Walter Kassner
Walter Kassner (* 6. June 1894 in Prenzlau ; † 17th November 1970 in Berlin ) was SED -Politiker and mayor in Magdeburg .
Life
As the son of a working-class family , Kaßner first attended elementary school and from 1908 completed an apprenticeship as a locksmith and lathe operator . In 1911, Kaßner joined the German Metalworkers' Association and in 1912 the SPD . After being wounded as a soldier in 1915, he became a lathe operator at Friedrich Krupp AG Grusonwerk in Magdeburg .
Since April 1917 Kaßner belonged to the USPD and was elected to the Magdeburg Workers 'and Soldiers' Council in November 1918 . Kaßner got involved in the union and became deputy works council in the Gruson factory. In 1920 he joined the KPD . Until 1926 he headed the KPD local group in Magdeburg. From 1924 to 1933 he was chairman of the KPD council group in the Magdeburg city council and from 1926 to 1929 Gauleiter of the Magdeburg-Anhalt Red Front Fighters Association . Politically, Kassner was committed to a soviet republic of Germany . In 1929 Kaßner became a candidate for the Central Committee of the KPD. In 1931, when he was now secretary of the KPD Magdeburg-Anhalt, he became a member of the Prussian state parliament and the provincial parliament of the Prussian province of Saxony .
After the " seizure of power " by the National Socialists in January 1933, he took part in the illegal conference of the Central Committee of the KPD on February 7, 1933 in the sports store Ziegenhals near Berlin. In 1935 he was arrested and lifelong prison convicted.
In July 1945 he returned to Magdeburg and was mayor here from 1945 to 1950. From 1951 he worked as a department head in the Ministry of the Interior of the GDR and later in the office of the Prime Minister of the GDR. For six years he was secretary of the SED organization of the Council of Ministers. He received high honors, such as the Patriotic Order of Merit in silver on May 6, 1955, the Karl Marx Order (1969) and, on the occasion of his 70th birthday, the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold (1964).
Critical appreciations
His work in the GDR era is controversial. He is accused of being jointly responsible for Stalinist persecution measures. He and Hans Hauschulz are linked to reprisals and arrests. The mayoral colleague Rudolf Eberhard is said to have been brought before a party control commission (PKK). Eberhard and Erich Koß were arrested in 1950 and sentenced in 1952 to five years' imprisonment and deprivation of property for sabotage . Referring to the arrests, Kaßner wrote to the Politburo of the SED: "The 3rd party congress can only be properly prepared through such measures."
Honors
Until 2003 a street in Magdeburg ( Walter-Kaßner-Straße ) was named after him. Because of the allegations, it was renamed. A school named after him in Magdeburg- Lemsdorf had previously been renamed.
literature
- Manfred Wille: Kaßner, Walter. In: Guido Heinrich, Gunter Schandera (ed.): Magdeburg Biographical Lexicon 19th and 20th centuries. Biographical lexicon for the state capital Magdeburg and the districts of Bördekreis, Jerichower Land, Ohrekreis and Schönebeck. Scriptum, Magdeburg 2002, ISBN 3-933046-49-1 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ List of participants
- ↑ State Council awarded high honors , In: Neues Deutschland , June 17, 1964, p. 1
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kassner, Walter |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German politician (SED), mayor of Magdeburg |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 6, 1894 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Prenzlau |
| DATE OF DEATH | 17th November 1970 |
| Place of death | Berlin |