Walter Becher (1 October 1912 – 25 August 2005) was a

German Bohemian German Bohemians (german: Deutschböhmen und Deutschmährer, i.e. German Bohemians and German Moravians), later known as Sudeten Germans, were ethnic Germans living in the Czech lands of the Bohemian Crown, which later became an integral part o ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

, representative of the

All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights The All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights (german: Gesamtdeutscher Block/Bund der Heimatvertriebenen und Entrechteten or GB/BHE) was a right-wing political party in West Germany, which acted as an advocacy group of the German ...

(GB/BHE), All German Party (german: Gesamtdeutsche Partei) (GDP) and the

Christian Social Union of Bavaria The Christian Social Union in Bavaria (German language, German: , CSU) is a Christian democracy, Christian-democratic and Conservatism in Germany, conservative List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. Having a regionalis ...

. He was an associate of the pro-

Nazi 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 ...

politician

Konrad Henlein Konrad Ernst Eduard Henlein (6 May 1898 – 10 May 1945) was a leading Sudeten Germans, Sudeten German politician in Czechoslovakia. Upon the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, German occupation in October 1938 he joined the Nazi Party as well ...

. Later, he became a writer for the Nazi newspaper "Die Zeit" published in

Sudetenland The Sudetenland ( , ; Czech and sk, Sudety) is the historical German name for the northern, southern, and western areas of former Czechoslovakia which were inhabited primarily by Sudeten Germans. These German speakers had predominated in the ...

.Im alten Schritt und Tritt Walter Becher Lautsprecher der Sudetendeutschen Landsmannschaft / Von Dietrich Strothmann
/ref>

Early life

Becher was born on 1 October 1912 in Karlsbad,

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

. He came from a Karlsbad manufacturing family, which was established there by 1530. The family's most popular product was the "Karlsbader Becherbitter" ( en, Karlsbad Bitters), which today is sold under the name "

Becherovka Becherovka (), formerly Karlsbader Becherbitter, is a herbal bitters, often drunk as a digestif. It is produced in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic by the Jan Becher company. The brand is owned by Pernod Ricard. It is made from a secret recipe ...

" produced by

Jan Becher Jan Becher is a Czech liqueur company headquartered in Karlovy Vary. The most famous product of Becher is Becherovka. History The company ''Jan Becher — Karlovarská Becherovka, a.s.'', dates back 200 years to the first decade of the 19th ...

. After leaving school Becher studied

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

and then worked as a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

. While a student, he joined the "Deutsche Gildenschaft" student association. In 1938, he became the arts, science, and entertainment editor for the newspaper "Die Zeit" ( en, The Time). Die Zeit was controlled by the

NSDAP, precursor to the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

. Starting in 1940 he fought as a soldier in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1942, he also became the 2nd editor for the military "Panzer-Propagandazug PK 697" ( en, Tank Propaganda Company 697) led by Kurt Joachim Fischer. Becher ended the war in an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

run

Prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. P ...

Post World War II

After his release from prison Becher was displaced from his home of Bohemia to

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

where he became active in a movement of exiled Bohemian Germans. In 1947, he participated in the founding of the "Gründung des Sudetendeutschen Rates" en, Sudeten German Council). Between 1956 and 1958 he became the Chairman of the Witikobund, an association of Sudeten Germans. Becher initiated the "Komitee zum Schutz der Bürger gegen Diffamierung durch die Linkspresse" a group committed to protect citizens against defamation by left-wing press in 1959. He also was vice chairman, until 1968, and then until 1982, chairman, of the Sudetendeutsche Landsmannschaft ( en, Sudeten German Homeland Association). Becher was awarded, in 1962, the

Bavarian Order of Merit The Bavarian Order of Merit (german: Bayerischer Verdienstorden) is the Order of Merit of the Free State of Bavaria. It is awarded by the Minister-President of Bavaria as a "recognition of outstanding contributions to the Free State of Bavaria ...

. In 1983, he was awarded the European Charlemagne Prize of the Sudeten German Association for outstanding services to self-determination and international understanding. In 1969, East German film makers Walter Heynowski and Gerhard Scheumann shot a documentary about him called "Der Präsident im Exil" (german: The president in exile). His son

Peter Becher Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

is chairman of the Adalbert Stifter -Vereins.

Political parties

Becher was initially a member of the national "Kameradschaftsbund, Bund für gesamtgesellschaftliche Bildung" ( en, Federation for societal education) which followed the teachings of

Othmar Spann Othmar Spann (1 October 1878 – 8 July 1950) was a conservative Austrian philosopher, sociologist and economist whose radical anti-liberal and anti-socialist views, based on early 19th century Romantic ideas expressed by Adam Müller et al. ...

. In 1931, he became a member of the

Sudeten German Party The Sudeten German Party (german: Sudetendeutsche Partei, SdP, cs, Sudetoněmecká strana) was created by Konrad Henlein under the name ''Sudetendeutsche Heimatfront'' ("Front of the Sudeten German Homeland") on 1 October 1933, some months afte ...

(SdP) of

. After annexation of Sudetenland by Germany he was accepted into the Nazi Party. After the Second World War he took part in the founding of the Deutsche Gemeinschaft party (DG). Shortly before the parliamentary elections in 1954 he switched parties to the BHE. In 1959 he tried, with the National Democratic Union (NDU), to establish a collective conservative movement but only the BHE, the Witikobund and some smaller organizations participated. With the merger of the BHE with the German party in 1961 he became a member of the All-German party. In the 1962 parliamentary election in Bavaria he lost. Negotiations with the Free Democratic Party (FDP) for a cross-over to their party failed. In 1967 he joined the

(CSU).

Bundestag

In the state elections of 1950 Becher with the

League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights The All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights (german: Gesamtdeutscher Block/Bund der Heimatvertriebenen und Entrechteten or GB/BHE) was a right-wing political party in West Germany, which acted as an advocacy group of the Germa ...

(german: Liste Deutscher Gemeinschaftsblock der Heimatvertriebenen und Entrechteten), a coalition of DG (6 seats) and BHE (20 seats) in the Bavarian state parliament and elected first deputy chairman of the DG coalition. From 1954 until his retirement from parliament in 1962 he was Chairman of the GB / BHE Group. Because of the coalitions of the GDP for the general election in 1965 with the CDU, CSU and SPD Becher was on the CSU list in the German Bundestag, where he served until 1980. In 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 Commons ...

he was a strict opponent of the Social-Liberal coalition.

Literature

* Richard Stöss: ''Deutsche Gemeinschaft'', Fußnote 21, in: derselbe ''Parteienhandbuch'', Westdeutscher Verlag, Dormagen 1986, Seite 887.
Mandat und Dynamit
in

Der Spiegel ''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

44/1964 vom 28. Oktober 1964.

References