as East Germany).
The Volkskammer was initially the lower house of a bicameral legislature. The upper house w ...
'' (parliament).
Convicted for his role in the deaths of defectors along the Berlin wall, he was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison after
German reunification, and served his sentence in
Hakenfelde Prison. He was released from prison in 1998 after serving only two years.
Biography
Early life
Kessler was born into a communist family in
Lauban,
Lower Silesia
Lower Silesia ( pl, Dolny Śląsk; cz, Dolní Slezsko; german: Niederschlesien; szl, Dolny Ślōnsk; hsb, Delnja Šleska; dsb, Dolna Šlazyńska; Silesian German: ''Niederschläsing''; la, Silesia Inferior) is the northwestern part of the ...
and was raised in Chemnitz.
He joined the Red Young Pioneers, the youth organization of the
Communist Party of Germany
The Communist Party of Germany (german: Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, , KPD ) was a major political party in the Weimar Republic between 1918 and 1933, an underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and a minor party in West Germa ...
(KPD), at age 6 and the
Young Spartacus League at 10.
He later
apprentice
Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...
d as a motor mechanic.
Military career
Drafted into the ''Wehrmacht'' in 1940, he deserted and defected to the Soviet
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...
three weeks after the
German invasion of the USSR and fought for the Soviet Union until the end of the war.
Upon his desertion, he was sentenced to death in absentia by a Military tribunal
and his mother was arrested and imprisoned in the
Ravensbrück concentration camp
Ravensbrück () was a German concentration camp exclusively for women from 1939 to 1945, located in northern Germany, north of Berlin at a site near the village of Ravensbrück (part of Fürstenberg/Havel). The camp memorial's estimated figure ...
. He wouldn't see her again until June 1945, shortly after the end of the war, in a reunion that he considered to be "one of the most eventful and beautiful days" of his life.
Upon returning to Germany in 1945, Kessler joined the KPD in the
Soviet occupation zone
The Soviet Occupation Zone ( or german: Ostzone, label=none, "East Zone"; , ''Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii'', "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was an area of Germany in Central Europe that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a ...
, which merged with the
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
F ...
(SPD) in the Soviet zone in 1946 to form the SED. Also in 1946, Kessler became a member of the SED
Central Committee.
He was appointed Chief of the Air Forces and Air Defense ''(
Luftstreitkräfte/Luftverteidigung)'' of the NVA in 1956, and as deputy minister of defense in 1957. He became Chief of the NVA Main Staff (''Hauptstab'' – General Staff) in 1967, with the rank of ''
Generaloberst
A ("colonel general") was the second-highest general officer rank in the German ''Reichswehr'' and ''Wehrmacht'', the Austro-Hungarian Common Army, the East German National People's Army and in their respective police services. The rank was ...
'' (Colonel General). Simultaneously, he also became a member of the Military Council of the United High Command of the
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republi ...
.
Kessler was promoted from Chief of the Main Political Administration ''(Chef der Politischen Hauptverwaltung)'' of the NVA to Defense Minister (with the rank of ''Armeegeneral'') on 3 December 1985 after his predecessor, ''Armeegeneral''
Heinz Hoffmann
Heinz Hoffmann (28 November 1910 – 2 December 1985) was Minister of National Defense in the Council of Ministers of the German Democratic Republic, and since 2 October 1973 member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Socialist Un ...
, died of a heart attack.
Conviction and imprisonment
In 1991, after the
Unification of Germany
The unification of Germany (, ) was the process of building the modern German nation state with federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without multinational Austria), which commenced on 18 August 1866 with adoption of t ...
, Kessler was arrested after police received information that Kessler would attempt to flee the country disguised as a Soviet officer.
German police blockaded the
Sperenberg Airfield to prevent Kessler's escape, but later arrested him in Berlin after changing the lock on his home and informing him that he could retrieve his keys at a local police station.
He was tried in a German court for incitement to commit intentional homicide, for his role in the deaths of people who tried to flee the GDR between 1971 and 1989. On 16 September 1993, Kessler was found guilty of
manslaughter and was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison.
Kessler filed an appeal to the
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...
, claiming that his actions were in accordance with GDR law and meant to preserve the existence of the GDR. However, his appeal was denied largely on the basis that the GDR's policies violated international human rights.
Kessler served his sentence in Berlin-Hakenfelde prison from November 1996 to October 1998, and was released early.
Kessler was expelled from the
Party of Democratic Socialism (SED) in 1990. In 2009, he joined the
German Communist Party (DKP). He was an unsuccessful DKP candidate in the
2011 Berlin state election.
Kessler died on 2 May 2017 at the age of 97.
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kessler, Heinz
1920 births
2017 deaths
People from Lubań
People from the Province of Lower Silesia
Communist Party of Germany politicians
Members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany
German Communist Party politicians
Ministers of National Defence (East Germany)
Members of the Provisional Volkskammer
Members of the 1st Volkskammer
Members of the 2nd Volkskammer
Members of the 3rd Volkskammer
Members of the 4th Volkskammer
Members of the 5th Volkskammer
Members of the 6th Volkskammer
Members of the 7th Volkskammer
Members of the 8th Volkskammer
Members of the 9th Volkskammer
Free German Youth members
Union of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime members
Army generals of the National People's Army
German military personnel of World War II
German defectors to the Soviet Union
German expatriates in the Soviet Union
Soviet military personnel of World War II
National Committee for a Free Germany members
Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union alumni
German politicians convicted of crimes
Recipients of the Scharnhorst Order
Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit (honor clasp)
Recipients of the Banner of Labor
Commanders of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland
20th-century German criminals
Prisoners and detainees of Germany
German people convicted of manslaughter
People sentenced to death in absentia
People condemned by Nazi courts
German prisoners sentenced to death
Deserters