Wilhelm Zaisser
| Wilhelm Zaisser | |
|---|---|
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Minister of State Security of the German Democratic Republic |
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In office 8 February 1950 – 18 July 1953 |
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| President | Wilhelm Pieck |
| Prime Minister | Otto Grotewohl |
| Deputy | Erich Mielke |
| Preceded by | Office created |
| Succeeded by | Ernst Wollweber |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
20 June 1893 Gelsenkirchen, Westphalia, German Empire |
| Died | 3 March 1958 (aged 64) East Berlin, East Germany |
| Political party |
Communist Party of Germany (1921-1932) Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1932-1947) Socialist Unity Party of Germany (1947-1954) |
| Occupation | Politician, Government Minister |
Wilhelm Zaisser (20 June 1893 – 3 March 1958) was a German communist politician and the first Minister for State Security of the German Democratic Republic (1950–1953).
Born in Gelsenkirchen, Westphalia, Zaisser studied to become a teacher from 1910 to 1913 in Essen. When World War I began a year later, Zaisser joined the army. Upon leaving the service in 1918, Zaisser joined the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD) and in 1919 returned to Essen, where he became a school teacher. During this period, Zaisser became an active communist. During the Kapp Putsch in 1920, he was a military leader of the fledgling Red Ruhr Army. Zaisser’s activities in the Red Ruhr Army led to his arrest and dismissal as a teacher in 1921. After his release, Zaisser worked for the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) as a propagandist. From 1921 to 1922, Zaisser edited the Ruhr Echo and the Bergischen Voice of the People. In 1923, Zaisser entered the KPD intelligence service and worked actively against the French occupation of the Ruhr. Zaisser’s efficient work caused him to be sent to Moscow a year later, where he received political and military training.
After returning to Germany in 1924, Zaisser became one of the leading intelligence officials of the KPD, working directly for its Central Committee. Throughout the 1920s, Zaisser was a military-political leader and instructor for the KPD in such the areas of Rhine, Westphalia and Berlin. He also worked abroad for the Red Army and Soviet intelligence from 1925 to 1926 as a military advisor to Syria. Starting in 1927, Zaisser worked almost exclusively for the Executive Committee of the Comintern, serving as a military advisor to China (1927–1930) and the Czech Army (1930–1932). His work earned him membership in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1932 and Soviet citizenship in 1940. In 1936, Zaisser traveled to Spain and assumed the name “Gomez,” where on behalf of the Russians he became a military advisor to the Spanish Republican Army. Zaisser quickly achieved the rank of brigadier general (initially commanding XIII International Brigade), and in 1937, he became leader of all the pro-Republican international forces operating in Spain. Following the end of the Spanish Civil War in 1939, Zaisser returned to Moscow to resume working for the Comintern, but was thrown into jail, apparently because of the failure of the Soviet intervention in Spain. During and after World War II, Zaisser taught communist indoctrination courses to German prisoners of war.
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