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Ernst WollweberMinister of State Security of the GDR from 1953 to 1957.
Date of Birth: 29.10.1898
Country:  Germany |
Content:
- Early Life and World War I
- Communist Party Involvement
- Anti-Nazi Resistance and Exile
- Post-World War II Career
- Purges and Death
Early Life and World War I
Wilhelm Zaisser was born in 1898 in Hanover, Germany. During the First World War, he served in the Imperial German Navy. In November 1918, he became an active participant in the Kiel Naval Uprising, being the first to raise the red flag on the battleship "Helgoland."
Communist Party Involvement
In 1919, Zaisser joined the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). In 1921, he was elected to the party's Central Committee. He was arrested in 1924 but was released in 1926. In 1928, he was elected to the Prussian Landtag, and in 1932, to the German Reichstag.
Anti-Nazi Resistance and Exile
After the Nazis seized power in 1933, Zaisser fled to Copenhagen, Denmark. He led a clandestine organization known as the "Seamen's Union," which engaged in intelligence gathering and sabotage against German ships in the Baltic Sea. In 1941, after a ship was bombed in Stockholm harbor, Zaisser was arrested in Sweden and sentenced to three years in prison. In 1944, he was deported to the Soviet Union.
Post-World War II Career
Following World War II, Zaisser returned to Germany and joined the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). In 1950, he became Deputy Minister of Transport in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). In 1953, he was appointed Minister of State Security, replacing Wilhelm Zaisser. He held this position until 1957.
Purges and Death
In 1958, Zaisser was accused of anti-party activities and expelled from the SED Central Committee. As noted by Pavel Sudoplatov, Zaisser had informed the Soviet leadership of disagreements among GDR leaders, and Nikita Khrushchev, who harbored animosity towards state security organs, passed this information to Walter Ulbricht. Zaisser died in 1967.
