Thomas Klein (born April 14, 1948) is a German civil rights activist, historian, and politician.

Life

Klein was born in Berlin on April 14, 1948. He trained as an electrical mechanic before enrolling at

Humboldt University Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiati ...

to study mathematics, where he received his doctorate in 1976. Meanwhile, Klein had begun working at the Central Institute for Economic Sciences, part of the

Academy of Sciences of the GDR The German Academy of Sciences at Berlin, german: Deutsche Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin (DAW), in 1972 renamed the Academy of Sciences of the GDR (''Akademie der Wissenschaften der DDR (AdW)''), was the most eminent research institution ...

, in 1973. During the 1970s, Klein began to associate with opposition groups in the

German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **G ...

. As a result, he was arrested by the Stasi in September 1979, and taken to Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Prison. Klein was convicted of "unlawful contact" ("ungesetzlicher Verbindungsaufnahme") under section 219 of the East German criminal code. During his trial, Gregor Gysi served as his lawyer. He was held in the

Bautzen II Bautzen II was a 20th-century political prison in the town of Bautzen in Saxony operational during the communist regime in East Germany. It was the only East German prison directly under the control of the Stasi. It now stands as an open-air m ...

prison until his release in December 1980. Following his release, Klein was banned from working in the sciences, and was assigned to work at a state-owned furniture company. In 1987, Klein was a founding member of the opposition Gegenstimmen Group. The group brought together leftist opponents of the ruling Socialist Unity Party, and included Marxists, Titoists,

Trotskyites Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a ...

, and members of the

Christian left The Christian left is a range of left-wing Christian political and social movements that largely embrace social justice principles and uphold a social doctrine or social gospel. Given the inherent diversity in international political thoug ...

. In a report from 1989, the Stasi counted Klein among the most ardent members of the opposition. In 1989, Klein was one of the founding members of the United Left, and a co-author of the party's "Böhlener Platform". In the 1990 East German election, he was the United Left's lead candidate, and was the only member of the party elected to the

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 ...

. When Germany reunited, Klein then became a member of the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Common ...

until a new federal election was held on December 2, 1990. The United Left began to disintegrate following German reunification, and during the 2000s Klein joined Die Linke. Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1990-0312-021,_Berlin,_Volkskammerwahl,_Stimmzettel_Wahlkreis_I

Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1990-0312-021,_Berlin,_Volkskammerwahl,_Stimmzettel_Wahlkreis_I

Following his time as a member of the Bundestag, Klein then spent two years as an employee of the Bundestag. From 1996 to 2009 he worked at the

Centre for Contemporary History The Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam (German language, German: ''Leibniz-Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung'', abbreviated ''ZZF'') is an interdisciplinary research institute focusing on the contemporary history of Europe, especia ...

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream o ...

as a historian specializing in the history of the German Democratic Republic and its opposition movements. In the course of this work, he has authored five books on East German political history.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Klein, Thomas The Left (Germany) politicians 1948 births Living people German civil rights activists Members of the Bundestag for Berlin Members of the Volkskammer German mathematicians German historians