Walter Buchheim (28 January 1904 – 1 November 1979) was an

East German 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 ...

politician and

Trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

ist. He was the chairman of the national

People's Solidarity People's Solidarity (german: Volkssolidarität) is an organisation for elderly people in the new states of Germany, founded 1945. It was one of many important non-parliamentary mass organisations in the former socialist country, East Germany. T ...

organisation.

Life

1904-1933 Childhood and early adulthood in Weimar Germany

Buchheim's father was a

shoe maker Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand, often by groups of shoemakers, or cobblers (also known as '' cordwainers''). In the 18th century, dozens or even hundreds of masters, journeymen ...

. The boy attended school in Cöllnitz and

Groitzsch Groitzsch () is a town in the Leipzig district, in Saxony, Germany. Geography and transport The town is situated at the southern edge of the Leipzig Bay east of the White Elster river on the confluence of Schwennigke and Schnauder rivers, 20&n ...

before training as a metal grinder between 1918 and 1922, and this defined his trade till 1929. Between 1929 and 1931 he worked as a miner in a

brown coal Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat ...

mine. Buchheim joined the

Communist Youth league The Communist Youth League of China (CYLC), also known as the Young Communist League of China or simply the Communist Youth League (CYL), is a youth movement of the People's Republic of China for youth between the ages of 14 and 28, run by the ...

in 1923, performing various functions locally for the organisation. He joined the Communist Party (KVD) in 1926. Between 1931 and 1933 he was an elected town councillor and a full-time council officer in

1933–1945 Survival as a communist in Nazi Germany

After the

National Socialist Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

government came to power in 1933, Buchheim became involved in anti-Fascist resistance. He was arrested and imprisoned a number of times. His first period of imprisonment took place from August to November 1933. From 1934 till 1936 and again for three months in 1944 he was interned in the

Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoner ...

. Following his release, in October 1944, he returned to his trade as a metal grinder till 1945.

1945-1971 Vindication

From 1945 till 1949 Buchheim was a city councillor and the mayor of Groitzsch. Initially he served as a member of the KPD (Communist Party). However, this part of Germany was

occupied ' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October ...

by the

Soviet military The Soviet Armed Forces, the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union and as the Red Army (, Вооружённые Силы Советского Союза), were the armed forces of the Russian SFSR (1917–1922), the Soviet Union (1922–1991), and th ...

in 1945 and 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, ...

took a hands-on approach to reconfiguring the political landscape. The

Soviets Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union. Nationality policy in ...

favoured a

one-party A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government ...

political structure. The

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been t ...

, along with the KPD (German Communist Party/''Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands'') were forcibly merged into the SED (Socialist Unity Party of Germany/''Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands''), of which Walter Buchheim now became a committed member. In 1949 he attended the DASR (an Administration Academy for political high flyers subsequently renamed after

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 ...

''Mit neuen Arbeitsmethoden zu neuen Erfolgen'' in: Tageszeitung

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 ...

vom 5. Mai 1950. Seite 4), in Forst Zinna, after which promotion beckoned. He was appointed to the senior administrative position of Landrat in the Zittau district in 1950/51. He then attended the party's administrative school in Meissen (1951/52). Between 1952 and 1959 he was First Secretary of the party's district leadership team in Karl-Marz-Stadt (which has subsequently reverted to its earlier name, Chemnitz), where he was also, between 1952 and 1958, a member of the regional assembly. From 1954 till 1963 Walter Buchheim was a member of the party's powerful Central Committee, and between 1958 and 1963 he was also a deputy in the People's Chamber (the nation's legislative assembly). In 1959 he was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Trades Union Federation, a position he retained till 1961 when he was appointed to the Chairmanship of the Central Committee of the national

organisation. Between 1969 and 1971 he was also a member of the Presidium of the East German National Front.

Retirement and death

He retired in 1971 and died in 1979. His ashes are in the Berlin Friedrichsfelde cemetery.

Recognition

* Patriotic Order of Merit / VVO (''Vaterländischer Verdienstorden'') in Gold (1954) * German Democratic Republic Service Medal (''Verdienstmedaille der DDR'') (1959) * Ernst Moritz Arndt Medal (''Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Medaille'') *Honor Clasp on the VVO in Gold (1969) * Order of Karl Marx (''Karl-Marx-Orden'') (1974)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buchheim, Walter 1904 births 1979 deaths People from Pegau People from the Kingdom of Saxony Communist Party of Germany politicians Members of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany Members of the 3rd Volkskammer Free German Trade Union Federation members Communists in the German Resistance Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit (honor clasp)