Biography of Heinz Keßler

Heinz Keßler (born 26 January 1920 in Lauban, Lower Silesia; died 2 May 2017 in Berlin) was a German communist politician and military official in East Germany. From 1985 to 1989 he served as Minister of National Defence and belonged to the SED power structure. After German reunification he was convicted for his shared responsibility in fatal shootings at the East German border.

War and political formation

Keßler came from a communist family. As a young man he was drafted into the Wehrmacht and, after deserting on the Eastern Front, entered Soviet captivity. There he joined the National Committee for a Free Germany. This experience shaped his later path: anti-fascism, loyalty to the Soviet Union and communist party discipline became central reference points in his political life.

Rise in the East German army

After the war Keßler took part in building armed structures in the Soviet occupation zone and later in East Germany. He rose through the Kasernierte Volkspolizei and the National People's Army, became deputy defence minister and led political and military sections. On 3 December 1985, after the death of Heinz Hoffmann, he took over the East German Defence Ministry.

Border regime and responsibility

As defence minister, Keßler carried political and military responsibility for an army whose border troops secured East Germany's closure toward West Berlin and the Federal Republic. People died while trying to flee across the Wall and the inner-German border. Keßler defended the border system after 1989 and denied the legal and moral guilt that courts and many relatives of victims assessed differently.

Trial after reunification

On 16 September 1993 the Berlin Regional Court convicted Keßler of incitement to manslaughter and sentenced him to seven and a half years in prison. Fritz Streletz and Hans Albrecht were convicted in the same proceedings. The judgments were among the central cases concerning responsibility for deaths at the East German border. Keßler served part of the sentence and was later released on health grounds.

Farewell

Heinz Keßler died in Berlin on 2 May 2017. He was 97 years old. His life connects the East German military, SED rule and the legal reckoning with state violence after 1990.