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

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 ...

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

Biography

Böhm was born in

Plauen Plauen (; ; ) is a town in Saxony, Germany with a population of around 65,000. It is Saxony's 5th most populated city after Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Zwickau, the second-largest city of the Vogtland after Gera, as well as the largest cit ...

on 20 August 1928. He received a degree in economics. Böhm was appointed the finance minister in December 1966, succeeding Willy Rumpf in the post. Böhm's term lasted until 1980. He was among the central committee members of the

Socialist Unity Party of Germany 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 Mar ...

. 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. It is home to a harness racing track, the Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin (''HTW''), the largest University of Applied Scien ...

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. The official paper ''

Neues Deutschland (, , abbr. nd) is a left-wing German daily newspaper, headquarters, headquartered in Berlin. For 43 years it was the official party newspaper of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), which governed East Germany (officially known as the ...

'' argued that Böhm and his wife died in an accident without giving any further details about the incident. One week later their children issued an obituary in a state-controlled paper. Böhm was buried in a state ceremony. He was succeeded by Werner Schmieder as finance minister in June 1980. It was revealed in 2003 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.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bohm, Siegfried 20th-century German economists European politicians assassinated in the 1980s 1928 births 1980 deaths Assassinated German politicians Politicians assassinated in 1980 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 murdered in Berlin People of the Cold War Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold