Eberhard Heinrich (12 March 1926 – 2019) was a German

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

. He was a member of the Party Politburo Agitation Committee in the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

from 1965, and in 1981 he replaced Harri Czepuck as chairman of the country's

national Union of Journalists The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) is a trade union supporting journalists in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The NUJ was founded in 1907 and has 20,693 members. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Trades ...

.Wilke, Jürgen, Julia Martin, Denis Fengler, and Marc Levasier.
Journalisten und Journalismus in der DDR: Berufsorganisation, Westkorrespondenten, "Der schwarze Kanal"
'. Köln: Böhlau, 2007. pp. 26–28

Life

Eberhard Heinrich was born in a small rural town in

Lower Silesia Lower Silesia ( ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ) is a historical and geographical region mostly located in Poland with small portions in the Czech Republic and Germany. It is the western part of the region of Silesia. Its largest city is Wrocław. The first ...

, roughly 80 km (50 miles) west of Breslau. His father was a clerical employee. Heinrich attended a commercially focused school and started on an industrial/commercial training. In 1943 he was arrested and held in youth detention for several months on account of "illegal political activity". In 1944 he was excluded from the

Hitler Youth The Hitler Youth ( , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth wing of the German Nazi Party. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. From 1936 until 1945, it was th ...

and conscripted for National Labour service. At this stage of the

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

, with the

German army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

having suffered massive casualties, national labour service rapidly became conscription into the army even for boys who a few years earlier would have been considered too young to serve. Heinrich deserted from the army in 1945 which was the year in which, in May 1945, the war ended. He spent 1945/46 as a

Prisoner of War A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

, held by the Americans, at the same time working at agricultural labour and relief work in Lützelsachsen. In May 1945 what remained of Germany had been divided into four principal zones for military occupation. Eberhard's home region of

was now part of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, survivors from its formerly German speaking population having been persuaded to leave. Lützelsachsen where he had been imprisoned was to the west, in the

American occupation zone The American occupation zone in Germany (German: ), also known as the US-Zone, and the Southwest zone, was one of the four occupation zones established by the Allies of World War II in Germany west of the Oder–Neisse line in July 1945, aroun ...

. As soon as he was able, however, in June 1946 Eberhard Heinrich relocated to the east, settling in the

Soviet occupation zone The Soviet occupation zone in Germany ( or , ; ) was an area of Germany that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a communist area, established as a result of the Potsdam Agreement on 2 August 1945. On 7 October 1949 the German Democratic Republ ...

. Here the way was already being paved for a return to one-

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

government with a contentious merger, in April 1946, between the old Communist Party and the Moderate-left

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together wi ...

. Heinrich lost no time in joining the resulting Socialist Unity Party (SED / ''Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands''), now the ruling party for what would become the

, formally founded in October 1949. In October 1946 Heinrich became a volunteer editorial assistant with the left-wing newspaper ''

Vorwärts ( ; "Forward") is a newspaper published by the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Founded in 1876, it was the central organ of the SPD for many decades. Following the party's Halle Congress (1891), it was published daily as the success ...

'': he stayed with the paper at least through most of 1947. Between October 1947 and May 1948 he underwent a journalistic training at the Party Academy. Heinrich was evidently still associated with ''Vorwärts'' in 1949 which was when The Party took the decision to merge the Berlin edition of ''Vorwärts'' with ''

Neues Deutschland (, , abbr. nd) is a left-wing German daily newspaper, headquarters, headquartered in Berlin. For 43 years it was the official party newspaper of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), which governed East Germany (officially known as the ...

'', the official mass-circulation newspaper of the ruling SED (party) and thereby of the German Democratic Republic. The merger took effect on 1 January 1950. Eberhard Heinrich now joined ''Neues Deutschland'', workling between 1950 and 1962 as a departmental head and editorial secretary. Between 1962 and 1965 he served as the newspaper's deputy chief editor. During this period, in 1953, he also undertook a correspondence degree course with the Leipzig Journalism Academy. Moving beyond the world of journalism, between 1965 and 1980 he worked full-time with the Party Politburo Agitation Commission, taking a succession of increasingly senior roles before becoming the personal assistant to

Werner Lamberz Werner Lamberz (14 April 1929 – 6 March 1978) was a senior politician in the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (East Germany). In a system under which political advancement was generally achieved only slowly and the men who reached the ...

, the Commission Secretary, following whose death Heinrich himself served as

Commission In-Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...

Secretary between 1978 and December 1980. Although Heinrich never actually followed Lamberz to become a member of the powerful Party Central Committee, his name did feature on the list of candidates for membership from 1971 right up till the institutional collapse of 1989/90. He was, however, on the central committee of the East German Union of Journalists, serving as the union president in succession to Harri Czepuck between 1981 and 1990. This led to international roles including vice-presidency of the (Soviet sponsored)

International Organization of Journalists Logotype of the IOJ The International Organization of Journalists (IOJ, ) was an international press workers' organization based in Prague, Czechoslovakia, during the Cold War. It was one of dozens of front organizations launched by the Soviet Un ...

and chairmanship of the International council for journalism training.

Personal

Eberhard Heinrich was married to

Lieselotte Thoms-Heinrich Lieselotte Thoms-Heinrich (born Lieselotte Lehmann; 29 October 1920 – 14 July 1992) was a journalist and officially mandated feminist. Between 1968 and 1981 she was editor in chief of the mass circulation women's magazine, "Für Dich". She ...

, a journalist and, between 1963 and 1990, a longstanding member of the National Legislature (''Volkskammer'').

Awards and honours

:*1959 German Democratic Republic Service Medal :*1961

Patriotic Order of Merit The Patriotic Order of Merit (German: ''Vaterländischer Verdienstorden'', or VVO) was a national award granted annually in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It was founded in 1954 and was awarded to individuals and institutions for outstanding ...

in bronze :*1965

in silver :*1970 Lenin Jubilee Medal :*1970

Distinguished Service Medal Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a high award of a nation, state or country. Examples include: *Distinguished Service Medal (Australia) (established 1991), awarded to personnel of the Australian Defence Force for distinguished leadership in act ...

(

army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

) :*1974

in gold :*1976

Banner of Labor The Banner of Labor () was an order issued in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It was given for "excellent and long-standing service in strengthening and consolidating the GDR, especially for achieving outstanding results for the national ec ...

:*1986

Star of People's Friendship The Star of Peoples' Friendship (), Star of Nations' Friendship, was an order awarded by the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Established 20 August 1959, it was given to individuals of exceptional merit who had contributed to the "understandi ...

Sources

*Traueranzeige im neuen deutschland vom 2. März 2019, S. 6.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heinrich, Eberhard German resistance members German Army personnel of World War II Socialist Unity Party of Germany members Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit Recipients of the Banner of Labor East German journalists German male journalists German journalists 1926 births 2019 deaths Recipients of the Medal of Merit of the GDR Reich Labour Service members German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United States