Götz Berger

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Götz Berger (born January 26, 1905 in Berlin ; † March 6, 1996 in Frankfurt (Oder) ) was a German lawyer. As a communist activist, he initially took on high-ranking posts in the GDR , but then came into conflict with the SED dictatorship as a critic of the judiciary, especially as a defender of Robert Havemann .

Life

Berger studied law in Berlin and Freiburg i. Br. And was promoted to Dr. jur. PhD. In 1923 he joined a communist student group, in 1925 the KJVD and in 1927 the KPD . In 1931 he became a partner in Hilde Benjamin's law firm in the Wedding district . His communist activity, especially his commitment to the Red Aid , led to his exclusion from the legal profession in 1933. On the part of the International Brigades he was active as an interpreter in the Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939 . He was captured and interned in Argelès-sur-Mer , Camp de Gurs and Le Vernet .

Later Berger was brought to French North Africa (now Algeria) with a group of about 30 men . Here he was liberated by British troops. In April 1943 he joined the Royal Pioneer Corps . When the British gave the interbrigadists the opportunity to emigrate to a country of their choice at the end of 1943, Berger applied to emigrate to the Soviet Union . Berger and 27 other Spanish fighters arrived in Krasnovodsk on December 29, 1943 after an adventurous voyage by ship . After interrogation by the NKVD , he was assigned a factory job in Turkmenia . After the end of the war, Berger wrote to the leadership of the National Committee Free Germany in Moscow, namely to Erich Weinert and Wilhelm Pieck , and asked to make it possible for him to return home. Months later he received a permit for a trip to Moscow; there he finally received the necessary papers for the trip to Berlin.

From 1946 to 1950 he was an employee and then department head for judicial issues in the central committee of the SED . He became a lecturer at the German Administration Academy in Forst Zinna . For a short time he was secretary of the Association of Democratic Lawyers . From 1951 to 1957 he was chief judge in Berlin. In 1959 he was active in Ulbricht's secretariat at the Central Committee of the SED. Kurt Müller accused Berger of luring him to the GDR on behalf of Erich Mielke in 1950 , where he (Müller) was arrested and sentenced to 25 years in prison in 1953.

From 1958 Berger worked as a lawyer in Berlin. He was Robert Havemann's defender and, in 1968, his sons. When Berger appealed against Havemann's condemnation to house arrest and protested against Wolf Biermann's expatriation in a letter that he personally delivered to his party, the SED , on December 1, 1976, by order of the Minister for Justice of the GDR and under decisive involvement of the Deputy Minister, State Secretary Herbert Kern, revoked his license to practice as a lawyer. In addition, party proceedings were initiated against Berger and he was reprimanded, which was accompanied by a ban on publication. The defense of Havemann was later taken over by Gregor Gysi . After the fall of the Wall and the peaceful revolution , Berger was rehabilitated and witnessed the proceedings against the judges and public prosecutors who had persecuted Havemann. Berger died in the courthouse at the age of 91 after testifying as a witness. The process ended with acquittals for the lawyers, which the Federal Court of Justice overturned on December 10, 1998 (5 StR 322/98).

Others

In 1965 he received the Patriotic Order of Merit in bronze and in 1975 in silver.

Works

  • With the left eye. Satires from the everyday life of "real socialism". kd self-published by non-professional authors, Berlin 1991

literature

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ^ Karin Flothmann: Havemann's lawyer. In: the daily newspaper , March 9, 1996, p. 12.
  2. ↑ Admission stealth: Your criminal treatment with special consideration of the draft criminal law 1927
  3. ^ Marianne Brentzel: The power woman. Hilde Benjamin 1902–1989. 1997, p. 43.
  4. ↑ a b c Bernd-Rainer Barth, Helmut Müller-Enbergs:  Berger, Götz . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 1. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .
  5. ↑ a b Konrad Weiß: Dreams of tomorrow. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , No. 107, of May 10, 1997, p. B4 ( Berlin pages ).
  6. ↑ for background information see Peter Leighton-Langer: X stands for unknown. Germans and Austrians in the British armed forces during World War II . Berlin Verlag (1999), ISBN 978-3870618650 .
  7. ↑ Marcus Mollnau: Götz Berger - a contentious lawyer . In: Neue Justiz 2/2005, p. 55.
  8. ↑ NZ conversation with Dr. jur. Götz Berger in "Neue Zeit" on December 13, 1989
  9. ↑ Neue Zeit of December 13, 1989, p. 3
  10. ^ Marianne Brentzel: The power woman. Hilde Benjamin 1902–1989. 1997, pp. 341-342.
  11. ↑ Mechthild Küpper: Havemann's lawyers know what perversion of the law means . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung No. 123 of May 27, 2000, p. 3
  12. ↑ Neue Zeit of December 13, 1989, p. 6 (continuation of the NZ conversation)
  13. ^ Mechthild Küpper: Flowers for the accused. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of February 15, 2000, p. BS1 ( Berlin pages ).
  14. ↑ Der Spiegel 41/1997 / Wolf Biermann : acquittal as guilty verdict
  15. ^ New Germany , March 25, 1965, p. 2.
  16. ↑ Berliner Zeitung , May 1, 1975, p. 4
personal data
SURNAME Berger, Götz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German legal advisor in the Central Committee of the SED
DATE OF BIRTH January 26, 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH March 6, 1996
Place of death Frankfurt (Oder)