Otto Leopold

Otto Leopold (born February 23, 1901 in Ihringshausen near Kassel , † September 5, 1975 in Halle (Saale) ) was a German politician ( KPD / SED ). He was chairman of the council of the Halle (Saale) district .

Life

Leopold, son of a working-class family, attended elementary school and the higher trade school. He learned in Leipzig the profession of Turner and later then worked in a job, as a clerk , retailers and representatives in Leipzig and Berlin . He became a member of the Workers' Gymnastics and Sports Association . From 1919 to 1922 he was a member of the KPD and rejoined it in 1928.

After the " seizure of power " by the National Socialists in 1933, Leopold took part in the communist resistance . Between August 1933 and June 1935 he was initially in “ protective custody ” in Leipzig and in Waldheim prison and was then sentenced to 18 months in prison for “preparing for high treason ”. After his release he was placed under police supervision and worked from 1935 to 1938 as a construction and forest worker , and from 1938 to 1941 as a lathe operator in Leipzig. In 1941 he was called up for military service in the Wehrmacht . In April 1945 he deserted and returned to Leipzig.

In 1945 he became a member of the KPD again, in 1946 a member of the SED. From 1945 to 1949 he was the administrative director for trade and supply of the Leipzig city administration and 1949/50 chief executive of the consumer cooperative in Leipzig. From 1950 to 1952 he was Deputy Mayor of the City of Leipzig. From 1952 to 1958 he belonged to the barracked people's police or the NVA - most recently in the rank of colonel . From September 1956, Leopold was in command of the Aviation Officers School in Kamenz . From 1958 to 1966 he was first chairman of the council of the Halle district, at the same time also a member of the SED district leadership in Halle and a member of the district assembly . He was then honorary chairman of the commission for research into the local labor movement in the Halle district.

Awards

• Patriotic Order of Merit in Silver (1959)
• Labor Banner (1961)
• Patriotic Order of Merit in Gold (1966)
• Gold medal for the Patriotic Order of Merit (1971)

literature

• 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 , p. 474.
• Andreas Herbst :  Leopold, Otto . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 1. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .