Walter Franze

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Walter Franze (born November 12, 1903 in Berlin , † January 18, 1971 in East Berlin ) was a German journalist . From 1946 to 1949 he was editor-in-chief of the Märkische Volksstimme and from 1946 to 1950 a member of the Brandenburg state parliament .

Life

Franze, son of a worker, attended elementary school and was trained as a plumber and plumber. As a young metal worker, he became a member of the German Metalworkers 'Association (DMV) and the Socialist Workers' Youth (SAJ) in 1921 . In 1924 he joined the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). As a member of the works council and the strike management of the Berlin pipelayers, he was reprimanded in 1929 and expelled from the DMV. From 1931 to 1933 he was an employee of the RGO Reichsleitung and editor of the RGO newspaper "Der Pionier". From February 1933 he did illegal resistance work. He organized company cells and distributed anti-fascist literature. From 1936 to 1944 he was the owner of a craft business. In 1945 he fled from being drafted into the Volkssturm and was involved in the formation of an armed illegal resistance group made up of Russian and French prisoners of war and forced labor. On April 20, 1945 he joined the Red Army .

In May / June 1945 he was appointed mayor of Mahlsdorf (Krs. Luckenwalde) by the Soviet occupying forces. He became a member of the KPD again and was editor-in-chief of the KPD newspaper "Volkswille" in Brandenburg from August 1945. From 1946 a member of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), he led the development of the SED newspaper “Märkische Volksstimme” in Potsdam and was its first editor-in-chief from 1946 to 1949 together with Ernst Berends . At the same time he was from November 1946 a member of the Brandenburg state parliament and from December 1946 chairman of the VDP -Landesverband Brandenburg. From May 1949 to April 1956 he was a member of the editorial board and at times also deputy editor-in-chief of the central organ of the Central Committee of the SED " New Germany " in East Berlin. From May 1950 he was next to Max Keilson 2nd chairman of the regional association Greater Berlin of the VDP, later chairman of the VDP district association Berlin. From 1956 to 1962 he was director of the publishing house “Die Wirtschaft” (successor to Heinz Friedrich ).

Awards

literature

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Journalists' Conference . In: Berliner Zeitung , May 16, 1950, p. 2.
personal data
SURNAME Franze, Walter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German journalist and editor-in-chief
DATE OF BIRTH November 12, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH 18th January 1971
Place of death Berlin