Horst Brasch

Horst Brasch (* 23. December 1922 in Berlin , † 18th August 1989 East Berlin ) was SED - party official and Deputy Minister of Culture of the GDR . Brasch was of Jewish origin and a converted Catholic. He was married to Gerda Brasch (1921–1975), father of the writers Thomas Brasch (1945–2001) and Peter Brasch (1955–2001), the actor Klaus Brasch (1950–1980) and the journalist and radio presenter Marion Brasch ( * 1961).

Life

The son of a Jewish textile manufacturer couple and stepson of the writer and biologist Curt Thesing attended the Benedictine high school in Ettal from 1936 to 1939 . In 1939, because of the persecution of people of Jewish origin by the Nazis, he emigrated with a Kindertransport to Great Britain , where, after being temporarily interned in Canada as an enemy alien in the 1940s, he was involved in building up the FDJ there and was its chairman from 1942 (as successor to Adolf Buchholz ). From 1945 he was a member of the World Youth Council founded in London in 1942 (as successor to Werner Fischer ) and then an observer of the FDJ at the 1st World Youth Conference of the World Federation of Democratic Youth in London. He also represented the German youth who had received an observer post in the World Federation.

In 1944 he became a member of the KPD . In 1946 Horst Brasch moved to the Soviet zone of occupation , and his family followed him a year later. From 1946 to 1950 he was a member of the Central Council of the FDJ, secretary of the Central Council in 1946/47 and 1949/50, from 1947 a member of the editorial board of the magazine Junge Generation and from August 1947 to February 1948, as successor to Adolf Buchholz, editor-in-chief of Junge Welt . From March 1948 he was chairman of the FDJ in the state of Brandenburg, in 1948/49 Brasch was a member of the German People's Council . From 1950 to 1952 he was minister of education in the state of Brandenburg , then secretary of the council of the Cottbus district until 1957 , most recently acting chairman of this council from 1956. From September 1957 to May 1959 he was chairman of the district council of the Neubrandenburg district .

From 1959 Brasch was chairman of the office of the President of the National Council of the National Front , from 1963 until his death he was a member of the People's Chamber and member of the Central Committee of the SED , and from 1966 to 1969, finally, Deputy Minister for Culture.

The political activities of his son Thomas Brasch , who was imprisoned after protests against the crackdown on the Prague Spring in 1968, brought Horst Brasch's nomenklatura career to an end . He was sent to the party college of the CPSU in Moscow for further training and then (1971–1975) was appointed second secretary of the SED district leadership in Karl-Marx-Stadt (today Chemnitz). In 1975 he was relieved of his position due to a dispute with a member of the Politburo and was entrusted with the position of General Secretary of the League for Friendship of Nations .

Horst Brasch died on August 18, 1989 to cancer . His urn was in the grave conditioning Pergolenweg the memorial of the socialists at the Berlin Central Cemetery Friedrichsfelde buried.

Awards

• 1962 Patriotic Order of Merit in silver
• 1973 Patriotic Order of Merit in Gold
• 1982 Karl Marx Order
• 1987 Patriotic Order of Merit honor bar

Publications

• Ed., Young MPs give their opinion. Some contributions to the discussion at the 2nd Parliament , Berlin 1947
• Meeting point Budapest , Berlin 1949
• Around Big Ben , Berlin 1960
• How must the party organizations support the work of the National Front? , Berlin 1961
• Shaping the image of man in socialist society, the task of the century for our culture , Berlin 1968
• Lifespan. Remembering Curt Thesing , a German patriot and humanist , Berlin 1987

literature

• Helmut Müller-Enbergs :  Horst Brasch . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 1. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .
• 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 .
• Thomas Brasch: Love makes death. Pieces and materials . Frankfurt (Main) 2002.
• The bare being. Workbook Thomas Brasch. Ed. V. Martina Hanf & Kristin Schulz . Berlin 2004.
• Marion Brasch : From now on it's quiet. My fabulous family's novel. S. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2012, ISBN 978-3-10-004420-4 .

Movie

• Annekatrin Hendel : Brasch family , documentary, 2018

Web links

• Literature by and about Horst Brasch in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Alfred Fleischhacker (ed.): That was our life, memories and documents on the history of the FDJ in Great Britain 1939-1946. Verlag Neues Leben, Berlin 1996. p. 192 ISBN 3-355-01475-3
2. ^ New Germany of November 13, 1956 and March 27, 1957
3. ^ New Germany of September 22, 1959