Georg Hansen (politician)

Georg Hansen (own Willi Leitner ; born March 9, 1903 in Cologne , † May 11, 1976 in Berlin ) was a German politician ( KPD / SED ) and editor . He was head of the General German Intelligence Service (ADN).

Life

Hansen, the son of a bookbinder and a fur seamstress, learned the trade of a metal worker. He worked in the wire and tube drawing brass works in Cologne until 1922. In November 1919 he joined the KPD. In 1921/22 he sympathized with the group around Paul Levi . In 1922/23 he worked as a drag shoe layer for the Reichsbahn . From April 1923 to 1924 he was a trainee in the KPD newspaper Sozialistische Republik in Cologne, from the beginning of 1924 editor of the Rhein-Ruhr-Pressedienst in Düsseldorf , then from May 1924 to 1925 editor of the Ruhr-Echos . At the beginning of 1925 because of Hansen because of his opposition to Ruth Fischer's line, he was temporarily excluded from the KPD. At the end of 1926/27, Hansen was a member of the Central Committee (ZK) of the KPD and edited illegal anti-militarist publications. In 1926 he was one of the four "working students" on the famous photo of the same name by August Sander .

In June 1927 he traveled to Great Britain on behalf of the GRU . He was arrested in November 1927 and sentenced in January 1928 to ten years in prison for " espionage ". He was imprisoned in Maidstone Convict Prison. Released early in August 1935, Hansen traveled to Moscow via Paris .

In 1935/36 he worked as a translator and editor, first in the apparatus of the Red Trade Union International , then from January 1936 on the Executive Committee of the Communist International . From September 1941 he was editor-in-chief of the German national broadcaster . In October 1941 he was evacuated to Ufa . In 1944 he was an employee of a working commission for the preparation of the post-war program of the KPD, as well as a member of the sub-commission for economic issues.

In 1945 Hansen returned to Germany. In June 1945 he became editor and in July / August 1945 he was editor-in-chief of the Sächsische Volkszeitung and then founder and editor-in-chief (until 1946) of the Sächsische Zeitung Dresden. In March 1946 he was a co-founder of ADN, which he headed until 1952. He then worked from December 1952 to 1955 as head of the press and radio department in the Central Committee of the SED. From June 1955 to March 1962 he was deputy editor-in-chief of Neues Deutschland and was a member of its editorial board from April 1955 until his retirement in October 1969.

Hansen was also a member of the Foreign Policy and Agitation Commission at the Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED .

Awards

• Patriotic Order of Merit in silver (May 6, 1955) and (1960) and in gold (1963)
• Labor Banner (1960)
• Karl Marx Order (1968)

literature

• Elisabeth M. Herrmann: The press in the Soviet zone of occupation in Germany . ( Bonn reports from Central and Eastern Germany , Volume 3). Federal Ministry for All-German Issues / Deutscher Bundesverlag, Bonn 1957, p. 106.
• Federal Ministry for All-German Issues (Ed.): SBZ biography . Deutscher Bundes-Verlag, Berlin 1964, p. 132.
• Walter Habel (Ed.): Who is who? The German who's who . Part II. Arani-Verlag, Berlin-Grunewald 1965, p. 90.
• Gabriele Baumgartner, Dieter Hebig (Hrsg.): Biographisches Handbuch der SBZ / DDR. 1945–1990 . Volume 1: Abendroth - Lyr . KG Saur, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-598-11176-2 , p. 279.
• Jan Foitzik, Nikita W. Petrow : The Soviet secret services in the SBZ / GDR from 1945 to 1953 ( texts and materials on contemporary history , volume 17). de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2009, ISBN 978-3-11-023014-7 , p. 47.
• Peter Erler:  Hansen, Georg . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 1. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Berliner Zeitung , April 9, 1963, p. 2
2. ^ High honors for deserving citizens , In: Neues Deutschland , April 19, 1968, p. 1