Karl-Heinz Schmalfuß

Karl-Heinz Schmalfuß (born June 17, 1929 in Rützengrün ) is a former German police officer. He was Deputy Minister of the Interior of the GDR .

Life

The youngest son of a carpenter started working as a new teacher of Latin and Russian at the Falkenstein Oberschule after graduating from high school in 1948 . He joined the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in 1950 . From 1952 to 1955 he was a school inspector in the Dresden-Land district . On June 1, 1955, he became a member of the German People's Police (DVP). He received the rank of non-commissioned officer and was called up to serve with the internal troops, which at that time were subordinate to the State Secretariat for State Security. After two months of training as a platoon leader at the KVP infantry school in Erfurt, Major General Ottomar Pech made him a lieutenant . He became deputy company commander in the Dresden Security Regiment of the Inner Troops. Schmalfuß attended the KVP / NVA interpreting school in 1955/56 and came to the headquarters in East Berlin as an interpreter in October 1956 . From 1956 to 1960 he studied at the Dzierzynski Military Institute in Moscow, the Military Academy of the Internal Forces, which was subordinate to the Committee for State Security of the USSR (KGB). He then worked from 1960 to 1964 as a sub-department head in the staff of the MdI.

From January 1, 1965 to the end of 1975, he served as the head of the Office of the Minister of the Interior. When changing to this position, he was promoted early to lieutenant colonel in the VP and later also early to colonel in the VP. During this time he worked closely with Interior Minister Friedrich Dickel and was appointed major general on June 26, 1975 by the chairman of the National Defense Council of the GDR , Erich Honecker . After his departure, his previous function was divided into two departments, the office and the secretariat of the minister. From January 1976 to 1979 he was deputy head of the main inspection in the MdI and from 1980 to 1984 head of the central control group and head of the main inspection. Schmalfuß rose to the position of Deputy Minister of the Interior for readiness / combat groups in 1984 and was promoted to Lieutenant General on June 30, 1986 .

During the reunification in the GDR at the end of 1989 he was also given responsibility for the civilian areas of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. After the change of government, he was relieved of his position as Deputy Minister with effect from April 18, 1990, but remained - from May 1, 1990 in the rank of Inspector General - as head of the Central Department until October 2, 1990 in the Ministry under Peter-Michael Thistle . After the end of his service, he worked on a fee basis until the end of 1990 as a consultant to the management of the branch office of the Federal Ministry of the Interior .

Awards

• 1972 Honorary title Honored People's Police of the German Democratic Republic
• 1969 Patriotic Order of Merit in bronze, 1979 in silver, 1989 in gold
• 1984 Order Banner of Labor Level I

Publications

• Interior views. 30 years service in the Ministry of the Interior of the GDR. A general speaks up. Helios-Verlag, Aachen 2009, ISBN 978-3-938208-99-1 .
• My ways to Moscow. Memories and reflections of a GDR general. Helios-Verlag, Aachen 2011, ISBN 978-3-86933-053-2 .

literature

• Torsten Diedrich, Hans Ehlert, Rüdiger Wenzke : In the service of the party - manual of the armed organs of the GDR. Links Verlag, 1998, ISBN 3-86153-160-7 , p. 708.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Young world . May 22, 1990, p. 2.