Bruno Beater (5 February 19149 April 1982) was an

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

intelligence officer and politician. He served as First Deputy Minister of State Security in the administrations of

Walter Ulbricht Walter Ernst Paul Ulbricht (; ; 30 June 18931 August 1973) was a German communist politician. Ulbricht played a leading role in the creation of the Weimar republic, Weimar-era Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and later in the early development ...

and

Erich Honecker Erich Ernst Paul Honecker (; 25 August 1912 – 29 May 1994) was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1971 until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. He held the post ...

Biography

Born into a working family Berlin on 5 February 1914, Beater received vocational instruction in the 1920s and 1930s, taking part in the

Young Communist League of Germany The Young Communist League of Germany (, abbreviated KJVD) was a political youth organization in Germany. History The KJVD was formed in 1920 from the Free Socialist Youth () of the Communist Party of Germany, A prior youth wing had been formed ...

while growing up in the pre-

Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

era of Weimar German republic."Wer war wer im MfS? A-B"
("Who was who in the MfS? A-B")

Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Records The Stasi Records Agency () was the organisation that administered the archives of Ministry of State Security (Stasi) of the former German Democratic Republic (East Germany). It was a government agency of the Federal Republic of Germany. It was ...

. Retrieved 1 August 2009. He kept a low apolitical profile after Hitler's initiation of the Nazis' wide-scale persecution of German communists following his arrival at the helm of power in 1933. His main source of employment during the 1930s was work as a carpenter. First drafted into the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

during peacetime in 1936 and once more upon the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Beater defected to the Soviet side in 1944, at first doing work with the

National Committee for a Free Germany The National Committee for a Free Germany (, or NKFD) was an Anti-fascism, anti-fascist political and military organisation formed in the Soviet Union during World War II, composed mostly of German defectors from the ranks of German prisoners of ...

to support the Soviet Union's war effort against the Nazi forces, then joining the

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

, taking part in the campaign against Breslau (now

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

) during the last months of the war in 1945. Beater participated as an instructor in a

de-Nazification Denazification () was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of the Nazi ideology following the Second World War. It was carried out by removing those who had been Nazi Par ...

program from May to October 1945. Beater became a member of the

Communist Party of Germany The Communist Party of Germany (, ; KPD ) was a major Far-left politics, far-left political party in the Weimar Republic during the interwar period, German resistance to Nazism, underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and minor party ...

(KPD) during the years of post-war reconstruction in the Soviet-administered zone of divided Germany. Its merger with the Social Democratic Party in the Soviet-administered zone created the

Socialist Unity Party of Germany The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (, ; SED, ) was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from the country's foundation in 1949 until its dissolution after the Peaceful Revolution in 1989. It was a Mar ...

(SED) in 1949. Beater joined the newly created

Stasi The Ministry for State Security (, ; abbreviated MfS), commonly known as the (, an abbreviation of ), was the Intelligence agency, state security service and secret police of East Germany from 1950 to 1990. It was one of the most repressive pol ...

's Berlin service in April 1950. His activity in this line of work included the organization of a "special operations group" for work in the West following a plan worked out with Josef Kiefel and

Erich Mielke Erich Fritz Emil Mielke (; 28 December 1907 – 21 May 2000) was a German communist official who served as head of the East Germany, East German Ministry for State Security (''Ministerium für Staatsicherheit'' – MfS), better known as the Sta ...

. Already a highly ranked Ministry deputy in the 1950s, Beater developed his intelligence career in the following decades, attaining the position of Mielke's deputy as First Deputy Minister in 1964a ministry role followed by his promotion to the lieutenant-general in 1965."East German Aide Is Dead".

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

. ''The New York Times''. 10 April 1982. Retrieved 31 July 2009.Buch, Günther. ''Namen und Daten wichtiger Personen der DDR'' (''Names and Dates of Important People of the GDR''). Berlin: Dietz, 1979. , . Beater enthusiastically supported the development of electronic intelligence gathering in the late 1960s.Macrakis, Kristie. ''Seduced by Secrets: Inside the Stasi's Spy-Tech World''. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. , . p. 266. His political career saw his rise to full member of the SED's Central Committee in 1973, ten years after his first election to the committee as a candidate member. Beater was awarded the

Karl Marx Order The Order of Karl Marx () was the most important Order (distinction), order in the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR). The award of the order also included a prize of 20,000 East German marks. The order was founded on May 5, 1953 on ...

, East Germany's highest decoration, in 1974. He reached the rank of

Generaloberst A ("colonel general") was the second-highest general officer rank in the German '' Reichswehr'' and ''Wehrmacht'', the Austro-Hungarian Common Army, the East German National People's Army and in their respective police services. The rank w ...

in 1980. Beater died after a long period of illness in 1982.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beater, Bruno 1914 births 1982 deaths Politicians from Berlin Communist Party of Germany politicians Socialist Unity Party of Germany politicians National Committee for a Free Germany members German Army personnel of World War II Soviet military personnel of World War II Stasi generals Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit