Erich Mielke
Politician
1907 – 2000
Who was Erich Mielke?
Erich Fritz Emil Mielke was a German secret police official in the service of the Soviet Union and East Germany.
After being one of two triggermen the 1931 murder of Berlin Police Captains Paul Anlauf and Franz Lenck, Mielke escaped prosecution by fleeing to the USSR and was recruited into the NKVD. He was one of the perpetrators of the Great Purge as well as the Stalinist decimation of the International Brigade during the Spanish Civil War.
Following the end of World War II, Mielke returned to the Soviet Zone of Occupied Germany, which he helped organize into a Marxist-Leninist dictatorship under the Socialist Unity Party.
Between 1957 and 1989, Mielke headed East Germany's Ministry for State Security. During his tenure as, "the longest serving secret police chief in the Soviet Bloc," Mielke transformed the Stasi into, "the largest, best equipped and most pervasive police state apparatus ever to exist on German soil."
In addition to his role as head of the secret police, Mielke was also a General in the East German Army and member of the SED's ruling Politburo.
We need you!
Help us build the largest biographies collection on the web!
- Born
- Dec 28, 1907
Berlin - Also known as
- 埃里希·梅尔克
- Мильке, Эрих
- Religion
- Protestantism
- Atheism
- Nationality
- Germany
- Profession
- Lived in
- Berlin
- Died
- May 21, 2000
Berlin
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
Citation
Use the citation below to add to a bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Erich Mielke." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/erich_mielke>.
Discuss this Erich Mielke biography with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In