Günter Kaekow

Günter Kaekow (born November 2, 1924 in Luckenwalde ) is a German former officer in the National People's Army of the German Democratic Republic . Most recently he held the rank of major general .

Military career

As the son of a carpenter, Kaekow completed an apprenticeship as a toolmaker from 1939 to 1942 after attending school for eight years . He was then called up for the Wehrmacht , where he was a private in a tank division on the Eastern Front . With this he got into Soviet captivity in 1944, from which he was released again in 1948.

After his return to the Soviet Occupation Zone (SBZ) of Germany, Kaekow joined the German People's Police on October 5, 1948 , where he was initially employed as a courser in the People's Police standby in Potsdam . In 1949 he joined the SED . From 1949 to 1951 he was a clerk and sub-department manager for shoes and leather goods. He later became an officer for shoes and leather goods in the head office of training. Subsequently, Kaekow was from 1951 to 1953 a senior officer in the motorization administration of the barracked people's police , where he was promoted to deputy commander for technology and equipment in the medium tank command in Oranienburg in 1953 . He held this position until 1954. He then attended the tank technology school in Erfurt until 1955 .

After graduation, he became deputy commander for technology and equipment in the 1st motorized rifle division from 1955 to 1960 . In 1960 he rose to the position of Deputy Head of Motor Vehicles in the Ministry of National Defense , which he remained until 1964. He then became head of the motor vehicle division, where Kaekow was appointed major general on March 1, 1976 . From 1981 until his retirement on November 30, 1984, he held the position of Head of the Motor Service Administration in the Ministry of National Defense. Subsequently, in May 1985, he was co-opted as a candidate for the central board of the Society for Sport and Technology and appointed chairman of the motor sport commission of the GST central board.

In May 2015 he was one of the signatories of the appeal “Soldiers for Peace”, in which u. a. Cooperation instead of confrontation with Russia was called for.

Awards

• 1981 gold medal for “For Services to People and Fatherland”
• 1984 Artur Becker Gold Medal
• 1984 Patriotic Order of Merit in silver

literature

• Klaus Froh, Rüdiger Wenzke : The generals and admirals of the NVA. A biographical manual. Christoph-Links Verlag, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-86153-209-3 , p. 119

Individual evidence

1. ↑ S + T magazine (Sport und Technik) No. 6/1985
2. ^ Call for "Soldiers for Peace" in the Association for the Maintenance of the Traditions of the National People's Army and the Border Troops of the GDR e. V. (accessed April 27, 2016).