Helene Berner (real name Helene Welker: 13 December 1904 – 22 December 1992) was a gymnastics teacher who became a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

resistance activist. She spent most of the twelve Nazi Years exiled in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, where she took Soviet citizenship and established (or re-discovered) her connections with the GRU (Soviet Military Intelligence). After

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

she nevertheless returned to Berlin, becoming a party official 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 ...

(relaunched in October 1949 as the German Democratic Republic / East Germany). Between 1949 and 1959 she was a senior officer at the Society for German–Soviet Friendship. She also became personal secretary to East Germany's Minister for Foreign Affairs,

Georg Dertinger Georg Dertinger (25 December 1902 – 21 January 1968) was a German politician. He was born in Berlin into a middle-class Protestant family. Dertinger briefly studied law and economics. After his study he became a journalist and later editor for ...

. Dertinger was not trusted by the party leadership, and it later emerged that Helene Berner was providing regular reports on him to the Ministry for State Security (Stasi).

Biography

Helene Welker was born in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. Her father was a sculptor/stonemason and a party officer of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(which had been unbanned, renamed and relaunched in 1890). Her mother died young and her father remarried: she was bought up by her father and step mother, but left her parents' home directly after leaving school, when she was still only 14. In 1919 she initially entered domestic service. By 1930 she had switched to office work and completed an apprenticeship in the wholesale book trade. In 1927 she started working as a nurse with a focus on

Orthopaedics Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

. Welker joined the Young Communists in 1923. In 1927 she joined the party. Almost immediately she started working for the party's "M-Apparat", which operated in Germany till 1937 as the Communist Party's (rather misleadingly named) intelligence branch. Between 1927 and 1931 she engaged in various industrial espionage missions on behalf of the Communist Party. Between 1931 and June 1935 Welker was employed as the manager at the Orthopaedic Gymnastics institute of the Berlin Health Insurance organisations (''Krankenkassen'') in the

city centre A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...

. After the National Socialist take-over in January 1933 and the

transformation Transformation may refer to: Science and mathematics In biology and medicine * Metamorphosis, the biological process of changing physical form after birth or hatching * Malignant transformation, the process of cells becoming cancerous * Trans ...

one-party A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system or single-party system is a governance structure in which only a single political party controls the ruling system. In a one-party state, all opposition parties are either outlawed or en ...

dictatorship A dictatorship is an autocratic form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, who hold governmental powers with few to no Limited government, limitations. Politics in a dictatorship are controlled by a dictator, ...

, the Communist Party was banned. Helene Welker nevertheless worked alongside others on party matters. This included courier work with the "frontier section" (''"Grenzapparat "'') which was involved in helping people risking arrest for reasons of politics and / or race to escape from Germany into

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

. Her own apartment became a secret meeting point and, at times, an office location for party comrades, notably Wilhelm Bahnik whose secretary she later became. Others involved in this resistance group included Felix Bobek,

Luise Kraushaar Luise Kraushaar ( Szepansky; 13 February 1905 – 10 January 1989) was a German political activist who became a Resistance campaigner against National Socialism and who also, after she left Germany, worked in the French Resistance. She later bec ...

and Ewald Jahnen. Using the cover names "Leni" and "Lore" she was also undertaking work with GRU (Soviet Military Intelligence). In June 1935, threatened with imminent arrest, Welker herself crossed into

, from where she made her way to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. During 1936. she was tried in her absence back in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and sentenced to death. In July 1936 she took Soviet citizenship. During 1935/36, Welker worked for the Red Army General Staff as an expert on intelligence operations. Between April 1936 and May 1937 she was employed at a

Orthopaedic Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

clinic. Then, between 1937 and 1941 she worked as a language teacher with the Army General Staff, later becoming a teacher at a Moscow military academy,

relocating Relocation, also known as moving, or moving house, is the process of leaving one's dwelling and settling in another. The new location can be in the same neighborhood or a much further place in a different city or different country (immigration). ...

with the academy to

Stavropol Stavropol (, ), known as Voroshilovsk from 1935 until 1943, is a city and the administrative centre of Stavropol Krai, in southern Russia. As of the 2021 Census, its population was 547,820, making it one of Russia's fastest growing cities. E ...

when the Hitler-Stalin non-aggression pact turned sour. During 1942/43, she became a graduate student at the "Comintern Academy" in Kushnarenkovo. That was followed by specialist parachute-agent training from which she emerged as an officer of the Red Army. During 1944, Welker worked as an educator near the frontline on the Second Baltic Front (centred at different stages on Kholm and

Opochka Opochka () is a town and the administrative center of Opochetsky District in Pskov Oblast, Russia, located on the Velikaya River, south of Pskov, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: History It was founded in 1414. At the t ...

). She was also involved in preparations for the advance towards the German cities. At the start of 1941 the

Reich Security Main Office The Reich Security Main Office ( , RSHA) was an organization under Heinrich Himmler in his dual capacity as ''Chef der Deutschen Polizei'' (Chief of German Police) and , the head of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS). The organization's stat ...

included Helene Berner's name on one of their "Special 'wanted' lists" of anti-government German political refugees (and others) to be sought out by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

, and dealt with as a priority, following a successful German invasion of the country in which they had found refuge. It is not clear whether it was because of some fundamental intelligence failing, or merely the result of a clerical error, that her name was included not on the "Special 'wanted' List" for the

but on that for

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

. After the war ended she returned to

, now using what had been her party name in Moscow, Helene Berner, as her only name. Between May and September 1945, still a

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

officer, she led education courses at the

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 ...

camp in

Rüdersdorf Rüdersdorf is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the district Märkisch-Oderland, in Brandenburg, Germany, near Berlin. It is served by the Schöneiche bei Berlin tramway which runs from Rüdersdorf through Schöneiche to Berlin-Friedr ...

, just outside Berlin on its eastern side. Then, between January 1946 and April 1948, she taught at the special academy set up in

Königs Wusterhausen Königs Wusterhausen (; , ) is a town in the Dahme-Spreewald district of the state of Brandenburg in Germany a few kilometers outside Berlin. Geography Geographical location Königs Wusterhausen – locally known as "KW" () or "KWh" ()– lie ...

by the Soviet Military Administration to train future cadres of the

Block Parties A block party or street party is a party in which many members of a single community congregate, either to observe an event of some importance or simply for mutual solidarity and enjoyment. The name comes from the form of the party, which ofte ...

. These Block Parties were an important feature of the highly centralised Leninist power structure which had existed in the Soviet Union since the 1920s and was now being implemented in a number of central European former democracies and in the

of Germany. In 1949 Helene Berner was demobilised, which put an end both to her

Red army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

service responsibilities and to her intelligence activities on behalf of the

GRU Gru is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the ''Despicable Me'' film series. Gru or GRU may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * Gru (rapper), Serbian rapper * Gru, an antagonist in '' The Kine Saga'' Organizations Georgia (c ...

. Directly after the foundation of 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 ...

in October 1949 Berner became an officer of the Society for astGerman-Soviet Friendship (''"Gesellschaft für Deutsch-Sowjetische Freundschaft"'' / DSF). She also worked, till 1959, as head of the employee training department at the

Ministry for Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral rela ...

. In addition, during 1952/53 she was employed as a personal assistant/secretary to the East German Foreign Minister,

. During this time she was providing regular reports on her minister to the Ministry for State Security (Stasi).Peter Joachim Lapp, Georg Dertinger: Journalist – Außenminister – Staatsfeind, Verlag Herder Freiburg im Breisgau 2005 (Georg Dertinger fell out of favour dramatically in January 1953 when he was arrested. He faced a

show trial A show trial is a public trial in which the guilt (law), guilt or innocence of the defendant has already been determined. The purpose of holding a show trial is to present both accusation and verdict to the public, serving as an example and a d ...

for alleged espionage in 1954 and was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.) Between 1959 and her retirement in 1968 Helene Berner ran the DSF, which was accommodated in the impressive Palais am Festungsgraben (as it has subsequently become known – ''loosely, "Moated Palace"''), in the heart of East Berlin. Helene Berner died in Berlin at the end of 1992, slightly more than two years after the formal

reunification A political union is a type of political entity which is composed of, or created from, smaller politics or the process which achieves this. These smaller polities are usually called federated states and federal territories in a federal govern ...

date. In 1990 she had joined the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), a rebranded version of the old East German ruling

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 ...

which was in the process of reconfiguring itself for a western syle democratic future.

Awards and honours

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berner, Helene Politicians from Berlin 1904 births 1992 deaths Communist Party of Germany members Socialist Unity Party of Germany members Communists in the German Resistance Refugees from Nazi Germany in the Soviet Union GRU officers Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit (honor clasp) German women nurses German nurses People sentenced to death in absentia 20th-century German women