Johann Waldbach

Johann Waldbach (born February 29, 1920 in Reinschdorf , Cosel district (Upper Silesia) , † June 17, 1953 in Magdeburg ) was an employee of the GDR Ministry for State Security . He was killed in the popular uprising on June 17, 1953 .

Life

Waldbach first attended primary school and then completed an apprenticeship in a commercial profession.

In 1939 he was drafted into the Wehrmacht . During the Second World War he was taken prisoner by the Soviets in 1944 . During that time he turned to Marxism-Leninism . He was released from captivity on November 17, 1949. He became a member of the SED and entered the service of the Ministry for State Security of the GDR (MfS). From August 1952 he worked as a guard shift supervisor in the guard and security service of the Magdeburg district administration of the MfS. Waldbach was married and had a son and a daughter who were only born after his death.

June 17, 1953

On June 17, 1953, a popular uprising against the SED-led government broke out in the GDR. At that time, Waldbach was employed as a sergeant major in the Sudenburg prison . In front of the detention center, some demonstrators tried to free political prisoners from the detention center. The watchtowers were stormed and the guards disarmed. Demonstrators, people's police and MfS employees exchanged fire on the premises of the detention center. Waldbach was killed by a shot in the head. The shooter remained unknown.

The district authority of the German People's Police (BDVP) reported in a telex on June 18, 1953:

“The demonstrators also tried to break into the detention center at a smaller gate about 40 meters away from the main gate. Here one of the provocateurs shot a member of the MfS behind it with a carbine through a gap in the gate that had been created by the use of force. "

In a report by the People's Police it is stated:

"The comrade from the MfS looked (through) the spy on the door, whereupon the provocateurs gave the comrade a well-aimed shot with a head shot."

In the BDVP report of June 24, 1953 it was described:

"Sergeant Hans Waldbach from the MfS (...) tried to prevent the intrusion with warning shots. At the moment when he was about to shoot through a narrow crack in the door, he was shot in the head by a provocateur with a carbine shot. "

With effect from June 1, 1953, Waldbach was posthumously promoted to sub- lieutenant.

Honors

At the request of the State Security, the city council of Magdeburg decided on June 23, 1954 to rename Schäfferstrasse to Hans-Waldbach-Strasse . The name was changed on July 1, 1954, the day of the People's Police. At the same time, the people's police officers Georg Gaidzik and Gerhard Händler , who were also killed on June 17, 1953, were honored in the same way. After the end of the GDR, the street was renamed Schäfferstraße.

The State Security had set up a Hans Waldbach memorial corner in the pre- trial detention center on Moritzplatz in Magdeburg from 1983 . There was an internal competition for the best collective. Every six months, a Hans Waldbach hiking pennant was awarded for “very good performance in security and control services”.

Web links

• Description of the events