Robert Menzel

Robert Menzel (center) and Heinz Arnold (r.), Chairman of the Council of the Karl-Marx-Stadt District, visited injured people in the Schweinsburg-Culten train accident in the Werurance Hospital (October 1972).

Robert Menzel (born October 12, 1911 in Graefenort , Opole district , † November 27, 2000 ) was a German politician ( KPD / SED ), resistance fighter and youth functionary ( KJVD / FDJ ). He was Deputy Minister for Transport in the GDR and a member of the Central Committee of the SED .

Life

Return of an FDJ delegation from the Soviet Union at Schönefeld Airport (August 1947), from left to right: Herbert Geisler , Robert Menzel, Edith Baumann , Erich Honecker and Heinz Keßler .

Menzel, the son of a railroad worker, trained as an orthopedic mechanic and then worked in this profession. From 1921 he was a member of the workers' sports movement and joined the KJVD in 1928. There he was cashier, local group leader and sub-district leader in Opole. In 1932 he became a member of the KPD. From October 1932 he was political director of the Red Young Front, the youth defense organization of the RFB .

After the " seizure of power " by the National Socialists , he took part in the resistance . From April to June 1933 he was imprisoned in the Sonnenburg concentration camp . On July 1, 1933, he was arrested again and in June 1934 sentenced to twelve years in prison by the First Criminal Senate of the Wroclaw Higher Regional Court for “preparation for high treason ” . Menzel was imprisoned in the Groß-Strelitz and Brandenburg penitentiaries until 1944. In February 1945 he was pressed into a probation battalion of the Waffen SS. In April 1945 he deserted to the Red Army near Forst . 1945/1946 he was in Soviet captivity in Sagan . Between September 1945 and August 1946 he was first a course participant and then a teacher at the Antifa School of the 2nd Belarusian Front in Liegnitz .

After his return to Germany in August 1946, he joined the SED and worked as a functionary of the FDJ in Halle (Saale) and was chairman of the FDJ state leadership in Saxony-Anhalt from 1946 to 1950 and was a member of the state parliament there in 1947. From 1947 to 1955 he was a member of the central council of the FDJ. In 1950 he became chairman of the FDJ in Berlin.

From 1951 to 1953 Menzel studied at the party college "Karl Marx" . After completing his studies, he was deputy minister for transport from 1953 to 1982 and head of the political administration of the Deutsche Reichsbahn from 1953 to 1985 . From 1958 to 1971 Menzel was also a member of the Central Revision Commission and from 1971 to 1989 a member of the Central Committee of the SED.

Menzel was also a member of the federal board of the German Gymnastics and Sports Federation and was honorary chairman of the Lokomotiv sports association .

Menzel's older brother Friedrich was second secretary of the SED district leadership in Halle and chairman of the SED district party control commission there.

Awards

• Patriotic Order of Merit in silver (1956, 1965) and in gold (1969) as well as a bar of honor for the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold (1971)
• Medal for fighters against fascism 1933 to 1945 (1958)
• Labor Banner (1961)
• Kampforden "For services to people and fatherland" (1971, 1975 and 1981)
• Karl Marx Order (1976)
• Hero of Labor (1981)
• Friendship of Nations (1986)

literature

• Günther Buch: Names and dates of important people in the GDR. 4th, revised and expanded edition. Dietz, Berlin (West) / Bonn 1987, ISBN 3-8012-0121-X , p. 208.
• Gabriele Baumgartner, Dieter Hebig (Hrsg.): Biographisches Handbuch der SBZ / DDR. 1945–1990. Volume 2: Maassen - Zylla. KG Saur, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-598-11177-0 , p. 534.
• Andreas Herbst , Gerd-Rüdiger Stephan, Jürgen Winkler (eds.): The SED. History, organization, politics. A manual. Dietz, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-320-01951-1 , p. 1028.
• Andreas Herbst, Helmut Müller-Enbergs :  Menzel, Robert . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 2. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .

Web links

Commons : Robert Menzel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files