Heinz Keßler

Heinz Keßler (26 January 1920 – 2 May 2017) was a German communist politician and military officer in East Germany.

Army General Heinz Keßler
Keßler in 1988
Minister of National Defense
In office 3 December 1985 – 18 November 1989
Chairman of the Council of Ministers	Willi Stoph Hans Modrow
Appointed by	Erich Honecker
Preceded by	Heinz Hoffmann
Succeeded by	Theodor Hoffmann
National People's Army Chief of the Political Administration In office 10 January 1979 – 2 December 1985 Minister Heinz Hoffmann Preceded by Waldemar Verner Succeeded by Horst Brünner Chief of Staff of the National People's Army In office 15 March 1967 – 10 January 1979 Minister Heinz Hoffmann Preceded by Sigfrid Riedel Succeeded by Fritz Streletz Chief of the Air Forces/Air Defence Command In office 1 September 1956 – 14 March 1967 Minister Willi Stoph Heinz Hoffmann Preceded by Heinz-Bernhard Zorn Succeeded by Herbert Scheibe
Parliamentary constituencies Member of the Volkskammer for Bernau, Fürstenwald, Strausberg[1] In office 30 May 1949 – 11 January 1990 Preceded by multi-member district Succeeded by Constituency abolished
Personal details
Born	(1920-01-26)26 January 1920 Lauban, Province of Lower Silesia, Free State of Prussia, Weimar Republic (now Lubań, Poland)
Died	2 May 2017(2017-05-02) (aged 97) Berlin, Germany
Political party	Communist Party of Germany (1990) (2009–2017)
Other political affiliations	Party of Democratic Socialism (1989–1990) Socialist Unity Party (1946–1989) Communist Party of Germany (1945–1946)
Spouse	Ruth
Children	1
Occupation	Politician Machinist Soldier
Military service
Allegiance	Nazi Germany (1940–1941)  Soviet Union (1941–1945)  East Germany (1950–1989)
Years of service	Wehrmacht (1940–1941) Red Army (1941–1945) National People's Army (1950–1989)
Rank	Armeegeneral
Commands	Commander-in-chief of the Kommando LSK/LV Ministry of National Defence
Battles/wars	World War II Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia Angolan Civil War
Criminal conviction
Known for	Incitement to kill German civilians fleeing East Germany
Criminal status	Served prison sentence 24 January 1990 – April 1990; 1991[a] – 29 October 1998, released on parole in 1998 due to poor health
Conviction(s)	Incitement of Manslaughter (7 counts)
Criminal penalty	7½ years imprisonment
Central institution membership 1986–1989: Full member, Politburo of the Central Committee 1946–1989: Full member, Central Committee[note 1] Other offices held 1967–1989: Member, National Defence Council 1950–1954: Chairman, Free German Youth in the Volkskammer

His career in the military started when he was conscripted into the Wehrmacht, the armed forces of Nazi Germany, in World War II. Due to his communist convictions, he deserted the Wehrmacht and fought for the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front. Upon his return to East Germany, he entered service in the National People's Army (Nationale Volksarmee) upon its establishment in 1956. Later, he was Minister of Defense of the GDR with the rank of Armeegeneral, a member of the Politbüro of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), and a deputy of the GDR's Volkskammer (parliament).

Convicted for his role in the deaths of defectors along the Berlin wall, he was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison after German reunification, and served his sentence in Hakenfelde Prison. He was released from prison in 1998 after serving only two years.

Biography

Early life

Generalleutnant Keßler (r.) with Walter Ulbricht in 1966

Kessler was born into a communist family in Lauban, Lower Silesia and was raised in Chemnitz.^[2] He joined the Red Young Pioneers, the youth organization of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), at age 6 and the Young Spartacus League at 10.^[3] He later apprenticed as a motor mechanic.

Military career

Drafted into the Wehrmacht in 1940, he deserted and defected to the Soviet Red Army three weeks after the German invasion of the USSR and fought for the Soviet Union until the end of the war.^[2] Upon his desertion, he was sentenced to death in absentia by a military tribunal and his mother was arrested and imprisoned in the Ravensbrück concentration camp.^[3][4] He wouldn't see her again until June 1945, shortly after the end of the war, in a reunion that he considered to be "one of the most eventful and beautiful days" of his life.^[4]

Upon returning to Germany in 1945, Kessler joined the KPD in the Soviet occupation zone, which merged with the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the Soviet zone in 1946 to form the SED. Also in 1946, Kessler became a member of the SED Central Committee.

He was appointed Chief of the Air Forces and Air Defense (Luftstreitkräfte/Luftverteidigung) of the NVA in 1956, and as deputy minister of defense in 1957. He became Chief of the NVA Main Staff (Hauptstab – General Staff) in 1967, with the rank of Generaloberst (Colonel General). Simultaneously, he also became a member of the Military Council of the United High Command of the Warsaw Pact.

Kessler was promoted from Chief of the Main Political Administration (Chef der Politischen Hauptverwaltung) of the NVA to Defense Minister (with the rank of Armeegeneral) on 3 December 1985 after his predecessor, Armeegeneral Heinz Hoffmann, died of a heart attack.^[5]

Conviction and imprisonment

In 1991, after the Unification of Germany, Kessler was arrested after police received information that Kessler would attempt to flee the country disguised as a Soviet officer.^[6] German police blockaded the Sperenberg Airfield to prevent Kessler's escape, but later arrested him in Berlin after changing the lock on his home and informing him that he could retrieve his keys at a local police station.^[7]

He was tried in a German court for incitement to commit intentional homicide, for his role in the deaths of people who tried to flee the GDR between 1971 and 1989. On 16 September 1993, Kessler was found guilty of manslaughter and was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison.^[2]

Kessler filed an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, claiming that his actions were in accordance with GDR law and meant to preserve the existence of the GDR. However, his appeal was denied largely on the basis that the GDR's policies violated international human rights.^[8]

Kessler served his sentence in Berlin-Hakenfelde prison from November 1996 to October 1998, and was released early.^[9]

Kessler was expelled from the Party of Democratic Socialism (SED) in 1990. In 2009, he joined the German Communist Party (DKP). He was an unsuccessful DKP candidate in the 2011 Berlin state election.^[2] Kessler died on 2 May 2017 at the age of 97.^[10][11]

Notes

1. Schmidt, Arthur. "Volkskammer der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik 1986-1990, Seite 32" (PDF). gvoon.de. Retrieved 2023-09-04.
2. Smale, Alison (2017-05-08). "Heinz Kessler, Who Led East Germany's Military, Dies at 97". New York Times.
3. Hall, Allan (2009-11-09). "Berlin Wall anniversary: former Stasi man 'sickened' by collapse of communism". Daily Telegraph.
4. Kellerhoff, Sven Felix (2017-05-04). "Heinz Keßler †: Dieser General war die personifizierte DDR". Die Welt (in German). Retrieved 2020-09-14.
5. Flow, V.B.. "A New Defense Minister for the GDR." December 23, 1985.http://files.osa.ceu.hu/holdings/300/8/3/text/27-2-197.shtml (accessed September 8, 2007).
6. Maume, Chris (2017-05-07). "Heinz Kessler, obituary: East Germany's last defence minister". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-09.
7. Tagliabue, John (1991-05-22). "4 Ex-Officials of East Germany Arrested". New York Times.
8. Registry of the European Court of Human Rights. JUDGMENTS IN THE CASES OF STRELETZ, KESSLER AND KRENZ v. GERMANY AND K.-H. W. v. GERMANY. Strasbourg: Registry of the European Court of Human Rights, 22 March 2001.
9. biography Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (German)
10. "Former East German Defense Minister Heinz Kessler dies at 97 | Star Tribune". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on 2017-05-04. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
11. "Eiserne Ideale bis zum Schluss: DDR-Verteidigungsminister Heinz Keßler ist tot - Nordkurier.de" [Iron Ideals to the End: GDR Defense Minister Heinz Keßler is Dead]. Nordkurier (in German). 4 May 2017.

1. Mielke was sentenced on 16 September 1993, but had been imprisoned in pre-trial detention from 24 January 1990 to April 1990 and from 26 July 1991 onward. In Germany, pre-trial detention counts towards the eventual time served.

1. Party Executive Committee until 1950