Paul Fröhlich (21 March 1913 – 19 September 1970) was a German politician and high-ranking party functionary of the

Socialist Unity Party The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (, ; SED, ) was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from the country's foundation in 1949 until its dissolution after the Peaceful Revolution in 1989. It was a Ma ...

(SED). In the German Democratic Republic, he served as the longtime First Secretary of the SED in

Bezirk Leipzig The Bezirk Leipzig was a district (''Bezirk'') of East Germany that would last from 1952 to 1990. Leipzig would be reabsorbed into Saxony after the reunification of Germany. The administrative seat and the main town was Leipzig. History The dist ...

and was a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED. Until his surprising death in September 1970, he ruled

in a particularly authoritarian manner.

Life and career

Fröhlich trained as a

cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (profession), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * C ...

from 1929 to 1931 and worked as an

industrial worker The ''Industrial Worker'', "the voice of revolutionary industrial unionism", is the magazine of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW, a.k.a., "Wobblies"). It is now released quarterly. The publication was printed and edited by union labor, ...

and

miner A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face (mining), face; cutt ...

. In 1930, he joined the

Communist Party of Germany The Communist Party of Germany (, ; KPD ) was a major Far-left politics, far-left political party in the Weimar Republic during the interwar period, German resistance to Nazism, underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and minor party ...

(KPD). In 1933, he was arrested for illegal political activities and lived temporarily as a casual laborer. In 1939, he was drafted into

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer military, volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Few nations, such ...

as a field cook. In 1944, he deserted, was interned by the Swiss border police, and remained in American captivity until June 1945.

Political career

Early career

Fröhlich became a member of the SED (Socialist Unity Party of Germany) in 1946 following the forced merger of the

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together wi ...

(Social Democratic Party) and KPD. Until 1950, he served as Secretary and First Secretary of the KPD/SED district administrations in Glauchau, Dresden, Bautzen, and

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

. In all of these positions, he already became known as a

Stalinist Stalinism (, ) is the totalitarian means of governing and Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1927 to 1953 by dictator Joseph Stalin and in Soviet satellite states between 1944 and 1953. Stalinism in ...

, adamantly purging former

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

and Western emigrants. From 1950 to 1953, he pursued

distance learning Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance; today, it usually involves online ...

at the "Karl Marx" Party Academy.

Bezirk Leipzig SED career

In 1952, he became the First Secretary of the

SED, succeeding Karl Schirdewan, who joined the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

and Central Committee Secretariat as Secretary responsible for Party Organs, Woman and Youth. Fröhlich practiced a particularly

authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and ...

leadership style in his secretariat and in the Bezirk administration. He suppressed any criticism of his decisions or his person with uncompromising severity and acted as a sole ruler, ruthlessly persecuting dissenters, even from within the party ranks. On 17 June 1953, Fröhlich was on official duty in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. He returned to

in the early afternoon, where he strongly criticized the previously hesitant police forces for their indecisiveness and ordered them to shoot the insurgents. Fröhlich's order to shoot resulted in the deaths of two people, and at least five more people became victims of Soviet troops after the imposition of a

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...

(4 pm). Fröhlich's brutal use of armed force, even before

martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

was declared, earned him the favor of Ulbricht, paving the way for his political ascent to the inner circle of the SED leadership after the suppression of the uprising. Paul Fröhlich was responsible for the decision of the Central Committee of the SED to demolish St. Paul's University Church in Leipzig: No place of worship was to be tolerated at the socialist Karl Marx Square with the

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

Karl Marx University. Therefore, the University Senate and the Leipzig City Council also approved the demolition of the church, which took place on 30 May 1968. His figure is depicted in the painting "Arbeiterklasse und Intelligenz" (

Working Class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

and

Intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the i ...

) by Werner Tübke on the first floor of the main building of Leipzig University, the result of a competition with the theme "Working class and intelligence are inseparably linked under the leadership of the Marxist-Leninist party in socialism." Alongside him are the then chairman of the executive Council of

, Erich Grützner, and the then Mayor of Leipzig, Walter Kresse. Fröhlich was awarded the

Patriotic Order of Merit The Patriotic Order of Merit (German: ''Vaterländischer Verdienstorden'', or VVO) was a national award granted annually in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It was founded in 1954 and was awarded to individuals and institutions for outstanding ...

in 1956 and 1969, the

Medal for Fighters Against Fascism The Medal for Fighters Against Fascism () was an award of the German Democratic Republic given to people who had been active in the German Resistance against Nazism. Institution and specifics of the award The award was instituted on 22 Februar ...

in 1958, the

Banner of Labor The Banner of Labor () was an order issued in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It was given for "excellent and long-standing service in strengthening and consolidating the GDR, especially for achieving outstanding results for the national ec ...

in 1963, the

Order of Karl Marx The Order of Karl Marx () was the most important order in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). The award of the order also included a prize of 20,000 East German marks. The order was founded on May 5, 1953 on the occasion of Karl Marx's 135th ...

in 1965, and the Combat Order "For Merits to the People and Fatherland" in 1970.

SED Central Committee

Despite repeated warnings from Schirdewan, who had become cadre leader in the Central Committee, he was elected as a candidate member in 1954 and from 1958 (V. Party Congress) to his death, he was a full member of the Central Committee of the SED. Since 1958, he was a candidate member and since 1963 ( VI. Party Congress) a full member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED, the ''de facto'' highest leadership body in

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. Fröhlich additionally joined the Volkskammer in

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

. Until 1958, he was a member of the Committee for Clemency, where he spoke up against

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and Karl Marx University

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

Ernst Bloch Ernst Simon Bloch (; ; July 8, 1885 – August 4, 1977; pseudonyms: Karl Jahraus, Jakob Knerz) was a German Marxist philosopher. Bloch was influenced by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Karl Marx, as well as by apocalyptic and religious thinker ...

, who was persecuted for criticising the repression of the

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 4 November 1956; ), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was an attempted countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the policies caused by ...

Death

Fröhlich died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

at the age of 57. His urn was interred in the ''Memorial of the Socialists'' at the

Friedrichsfelde Central Cemetery The Friedrichsfelde Central Cemetery () is a cemetery in the borough of Lichtenberg in Berlin. It was the cemetery used for many of Berlin's Socialists, Communists, and anti-fascist fighters. History When the cemetery was founded in 1881 it ...

Berlin-Lichtenberg Lichtenberg () is a quarter (''Ortsteil'') of Berlin in the homonymous borough (''Bezirk'') of Lichtenberg. Until 2001 it was an autonomous district with the localities of Fennpfuhl, Rummelsburg, Friedrichsfelde and Karlshorst. History The ...

. In the GDR, the

National People's Army The National People's Army (, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (DDR) from 1956 until 1990. The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) and the (Bord ...

Training Center in Schneeberg (AZ-10) was named "Paul Fröhlich." From 1973 to 1990, the main facility of the TAKRAF combine operated under the name VEB Loading and Transport Systems Leipzig "Paul Fröhlich" (VTA).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frohlich, Paul 1913 births 1970 deaths Socialist Unity Party of Germany politicians Communist Party of Germany politicians Members of the Volkskammer Members of the 2nd Volkskammer Members of the 3rd Volkskammer Members of the 4th Volkskammer Members of the 5th Volkskammer Candidate members of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany Members of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany Candidate members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany Members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit Recipients of the Order of Karl Marx Recipients of the Banner of Labor German communists