Willy Perk

Willy Perk (born September 27, 1905 in Dortmund , † December 9, 1991 in Berlin ) was a politician of the KPD and the SED .

Weimar Republic and the time of National Socialism

Willy Perk was a locksmith by profession. Since 1919 he was a member of the German Metalworkers' Association . Perk joined the Communist Youth Association in 1923 and the KPD in 1926. Until the beginning of National Socialist rule, he was temporarily youth secretary of the communist youth association, union secretary and editor of a communist youth newspaper.

After 1933 Perk was active in the illegal party work in the party committee for the Ruhr area . Since 1934 he was a member of the central committee for all of Germany. In the same year he was arrested and sentenced by the People's Court to a prison term of eight years for preparation for high treason. He was then imprisoned in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp from 1942 to 1945 .

Perk published a number of accounts of his experiences in prison.

State politician in North Rhine-Westphalia

After the end of National Socialism, Perk was editor-in-chief from 1946 to 1948 of the communist newspaper Westdeutsches Volksecho . He was a member of the district leadership of the KPD for the Ruhr area, the state leadership for North Rhine-Westphalia and the party leadership for the British zone .

In 1946 Perk was a member of the Provincial Council of Westphalia and in 1946 and 1947 a member of the appointed Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia . In the first legislative period of the elected state parliament, he entered the state parliament via the state list . He resigned his mandate early on October 28, 1948.

Career in the GDR

Perk moved to the Soviet-occupied zone and became a member of the SED. Between 1956 and 1959 he was director of the German broadcaster . He was also temporarily deputy chairman of the state broadcasting committee . Between 1959 and 1963 he was a member of the Presidium of the FDGB Federal Executive Committee and from 1959 to 1962 Secretary for Western Labor . Thereafter, Perk was secretary and temporarily deputy chairman of the Central Committee of People's Solidarity from 1963 to 1970 . From 1970 to 1975 Perk was secretary and member of the executive committee of the central management of the committee of anti-fascist resistance fighters .

literature

• Annette Leo:  Willy Perk . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 2. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .

Web links

• Literature by and about Willy Perk in the catalog of the German National Library
• Willy Perk at the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia
• Entry in the FDGB Lexicon