Paul Verner

Paul Verner (26 April 1911 – 12 December 1986) was a German communist politician. He joined the communist movement at a young age and went into exile during Adolf Hitler's rule. Verner became a prominent political personality in the German Democratic Republic after the war.

Paul Verner
Verner
First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party in Berlin
In office February 1959 – May 1971
Second Secretary	Hans Kiefert Hans Wagner Konrad Naumann
Preceded by	Hans Kiefert
Succeeded by	Konrad Naumann
Parliamentary constituencies Member of the Volkskammer In office 16 November 1958 – 12 December 1986 Preceded by multi-member district Succeeded by Willy Hallbauer (1987)
Central Committee Secretariat responsibilities^[1]
1980-1983	Governmental and Legal Affairs
1971-1984	Financial Administration and Party Businesses
1971-1983	Youth
1971-1978	Woman
1958–1984	Church Affairs
1971-1983; 1958-1967	Sport
1958–1967	Health Policy
1950–1953	All-German Affairs
Personal details
Born	(1911-04-26)26 April 1911 Chemnitz, Free State of Saxony, German Empire (now Germany)
Died	12 December 1986(1986-12-12) (aged 75) East Berlin, East Germany
Political party	Socialist Unity Party (1946–1986)
Other political affiliations	Communist Party of Germany (1929–1946)
Occupation	Politician Party Functionary Journalist
Awards	Patriotic Order of Merit Order of Karl Marx Order of Friendship of Peoples
Central institution membership 1963–1984: Full member, Politburo of the Central Committee 1958–1963: Candidate member, Politburo of the Central Committee 1950–1984: Full member, Central Committee Other offices held 1981–1984: Deputy Chairman, State Council 1971–1986: Member, State Council 1971–1983: Head, Youth Commission of the Politburo 1963–1971: Member, East Berlin City Council 1953–1958: Head, West Department of the Central Committee

Early life

Verner was born in Chemnitz in 1911. His father was a metal worker while his mother worked as a textile worker. Verner trained as metal worker like his father. At an early age, Verner joined the communist children's organization Jungspartakusbund (Young Spartacus League).^[2][3]

Political activism

In 1925 he joined the Young Communist League of Germany (KJVD). In 1929 he became a member of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). He worked as a volunteer in the communist publishing house Kämpfer-Verlag in Chemnitz. He became a member of the regional leadership of KJVD in Saxony. In 1932 he became editor of Junge Garde ('Young Guard').^[2]

In exile

With the National Socialist takeover in Germany, Verner went into exile. Towards the end of 1933, he became a member of the Scandinavian Bureau of the Young Communist International, and edited Jugendinternationale (the German-language publication of the Young Communist International). In 1934 he shifted to Paris, where he became editor-in-chief of Junge Garde (now published in exile), a position he held until the spring of 1935. He moved to Belgium, as the KJVD reorganized.^[2]

Verner fought as a volunteer in the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War.^[3] After the Spanish Civil War, he emigrated to Sweden.^[3] He was detained by Swedish authorities in Smedsbo, Värmland, between March 1940 and 1942. After being released from Smedsbo he began working as a metal worker in Sweden from August 1943.^[2]

Political career in the GDR

After the end of the Second World War, he returned to Germany. During 1946 he was a co-founder, together with Hermann Axen and Erich Honecker, of the Free German Youth ("Freie Deutsche Jugend" / FDJ),^[2][3]

In 1958 Verner became a candidate member of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) politburo.^[2] He was also one of the secretaries of the party Central Committee. In March 1959 Verner became First Secretary of the Berlin district organization of SED, a powerful institution in the GDR. At the time the party district included West Berlin. Verner received criticism for the dismal performance of the party in West Berlin. Under Verner's leadership the West Berlin organizations were separated from the SED in 1961 (and would become the Socialist Unity Party of West Berlin).^[3]

Verner became a full Politburo member in 1963.^[4] For most of the 1970s and early 1980s, he was the second-ranking member of the SED hierarchy, and de facto the second most powerful man in the country after party leader Erich Honecker.

He died in Berlin on 12 December 1986.^[2]

References

1. "Büro Paul Verner im ZK der SED" (in German). Retrieved 19 November 2023.
2. Michael F. Scholz. "Verner, Paul * 26.4.1911, † 12.12.1986 Mitglied des Politbüros des ZK der SED, 1. Sekretär der Bezirksleitung Berlin der SED". Wer war wer in der DDR?. Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin & Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur, Berlin. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
3. The Sed Leadership after the Sixth Party Congress (III) 2011-07-17 at the Wayback Machine
4. The Sed Leadership After the Sixth Party Congress^{[permanent dead link]}

External links

•   Media related to Paul Verner at Wikimedia Commons