Siegfried Böhm (20 August 1928–4 May 1980) was an East German politician and long-term finance minister of

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 its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

. He was in office for nearly fourteen years between 1966 and 1980.

Biography

Böhm was born in

Plauen Plauen (; Czech language, Czech: ''Plavno'') is, with around 65,000 inhabitants, the fifth-largest city of Saxony, Germany after Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Zwickau, the second-largest city of the Vogtland after Gera, as well as the larges ...

on 20 August 1928. In 1966 he was appointed the finance minister and his term lasted until 1980. He was among the central committee members 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 German ...

. He was also a member of the Working Group Balance of Payments from 1974 to 1980. Böhm was one of the first officials who alerted the East German authorities about the negative consequences of the indebtedness to the Western countries. He also criticized the illegal currency and gold transactions carried out in the country. Böhm died at his home in

Berlin-Karlshorst Karlshorst (, ; ; literally meaning ''Karl's nest'') is a locality in the borough of Lichtenberg in Berlin. Located there are a harness racing track and the Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin (''HTW''), the largest University of Appli ...

on 4 May 1980. The East German officials reported on the next day that his wife shot him during a quarrel and then she committed suicide. In 2003 it was revealed as a result of the investigations that Böhm was in fact killed by an East German hit squad due to his potential reports about the bankruptcy faced in East Germany. His wife was also murdered by the squad to fabricate the official story of his death. Böhm was succeeded by

Werner Schmieder Werner Schmieder (born 11 November 1926) is a former politician who served as the minister of finance in East Germany in the period 1980–1981. Biography Schmieder was born in Possendorf, today Bannewitz, on 11 November 1926. He received a degr ...

as finance minister in June 1980.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bohm, Siegfried 1928 births 1980 deaths Assassinated German politicians Finance ministers of East Germany Members of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany Members of the Volkskammer People from Plauen People of the Cold War Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold