Erich Behnke

Erich Behnke (born August 10, 1893 in Berlin , † November 16, 1977 in Halle (Saale) ) was a German politician ( KPD / SED ). He was editor-in-chief of the SED newspaper Freiheit .

Life

After elementary school and a commercial apprenticeship , Behnke, the son of a locksmith , began to work as an employee in the Berlin Trade Union House in 1911. In 1910 he joined the trade union and in 1912 the socialist youth workers . From 1915 to 1919 Behnke fought in the First World War with the rank of ordinary soldier . In May 1920 he joined the KPD and in 1926 became a full-time functionary.

In 1926/27 Behnke was secretary of the KPD sub-district Bitterfeld . From 1924 to 1933 he was city ​​councilor for the KPD in Wittenberg and Halle (Saale). In 1927 Behnke became editor of the KPD newspaper Klassenkampf and after a year as a student at the International Lenin School in Moscow in 1930 its editor-in-chief. At the same time he was a member of the KPD district leadership Halle-Merseburg .

After the handover of power to the National Socialists , Behnke was imprisoned in April 1933, was in so-called protective custody in Lichtenburg concentration camp until February 1935 and was then released subject to certain conditions. Until 1937 he worked in civil engineering in Halle (Saale). He worked in various companies in Saxony-Anhalt until 1939 and was then arrested again. In 1939/40 he was in Buchenwald concentration camp . After his release, Behnke worked in the Jakob chemical factory in Ammendorf , where he maintained contacts with the Schumann-Kühn resistance group .

After the end of the war, Behnke became a city ​​councilor and head of the personnel office of the Halle (Saale) city administration and was temporarily Deputy Mayor of Halle (Saale). 1945/46 he was also a member of the KPD district leadership of Saxony-Anhalt. In 1946 he became a member of the SED when the SPD and KPD were forced to unite . In 1946/47 Behnke was head of the provincial municipal department of the provincial administration of Saxony-Anhalt and from 1947 to 1949 chief department head of the presidential chancellery in the state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt . From 1948 to 1950 he was head of the city ​​council in Halle (Saale) and from 1945 to 1950 member of the secretariat of the KPD district leadership in Halle, from 1946 of the SED state leadership of Saxony-Anhalt.

In 1949/50, Behnke was the successor to Peter Florin , editor-in-chief of the SED newspaper Freiheit , who later became the organ of the SED district leadership in Halle. From 1950 to 1952 he was the main department head of the state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt and in 1952/53 he was press officer in the information department in the council of the Halle district. From 1953 to 1959 he was a political employee of the SED district leadership in Halle. Behnke later was a lecturer at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg . Behnke died in Halle (Saale) in 1977.

Honors

• 1963 Patriotic Order of Merit in silver
• 1973 Patriotic Order of Merit in Gold

literature

• Andreas Herbst :  Erich Behnke . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 1. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .
• Hermann Weber , Andreas Herbst : German communists. Biographical Handbook 1918 to 1945 . 2nd, revised and greatly expanded edition. Dietz, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-320-02130-6 ( online ).
• Jürgen Wilke (Hrsg.): Journalists and journalism in the GDR . Böhlau Verlag, Cologne 2007, ISBN 978-3-412-36205-8 .