Kurt Opitz (politician)

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Kurt Opitz (born January 30, 1918 in Halle (Saale) , † May 23, 2008 in Leipzig ) was a German politician ( SED ). He was Minister of the State Government of Saxony-Anhalt and Deputy Chairman of the State Planning Commission of the GDR .

Life

Opitz, son of a warehouse worker, attended elementary and middle school with a certificate of secondary school leaving certificate. He completed a commercial apprenticeship at the machine factory Heime & Hans Herzfeld in Halle-Büschdorf from 1934 to 1937 with an assistant test at the Halle Chamber of Commerce and Industry. From 1934 to 1943 he was a member of the DAF and the NSV . He was also a member of the Hitler Youth from 1934 to 1937 . In 1937 he was transferred to the SA , but expelled after three months.

Opitz was drafted into the Wehrmacht on May 1, 1943 , received training in a communications regiment in Wetzlar and was then employed as a telephone and teletype operator in Corps Communications Department 48. As a corporal , he was taken prisoner by the Soviets on May 12, 1945 , where he received political training. From December 1945 he worked in the anti-fascist activist group, and in 1946 became the active elder of the 193/3 camp and a member of the central activist of the camp group. In October 1947 he came to the central school as a course student in the special object 2040, of which he was an assistant until February 1949. Then he was a member of the group of lecturers of the anti-fascist department at the Interior Ministry of the LSSR and propagandist of the 9 LR camp until he was released .

On November 24, 1949, he returned to Halle, became a candidate for the SED, a member of the FDGB , the DSF and the Kulturbund . He initially worked as a speaker and circle leader. As a production manager in the Halle pump works he had "worked activists plan against all loss of production and reduce the cost in close cooperation with the entire staff of the company" with the foreman Paul Wolf in August 1950 one, for both in October 1950 the National Prize of East Germany I Class received.

From November 24, 1950 to July 31, 1952, he acted as Minister for Industry, Transport, Construction and Labor for Saxony-Anhalt. On August 1, 1952, he was appointed deputy chairman of the State Planning Commission (SPK). He was then also the deputy of the representative of the GDR in the Comecon , Bruno Leuschner , as well as head of the international economic relations department in the SPK. He was part of the GDR government delegation that negotiated in December 1960 in East Berlin with the Cuban business delegation under Che Guevara about expanding economic relations. Later he was employed as plant director at VEB pumps and blowers in Leipzig. As such, he was awarded the Bronze Patriotic Order of Merit in 1978 .

Opitz died at the age of 90 and was buried in the south cemetery in Leipzig .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Opitz's curriculum vitae from December 15, 1950 - Bundesarchiv DC 20-I / 3/129.
  2. ↑ Activist plan lowers cost . In: Berliner Zeitung , September 8, 1950, p. 5.
  3. ↑ The National Prize Winners of 1950 . In: Neues Deutschland , October 9, 1950, p. 3.
  4. ^ Cuban delegation in Berlin . In: Neues Deutschland, December 13, 1960, p. 1.
  5. ↑ High state awards given . In: Neues Deutschland, April 28, 1978, p. 5.
  6. ^ Obituary notice in the Leipziger Volkszeitung on June 7, 2008.


personal data
SURNAME Opitz, Kurt
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German politician (SED)
DATE OF BIRTH January 30, 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH Halle (Saale)
DATE OF DEATH May 23, 2008
Place of death Leipzig