Karel Hoffmann (politician)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Karel Hoffmann (born June 15, 1924 in Stod , Okres Plzeň-jih ; † February 21, 2013 ) was a Czechoslovak politician of the Communist Party KSČ ( Komunistická strana Československa ) and a trade union functionary who, among other things, was Minister for Culture and between 1967 and 1968 Information, from 1969 to 1971 Minister of Post and Telecommunications and from 1971 to 1987 Chairman of the Central Council of Trade Unions.

Life

Hoffmann was from 1949 to 1959 employee of the Central Committee (ZK) of the Communist Party KSČ ( Komunistická strana Československa ) and then between 1959 and 1967 director of the Czechoslovak Radio ( Československý rozhlas ) . On the XIII. At the KSČ party congress (May 31 - June 4, 1966) he became a member of the KSČ Central Committee for the first time and was a member of this body until November 24, 1989. In December 1966 he visited the Federal Republic of Germany and met with the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation Hans-Jürgen Wischnewski to discuss questions of cooperation.

On January 20, 1967, he took over the office of Minister for Culture and Information (Ministr pro kultury a informací) and Chairman of the Committee for Culture and Information in the government of Prime Minister Jozef Lenárt and held this office until April 8, 1968. Subsequently between May and September 1968 he was head of the central administration for communications and between January and September 1969 deputy chairman of the federal administration for material reserves. Together with 39 other leading personalities, Hoffmann is said to have signed the so-called " letter of invitation ", in which they requested the invasion of the Warsaw Pact troops to suppress the Prague Spring on August 21, 1968. At that time, Hoffmann belonged to a group of 49 anti-reform orthodox and conservatives within the Central Committee, including, in particular, Central Committee Secretary Alois Indra , the former Prime Minister Jozef Lenárt, the former Foreign Minister Václav David , the former Deputy Prime Minister Otakar Šimůnek , Central Committee Secretary Vasiľ Biľak , the former Central Committee Secretary for Economy Drahomír Kolder and the former Deputy Prime Minister Jan Piller belonged.

On September 29, 1969, Hoffmann was in the third government of Prime Minister Oldřich Černík Minister of Post and Telecommunications (Ministr pro pošty a telekomunikace) and chairman of the Post and Telecommunications Committee. He also held these offices in the first government of Prime Minister Lubomír Štrougal until January 1, 1971. He then became Minister of Communications on January 1, 1971 and held this office until he was replaced by Vlastimil Chalupa on May 24, 1971. At the XIV Party Congress of the KSČ (May 25-29, 1971) he also became a member of the Presidium of the Central Committee and was also a member of this top management body of the KSČ until November 24, 1989. On November 27, 1971, he also became a member of the Federation Assembly (Federální shromáždění) and was a member of the Parliament of Czechoslovakia until January 16, 1990. At the same time, between 1971 and 1990, he was also a member of the Presidium of the Federation Assembly and a member of the Presidium of the National Front (Národní fronta Čechů a Slováků) , which was responsible for nominating parliamentary candidates.

On March 10, 1971, Hoffmann replaced Jan Piller as chairman of the Central Council of Trade Unions (Ústřední rady odborů) of the Revolutionary Trade Union Movement ROH (Revoluční odborové hnutí) and was appointed in this position in June 1972 (8th Trade Union Congress), May 1977 (IX ) and April 1982 (Xth Trade Union Congress) each confirmed. At the opening of the 8th trade union congress in Prague in June 1972, Hoffmann, in the presence of the chairman of the umbrella organization of the Soviet trade unions, Alexander Nikolayevich Schelepin , recommended that all documents of the 7th trade union congress of March 1969 be destroyed. Reason: The decisions of the last time - according to the proclamation of the right to strike - remained “recorded in the history of the trade union movement as a dangerous defeat during the time of the Prague Spring”. On the XI. Union Congress in April 1987, he was replaced by Miroslav Zavadil . Shortly before, on March 19, 1987, he became secretary of the KSČ Central Committee and held this position until November 24, 1989. In February 1990, he was expelled from the KSČ.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ FOREIGN POLICY: Put the lights on . In: Der Spiegel of December 26, 1966
  2. ↑ "WE HAVE INVITED THE RUSSIANS" . In: Der Spiegel from January 4, 1971
  3. ↑ CZECHOSLOVAKIA / CLEANING: Black Hundred . In: Der Spiegel from September 30, 1969
  4. ↑ PROFESSIONAL . In: Der Spiegel from March 15, 1971
  5. ↑ Talking in the shredder . In: Der Spiegel from June 19, 1972
personal data
SURNAME Hoffmann, Karel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Czechoslovak minister and trade union official
DATE OF BIRTH June 15, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Stod , Okres Plzeň-jih
DATE OF DEATH February 21, 2013