Günther Kratsch
Günther Kratsch (born October 21, 1930 in Monstab ; † May 9, 2006 ) was a full-time employee of the Ministry for State Security (MfS) of the GDR . He was head of Department II ( counter-espionage ).
Life
Kratsch was born the son of an employee. He attended elementary school from 1937 to 1945 and then began an apprenticeship as a salesman . After working at Konsum Meuselwitz from 1948 to 1950 , he joined the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in 1950 . In 1951 he was employed by the district office of the MfS in Altenburg and in 1952 he was transferred to the headquarters of the MfS in Berlin . There he worked in Department II (converted into Main Department II in 1953), which was responsible for “Western work”. In 1958 Kratsch became head of department in HA II / 1 ( American services ).
In 1960 Kratsch became department head of Department 2 of Main Department II. In addition, he studied from 1960 at the University of the Ministry for State Security and completed the distance learning course in 1965 as a qualified lawyer . Kratsch, who was promoted to colonel , took up the position of deputy head of Department II in 1974. On February 15, 1976, he himself became Head of Department II as successor to Werner Grünert .
On May 11, 1977 , Kratsch did his doctorate at the college of the Ministry for State Security together with four other officers . The topic of the collective dissertation was: “The political-operational tasks for the protection of diplomatic missions and privileged persons of other states in the GDR resulting from the foreign policy strategy and tactics of the socialist community of states. Basic questions and solutions for the clarification and processing of subversive acts of abuse by privileged persons from non-socialist and politically-operationally interested states ”.
In December 1978 and January 1979 he was entrusted with the unmasking of Werner Stiller . In the 1980s, Kratsch was technically responsible and responsible for all counter-espionage issues in the MfS as a result of the leadership of Main Department II, which was determined by the order of the Minister for State Security, Erich Mielke . In 1985 he was promoted to lieutenant general. He was released from his management position on December 6, 1989 and released from active service on January 31, 1990. His previous deputy , Major General Wolfgang Lohse, headed the main department until the MfS / AfNS was dissolved .
A year had Kratsch in 1992/93 for example in custody .
literature
- Jens Gieseke : Kratsch, Günther . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 1. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .
- Roger Engelmann , Bernd Florath , Helge Heidemeyer , Daniela Münkel , Arno Polzin, Walter Süß : The MfS Lexicon. 3rd updated edition, Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-86153-900-1 , p. 211, online version .
Web links
- MfS lexicon: Günther Kratsch
- Günther Kratsch on GDR knowledge
- “Those were zeros” , Focus , June 4, 2007
- Died: Günther Kratsch , Der Spiegel , May 22, 2006
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Hanna Labrenz-Weiß: The main department II: Counter- espionage (= anatomy of the state security: history, structure and methods (MfS manual) . Volume III / 7 ). Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Records , Berlin 1998, ISBN 978-3-942130-05-9 , p. 52 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kratsch, Günther |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German Lieutenant General of the Ministry for State Security of the GDR, chief of counter-espionage |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 21, 1930 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Monstab |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 9, 2006 |