![Bundesarchiv Bild 183-08618-0005, Berlin, 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-08618-0005%2C_Berlin%2C_2._Volkskammersitzung%2C_Bildung_DDR-Regierung.jpg)
The Ulbricht Group was a group of exiled members of the
Communist Party of Germany (''Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands'', or KPD), led by
Walter Ulbricht
Walter Ernst Paul Ulbricht (; 30 June 18931 August 1973) was a German communist politician. Ulbricht played a leading role in the creation of the Weimar-era Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and later (after spending the years of Nazi rule in ...
, who flew from the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
back to Germany on April 30, 1945. Composed of functionaries from the KPD and ten anti-fascist
prisoners of war, their job was to seek out
anti-fascist individuals and prepare the groundwork for the re-establishment of communist organizations and unions in postwar
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
. There were two additional regional groups, the
Ackermann Group in
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
and the
Sobottka Group in
Mecklenburg
Mecklenburg (; nds, label= Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schweri ...
. Many of the group's members later became high-level officials in the government of 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 ...
(GDR).
Political operation
The tasks for the Ulbricht Group and the other communist
cadre who were to return to Germany were defined at a meeting between
Wilhelm Pieck
Friedrich Wilhelm Reinhold Pieck (; 3 January 1876 – 7 September 1960) was a German communist politician who served as the chairman of the Socialist Unity Party from 1946 to 1950 and as president of the German Democratic Republic from 1949 to ...
and
Georgi Dimitrov held in Moscow on April 25, 1945. Dimitrov was then a high-level functionary of the
Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, working as the assistant division leader of the International Information Division. They were to prepare the region to accept and follow the instructions of the
Soviet Military Administration in Germany
The Soviet Military Administration in Germany (russian: Советская военная администрация в Германии, СВАГ; ''Sovyetskaya Voyennaya Administratsiya v Germanii'', SVAG; german: Sowjetische Militäradministrat ...
so the Nazi government could be dismantled. The
de-nazification
Denazification (german: link=yes, Entnazifizierung) was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of the Nazi ideology following the Second World War. It was carried out by remov ...
process was to convince the people to turn over Nazi
war criminals. The Group was to calm people and assure them that the
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...
would neither destroy nor enslave them, but that the German people had to understand that they bore the responsibility for the Nazi's rise to power, giving force to Hitler's policies and causing the catastrophe. The communists had tried to warn them of the coming catastrophe and they were now there to help them out of their distress and at the same time, establish a basis for the future of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). They were also to seek out anti-fascist individuals who would be willing to work with the new organizations. The youngest member of the group was 24-year-old
Wolfgang Leonhard
Wolfgang Leonhard (16 April 1921 – 17 August 2014) was a German political author and historian of the Soviet Union, the German Democratic Republic and Communism. A German Communist whose family had fled Hitler's Germany and who was educated i ...
.
[Stefan Aust and Frank Schirrmacher]
''Du gehst in das Institut Nummer 99''
''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
The ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' (; ''FAZ''; "''Frankfurt General Newspaper''") is a centre-right conservative-liberal and liberal-conservativeHans Magnus Enzensberger: Alter Wein in neuen Schläuchen' (in German). ''Deutschland Radio'', ...
'' (May 14, 2005). Retrieved November 20, 2011 [Hermann Weber]
''Hotel Lux - Die deutsche kommunistische Emigration in Moskau''
(PDF) Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung
The Konrad Adenauer Foundation (german: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, KAS) is a German political party foundation associated with but independent of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). The foundation's headquarters are located in Sank ...
No. 443 (October 2006), p. 61. Retrieved November 12, 2011
The Ulbricht Group left from the
Hotel Lux,
where they had been living in exile, some for years, and flew from
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
to
Minsk
Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...
, then to
Calau
Calau (, dsb, Kalawa) is a small town in the Oberspreewald-Lausitz district, in southern Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 14 km south of Lübbenau, and 27 km west of Cottbus. Calau is also called the home of the Kalauer.
Geo ...
, near
Międzyrzecz
Międzyrzecz (; la, Meserici, german: link=no, Meseritz) is a town in western Poland, on the Obra and Paklica river, with 17,667 inhabitants (2020). The capital of Gmina Międzyrzecz and Międzyrzecz County. Since the Local Government Reorganiz ...
. Not all members of the group knew what their assignment was or how long it would last until after they landed.
They landed in an airfield and were met by a Soviet officer, who drove away with Ulbricht. The rest left by truck for
Bruchmühle, about east of Berlin and the offices of Marshal
Georgy Zhukov
Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov ( rus, Георгий Константинович Жуков, p=ɡʲɪˈorɡʲɪj kənstɐnʲˈtʲinəvʲɪtɕ ˈʐukəf, a=Ru-Георгий_Константинович_Жуков.ogg; 1 December 1896 – ...
, the first commander of the Soviet occupation zone. The Ulbricht Group began working from there on May 2, 1945, though not much could be done with the city in flames after the
Battle of Berlin. In the evening, Ulbricht met with the group and explained their assignment. They were to cover all 20 districts in Berlin and begin building local administrations. In each, they were to seek out as many
social democrats
Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...
as possible, also a civil servant with a
Ph.D
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
from each local administration who was willing to work with the Soviets and a cleric to lead a religious advisory council. Communists were to be installed in each district as assistant administrator, and to head up the departments for personnel and development.
The group worked from Bruchmühle till May 8, after which they moved to the
Friedrichsfelde
Friedrichsfelde () is a German locality (''Ortsteil'') within the borough (''Bezirk'') of Lichtenberg, Berlin.
History
The locality was first mentioned in a document of 1265 with the name of ''Rosenfelde''. In 1699 it was renamed Friedrichsfelde ...
area of Berlin.
On May 6, 1945, Ulbricht gave the Soviet commander of Berlin,
Nikolai Berzarin, the first list of suggested names to fill important administrative posts in Berlin. On May 12, 1945, the district administrators and city councils were appointed from Ulbricht's list without exception. Paul Markgraf, one of the ten anti-fascist prisoners of war, was appointed the "Berlin Police President", also on Ulbricht's initiative.
In the beginning of June 1945, Ulbricht, Ackermann and Sobottka traveled back to Moscow to give the first reports and get their further instructions. On June 4, 1945, they met with Pieck,
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
and
Andrei Zhdanov
Andrei Aleksandrovich Zhdanov ( rus, Андре́й Алекса́ндрович Жда́нов, p=ɐnˈdrej ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈʐdanəf, links=yes; – 31 August 1948) was a Soviet politician and cultural ideologist. After World War ...
. Stalin urged them to found a nationwide working class party that would remain open for the
proletariat, farmers and intellectuals. He wanted the party to work for a unified Germany and said in his opinion, the
West
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
wanted to split the country into partitions, so, according to Pieck, their goal was to "
ompletethe civil-democratic revolution through a civil-democratic government." The founding manifesto of the KPD was written by Ackermann. In it, the new party spoke openly against a
sovietization
Sovietization (russian: Советизация) is the adoption of a political system based on the model of soviets (workers' councils) or the adoption of a way of life, mentality, and culture modelled after the Soviet Union. This often included ...
of Germany. It said the goal was to "continue to its conclusion the civil-democratic transformation begun with the
revolutions of 1848
The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europea ...
" and through
land reform
Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...
, to eliminate the "remnants of
feudalism
Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structur ...
". The goal the Party named was as the "establishment of an anti-fascist, democratic republic with all
democratic rights and freedoms for the people". With the re-establishment of the KPD on June 11, 1945, the Ulbricht Group reached its first goal. On July 10, 1945, it moved into the KPD's Central Committee building.
Existence concealed
Until 1955 and the publication of Wolfgang Leonhard's book, ''Die Revolution entläßt ihre Kinder'' (later published in English as ''Child of the Revolution''), knowledge of the Ulbricht Group was kept secret. In Leonhard's opinion, it was kept secret so as not to emphasize the role of communist exiles from Moscow in the establishment of the GDR. After 1955, several versions of the story appeared regarding the composition of the group and the order of events leading to the appointments.
There is disagreement among historians as to whether or not Stalin and Ackermann were earnest in their affirmation of parliamentarian democracy and fundamental rights. Leonhard reported the oft-cited comment by Ulbricht made during this period, "It is quite clear. It must look democratic, but we must have everything
in hand." Some historians say that by spring 1945, the establishment of a communist-dominated government in the Soviet-occupied zone and the proclaimed democracy was merely a transitional stage but at least one historian believes that Stalin earnestly pursued a western-style democracy for Germany, that it was the only way he could secure the responsibility from
the others, which without him, would easily have been able to deny access to the resources of the
Ruhr region
The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...
, reparations he desperately needed as resources to rebuild the war-ravaged western regions of the Soviet Union.
Members
*
Walter Ulbricht
Walter Ernst Paul Ulbricht (; 30 June 18931 August 1973) was a German communist politician. Ulbricht played a leading role in the creation of the Weimar-era Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and later (after spending the years of Nazi rule in ...
(1893–1973),
first secretary 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 ...
, 1950 to 1971; chairman of the
State Council of the German Democratic Republic
The State Council of East Germany (German: ''Staatsrat der DDR'') was the collective head of state of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1960 to 1990.
Origins
When the German Democratic Republic was founded in October 1949, its ...
, 1960 to 1973
*
Fritz Erpenbeck
Fritz Erpenbeck (born: Friedrich Johann Lambert Erpenbeck, 7 April 1897, Mainz – 7 January 1975, Berlin) was a German writer, director and actor.
Biography
Erpenbeck was born in to the family of a watchmaker and engineer. He trained as a lock ...
(1897–1975),
National Committee for a Free Germany
The National Committee for a Free Germany (german: Nationalkomitee Freies Deutschland, or NKFD) was a German anti-Nazi organization that operated in the Soviet Union during World War II.The Russians in Germany: A History of the Soviet Zone of Occ ...
(from 1943)
*
Karl Maron
Karl Maron (1903–1975) was a German politician, who served as the interior minister of East Germany. He also assumed different posts in East Germany's government.
Early life and education
Maron was born in Berlin on 27 April 1903 and was educa ...
(1903–1975), co-editor of the newspaper ''Freies Deutschland'' from 1943; later, assistant chief editor of the newspaper, ''
Neues Deutschland
''Neues Deutschland'' (''nd''; en, New Germany, sometimes stylized in lowercase letters) is a left-wing German daily newspaper, headquartered in Berlin.
For 43 years it was the official party newspaper of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany ...
'' and Interior Minister of the GDR
*
Hans Mahle (1911–1999), editor of the German-language Moscow radio broadcasts, later chief editor of the newspaper, ''Schweriner Volkszeitung''
*
Walter Köppe (1891–1970), administrative director of the Bauakademie Berlin until 1955, employed at the Ministry for Heavy Machinery Construction
*
Richard Gyptner (1901–1972), secretary to
Comintern General Secretary
Georgi Dimitrov, 1933–1935; editor at radio ''Deutscher Volkssender'' in Moscow; head of the Capitalist Foreign Countries division (''Kapitalistisches Ausland'') of the GDR's Foreign Ministry and diplomat
*
Wolfgang Leonhard
Wolfgang Leonhard (16 April 1921 – 17 August 2014) was a German political author and historian of the Soviet Union, the German Democratic Republic and Communism. A German Communist whose family had fled Hitler's Germany and who was educated i ...
(1921–2014; went by the name ''Vladimir Leonhard''), graduate of the
Comintern school and radio announcer at ''Freies Deutschland''; broke with
Stalinism in 1949, fled to
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
, then to the
Federal Republic of Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...
*
Otto Winzer (1902–1975), Moscow pseudonym: Otto Lorenz; chief of staff for GDR President
Wilhelm Pieck
Friedrich Wilhelm Reinhold Pieck (; 3 January 1876 – 7 September 1960) was a German communist politician who served as the chairman of the Socialist Unity Party from 1946 to 1950 and as president of the German Democratic Republic from 1949 to ...
until 1956; Foreign Minister of the GDR, 1965 to 1975
*
Gustav Gundelach (1888–1962), editor and radio announcer at ''Deutscher Volkssender'' in Moscow; KPD representative of the first German
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 ...
*
Otto Fischer (1901–1974), worked at radio ''Berliner Rundfunk''
Regional groups
The group for Saxony was led by Anton Ackermann:
["Namensliste der drei KPD-Einsatzgruppen vom 27. April 1945"](_blank)
German Federal Archives. BArch NY 4036/517. Retrieved November 22, 2011
*
Anton Ackermann
Anton Ackermann (real name: Eugen Hanisch, 25 November 1905 Thalheim, Saxony – 4 May 1973 East Berlin) was an East German politician. In 1953, he briefly served as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Dieter K. Buse, and Juergen C. Doerr, eds., ''Mo ...
(1905–1973), went by the name "Peter Ackermann", as he was most often called in Moscow)
*
Hermann Matern
Hermann Matern (June 17, 1893 in Burg bei Magdeburg – January 24, 1971 in Berlin) was a German communist politician ( KPD) and high ranking functionary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany and statesman in the German Democratic Republic.
L ...
(1893–1971)
*
Fred Oelßner
Fred Oelßner (27 February 1903 – 7 November 1977) was a German communist politician, ecomomist and a leading political figure in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany).
Oelßner became a member of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany' ...
(1903–1977), known as "Fred Larew"
*
Kurt Fischer (1900–1950)
*
Heinrich Greif
Otto Karl Heinrich Greif (11 March 1907 – 16 July 1946) was a German actor and social activist.
Biography
Heinrich Greif was born 11 March 1907 in Dresden.
Since 1926, he studied in the studio at the theater Volksbühne under the directio ...
(1907–1946)
*
Peter Florin
Peter Florin (2 October 1921 – 17 February 2014) was an East German politician and diplomat.
Early life
Florin was born in Cologne on 2 October 1921. (1921–2014), deputy representative to the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
*
Franz Greiner
*
Egon Dräger
*
Artur Hofmann (1907–1987)
*
Georg Wolff (1882–1968)
The group for
Mecklenburg
Mecklenburg (; nds, label= Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schweri ...
was led by Gustav Sobottka:
*
Gustav Sobottka
Gustav Sobottka (12 July 1886 – 6 March 1953) was a German politician in East Germany. He was a member of the Communist Party and was in exile during the Nazi era. He returned to Germany in 1945 as head of the Sobottka Group and later worked in ...
(1886–1953), East German politician
*
Gottfried Grünberg (1899–1985)
*
Willi Bredel
Willi Bredel (2 May 1901 in Hamburg – 27 October 1964 in East Berlin) was a German writer and president of the DDR Academy of Arts, Berlin. Born in Hamburg, he was a pioneer of socialist realist literature.
Life and career
Born in to the f ...
(1901–1964)
*
Stanislaw Switalla
* Arthur Fiedler
*
Georg Kamann
*
Rudolf Herrnstadt (1903–1966), replaced
Kurt Bürger (1894–1951) who was originally supposed to be in the group
*
Karl Raab Karl may refer to:
People
* Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name
* Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne
* Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer
* Karl of Austria, last Austri ...
(1906–1992)
Biographical details, Karl Rabb
Bundesunmittlebare Stiftung des öffentlichen Rechts. Retrieved November 21, 2011
* Oskar Stefan
* Herbert Hentschke
* Walter Offermann
* Bruno Schramm
Sources
* Wolfgang Leonhard, ''Die Revolution entlässt ihre Kinder''. Kiepenheuer und Witsch, Cologne (1955), Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, Munich (1985)
* Wolfgang Leonhard, ''Spurensuche. 40 Jahre nach 'Die Revolution entlässt ihre Kinder'.'' Kiepenheuer und Witsch, Cologne (1992–94)
Footnotes
References
External links
Documents and photos of the Ulbricht Group in the German Federal Archives
Aufruf des Zentralkomitees der Kommunistischen Partei Deutschlands vom 11. Juni 1945
(PDF) German Historical Institute, Washington, D.C.
*Wolfgang Zank
"Als Stalin Demokratie befahl"
''Die Zeit'' (June 16, 1995). Retrieved December 6, 2011
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ulbricht Group
Communist organisations in Germany
Communist Party of Germany
Germany–Soviet Union relations
History of East Germany
Politics of East Germany
Politics of World War II