} Fritz Streletz (28 September 1926 – 24 March 2025) was a German army general of the GDR. In 1944, he entered 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 ...

'' as a noncommissioned officer after graduating from military school in

Deggendorf Deggendorf (; ) is a town in Bavaria, Germany, capital of the Deggendorf district. It is located on the left bank approximately in the middle between the Danube cities of Regensburg and Passau. The Danube forms the town's natural border towards ...

. He was captured by Soviet forces in February 1945 and released in October 1948, whereupon he joined the ''

Volkspolizei The (DVP, German for "German People's Police"), commonly known as the or VoPo, was the national uniformed police force of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1945 to 1990. The Volkspolizei was a highly- centralized agency re ...

''. In 1956, he joined the precursor to the

National People's Army The National People's Army (, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (DDR) from 1956 until 1990. The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) and the (Bord ...

, the ''

Kasernierte Volkspolizei The Kasernierte Volkspolizei () (KVP) was the precursor to the National People's Army (NVA) in East Germany. Their original headquarters was in Adlershof Boroughs and neighborhoods of Berlin, locality in East Berlin, and from 1954 in Strausber ...

'', as an officer. In 1991, after the

re-unification of Germany German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...

, Streletz was arrested. He was charged in February 1992 for the incitement to kill German civilians fleeing

East Germany 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 ...

and was found guilty. He was sentenced to five years and six months in prison but was released in October 1997. Streletz remained committed to the GDR's ideals after re-unification. Streletz died on 24 March 2025, at the age of 98.DDR-Vizeminister Fritz Streletz ist tot

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* 1926 births 2025 deaths Colonel generals of the National People's Army (Ground Forces) German Army soldiers of World War II German people convicted of manslaughter German prisoners of war in World War II held by the Soviet Union Prisoners and detainees of Germany {{Germany-mil-bio-stub