Paul Verner
Paul Verner | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party in Berlin | |||||||||||||
In office February 1959 – May 1971 | |||||||||||||
Second Secretary |
| ||||||||||||
Preceded by | Hans Kiefert | ||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Konrad Naumann | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Central Committee Secretariat responsibilities[1] | |||||||||||||
1980-1983 | State and Legal Affairs | ||||||||||||
1971-1984 | Financial Administration and Party Businesses | ||||||||||||
1971-1983 | Youth | ||||||||||||
1971-1978 | Woman | ||||||||||||
1958–1984 | Church Affairs | ||||||||||||
1971-1983; 1958-1967 | Sport | ||||||||||||
1958–1967 | Health Policy | ||||||||||||
1950–1953 | All-German Affairs | ||||||||||||
Personal details | |||||||||||||
Born | Chemnitz, Kingdom of Saxony, German Empire (now Germany) | 26 April 1911||||||||||||
Died | 12 December 1986 East Berlin, East Germany | (aged 75)||||||||||||
Political party | Socialist Unity Party (1946–1986) | ||||||||||||
Other political affiliations | Communist Party of Germany (1929–1946) | ||||||||||||
Occupation |
| ||||||||||||
Awards | |||||||||||||
Central institution membership
Other offices held
| |||||||||||||
Paul Verner (26 April 1911 – 12 December 1986) was a German
Early life
Verner was born in Chemnitz in 1911. His father was a metal worker while his mother worked as a textile worker. Verner trained as metal worker like his father. At an early age, Verner joined the communist children's organization Jungspartakusbund (Young Spartacus League).[2][3]
Political activism
In 1925 he joined the Young Communist League of Germany (KJVD). In 1929 he became a member of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). He worked as a volunteer in the communist publishing house Kämpfer-Verlag in Chemnitz. He became a member of the regional leadership of KJVD in Saxony. In 1932 he became editor of Junge Garde ('Young Guard').[2]
In exile
With the
Verner fought as a volunteer in the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War.[3] After the Spanish Civil War, he emigrated to Sweden.[3] He was detained by Swedish authorities in Smedsbo, Värmland, between March 1940 and 1942. After being released from Smedsbo he began working as a metal worker in Sweden from August 1943.[2]
Political career in the GDR
After the end of the
In 1958 Verner became a candidate member of the
Verner became a full Politburo member in 1963.[4] For most of the 1970s and early 1980s, he was the second-ranking member of the SED hierarchy, and de facto the second most powerful man in the country after party leader Erich Honecker.
He died in Berlin on 12 December 1986.[2]
References
- ^ "Büro Paul Verner im ZK der SED" (in German). Retrieved 19 November 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g Michael F. Scholz. "Verner, Paul * 26.4.1911, † 12.12.1986 Mitglied des Politbüros des ZK der SED, 1. Sekretär der Bezirksleitung Berlin der SED". Wer war wer in der DDR?. Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin & Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur, Berlin. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
- ^ a b c d e The Sed Leadership after the Sixth Party Congress (III) Archived 2011-07-17 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ The Sed Leadership After the Sixth Party Congress[permanent dead link]
External links
- Media related to Paul Verner at Wikimedia Commons