Klaus Henkes (29 July 1929, in

Görlitz Görlitz (; ; ; ; ; Lusatian dialects, East Lusatian: , , ) is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is on the river Lusatian Neisse and is the largest town in Upper Lusatia, the second-largest town in the region of Lusatia after ...

– 7 March 2003) was a German air force officer, civil transportation official, and airline executive. He was a

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

in the

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 ...

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

and a deputy transport minister in the government from 1975 till 1990. Between 1978 and 1982 he was in charge of

Interflug Interflug GmbH (; ) was the national airline of East Germany (officially the “German Democratic Republic”) from 1963 to 1991. Based in East Berlin, it operated scheduled and chartered flights to European and intercontinental destinations out ...

, the national airline of East Germany.

Biography

Early years

Henkes was born into a working-class family in

, where, after leaving school relatively young, he studied for a career as a chemical laboratory assistant. At the end of World War II he was captured by the

Soviets The Soviet people () were the citizens and nationals of the Soviet Union. This demonym was presented in the ideology of the country as the "new historical unity of peoples of different nationalities" (). Nationality policy in the Soviet Union ...

and was, according to one source, a prisoner of war between 1946 and 1949. He trained as a miner of lignite (brown coal) at Espenhain (near

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

) and, in 1948, became a member of East Germany's ruling

Socialist Unity Party 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 Ma ...

. By 1949 he had already reached the leading rank of "brigadier" with SAG Wismut, an important

uranium Uranium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Ura ...

mining company. A period of further education followed when he studied at the Freiberg Mining Academy from 1949 till 1950, after which he returned to Wismut, where he worked till 1952.

Military training

In its early years, East Germany did not formally have a military; instead, it had quasi-military Barracked Peoples' Police (KVP/''Kasernierte Volkspolizei''), which included an air wing. Henkes volunteered on 23 May 1952, and was assigned to the secret "Lehrgang X" programme which trained approximately 220 East Germans at Syzran in the Soviet Union to be military pilots for East Germany's future

air force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

. After completing his training in 1953 he was appointed a pilot at the KVP flying school at the Bautzen flying centre, which later became the Officers' Training Base for Military Pilots. Between 1954 and 1955 he was sent on assignment as Senior Navigator of the forerunner organisation for East Germany's Air Force Command. In 1956, East Germany founded and openly proclaimed its long-planned

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 ...

, which included all service branches, including the "People's Navy", the Air Force, and so on. Henkes was then sent for a lengthy period of training, which lasted till 1959, at the Gagarin Air Force Academy near Moscow.

Military career

From 1959 till 1961 Henkes served as a senior pilot with Air Force Command. Then, from 1961 till 1975, he was Deputy Chief of Staff for Flight Safety, Command Posts and Automation, still with Air Force Command, now based at Barnim military complex at Strausberg. During this time he was also, in 1967, awarded a doctorate in

military science Military science is the study of military processes, institutions, and behavior, along with the study of warfare, and the theory and application of organized coercive force. It is mainly focused on theory, method, and practice of producing mi ...

from Friedrich Engels Military Academy in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

. On 1 March 1975 he was promoted to the rank of major general. This was also the year in which he was succeeded as Deputy Chief of Staff by Günter Hiemann and appointed a member of the government as Deputy Minister of Transport and Head of the Civil Aviation department in succession to Paul Wilpert. In 1978 Henkes succeeded Kurt Diedrich in the top job at

, East Germany's "

flag carrier A flag carrier is a transport company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given sovereign state, enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by that government for international operations. Histo ...

" airline. Tribüne (Zeitung) vom 31. März 1978 The appointment of an air force general to this position highlighted the close links between Interflug and the East German military. He remained at Interflug till 1982. On 2 October 1982 he was promoted again, now to the rank of

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

Retirement

In 1989 he was awarded the National Prize of East Germany, and retired on 30 April 1990. He was also granted an invalidity pension.

References