Werner Grossman

Werner Großmann (born March 9, 1929 in Oberebenheit , Amtshauptmannschaft Pirna , Sachsen ; † January 28, 2022 ) was a German secret service agent . From 1986 to 1990 he was deputy minister for state security in the GDR and head of the Main Administration for Reconnaissance (HV A), the GDR 's foreign intelligence service.

Life

The Großmann, who came from a family of craftsmen, was drafted into the Volkssturm as a youth towards the end of the Second World War . After an apprenticeship as a bricklayer, graduating from a preparatory college and studying for a few semesters at the TH Dresden , where he was FDJ secretary, Großmann came to the school of the Institute for Economic Research (IWF) in 1952, the forerunner of the Main Administration for Enlightenment in the MfS (HVA). After a career in the Enlightenment , during which he rose to the rank of head of department, Großmann came to the CPSU party school in Moscow in 1966/67 . In distance learning at the Law School in Potsdam-Golm , he received his degree in law in 1972 . Großmann continued his career in the MfS's main reconnaissance administration (HVA) and finally in 1986 succeeded Markus Wolf , who had been in charge for many years , and at the same time became deputy minister. In 1989 he was promoted to Colonel General .

Großmann, who still denied when presenting his memoirs in 2001 that the HVA was also conducting "reconnaissance work" within the GDR with the help of IMs , had himself given instructions at the end of 1988 to use suitable IMs on GDR territory to spy on opposition forces and involve groups.

It was Großmann and his employees who were able to persuade the "Security Working Group of the Central Round Table " to agree to the almost three-month-long destruction of the HVA files during the fall of the GDR .

Grossmann was released from service in March 1990. He was arrested on October 3, 1990, held in custody for a day and charged with acting as an agent and treason. After the decision of the 2nd Senate of the Federal Constitutional Court of May 15, 1995 on the criminal relevance of the intelligence activities of former members of the HVA, the Federal Public Prosecutor withdrew the complaint and discontinued the proceedings.

Großmann appeared several times at events organized by the Left Party .

Großmann died on January 28, 2022, a few weeks before he was 93 years old. He last lived in a retirement home in Berlin-Hohenschönhausen.

honors

Großmann received the Patriotic Order of Merit of the GDR in 1980.

factories

• Bonn in view. GDR enlightenment from the point of view of its last boss. The New Berlin, Berlin 2001/2007, ISBN 978-3-360-01905-9 .
• with Wolfgang Schwanitz : Questions to the MfS. Information about a German authority. Edition East, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-360-01813-7 .
• with Peter Böhm : The man of conviction. Edition East, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-360-01880-9 .

literature

• Roger Engelmann , Bernd Florath , Helge Heidemeyer , Daniela Münkel , Arno Polzin, Walter Sweet : The MfS encyclopedia. 3rd updated edition, Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-86153-900-1 , p . 116, bstu.de.
• Jens Gieseke :  Großmann, Werner . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 1. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .
• The Lord of the Shredders Review of the memoirs Bonn im Blick by Jochen Staadt , in: FAZ , June 13, 2001

web links

• Literature by and about Werner Großmann in the German National Library catalogue
• Stasi lexicon: Werner Großmann
• Author page of the Eulenspiegel publishing group

itemizations

1. ↑ ^{a b} Last head of GDR foreign espionage died. In: bietigheimerzeitung.de. January 28, 2022, retrieved January 28, 2022 . 
2. ↑ The Lord of the Shredders. In: FAZ.net . 13 June 2001, archived from the original on 15 December 2014 ; retrieved December 14, 2014 . 
3. ↑ Protests against the appearance of ex-Stasi General Werner Großmann. In: welt.de . 2008 September 26, archived from the original on 2014 December 14 ; retrieved December 14, 2014 . 
4. ↑ Claudia Fuchs: Lichtenberger Linke let ex-HVA boss Werner Großmann appear: A podium for the Stasi General. In: Berliner Zeitung. 2008 September 25, archived from the original on 2014 December 15 ; retrieved December 15, 2014 .