Erich Mielke
1907
Born as the son of a cartwright
in Berlin on December 28.
Occupation: Dispatch clerk (forwarding agent).
1921
Member of the Communist Party of Germany, holds various jobs within
the party apparatus. Works as dispatch clerk at Fernsprech Bau
GmbH in Berlin.
1928-31
Works as a reporter for the newspaper, Rote Fahne.
1934-35
Attends the Lenin School in Moscow and partly works for the NKWD.
1936-39
Member of the International Brigade fighting against Franco &
the Spanish Civil War. After the victory of Franco's forces, Mielke
flees to Belgium and France, where he then lives for several years.
1945 Returns
to Germany, where he is quickly entrusted with jobs in the security
forces and political police by the Communist Party, and later
the Socialist Unity Party or SED (which was formed by the union
of the Communist and Social Democratic parties in 1946.
1945
Appointed vice-president of the Central Administration of the
Interior, located in Berlin-Wilhelmsruh. Together with Wilhelm
Zaisser, he establishes the department "K 5," a forerunner
to the Ministry for State Security (MfS). Advancement to the vice-presidency
of the German Administration of the Interior (DVdI), which is
created by the order of the Soviet Military Administration in
East Germany in July 1946. Responsible for party personnel policy
and the training of the police forces. Takes over the leadership
of the Committee for the Protection of Public Property, which
is founded in May of that year by thge German Economic Commission,
as a cover for secret police activity. In May 1949 this committee
is renamed the Head Office for the Protection of the People's
Economy, and is put under the control of the Ministry of the Interior.
1950
Internal planning between the top officials of the SED and the
Soviet secret police, the KGB, leads to the 
transformation
of the Head Office into an independent Ministry for State Security
(MfS).
1950-53
ielke is State Secretary of the MfS, which Wilhelm Zaisser presides
over as Minister. Mielke is voted into the Central Committee (ZK)
of the SED.
1953-55
The MfS becomes part of the Ministry of Interior, and Mielke acts
as the Deputy State Secretary, while Ernst Wollweber is called
to lead the department as State Secretary.
1955-57
The MfS is made into an independent Ministry of Interior with
Wollweber at its head as Minister, and Mielke as the State Secretary.
1957 Mielke
is appointed Minister of the MfS in November.
1958 On
November 16, Mielke becomes a member of the Volkskammer, or East
German parliament. He also becomes the head of the Dynamo sportsclub.
1971 Candidate
for the Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED.
1976 Member
of the Politburo.
1980 Appointment
as Field Mar-shall in the army by Erich Honecker.
1989
November 7:Resignation of the Council of Ministers of the German
Democratic Republic, which leads to the separation of Mielke from
his post as Minister of the MfS. November 8: Resignation of Mielke
from his position as member of the Politburo of the SED. December
3: Decision of the Twelfth Conference of the Central Committee
of the SED to expel Mielke from its ranks. December 8:Arrest of
Mielke at his home in Wandlitz, and beginning of preliminary proceedings
against Mielke by the Chief Public Prosecutor of the German Democratic
Republic.
March 9,
1990
Mielke is released from prison due to health reasons, but is arrested
once again on July 26.
October 4, 1990 Mielke is moved to the prison in Berlin-Moabit,
to await trial.
October 26, 1993 Sentenced to six years imprisonment for the murder
of the two police officers. Further proceedings against Mielke
are abandoned due to his ill health.
1995 March 10: The judgment against Mielke is confirmed by the
Federal Supreme Court. July 28: Decision of the District Court
of Berlin to release Mielke from custody after five and a half
years in prison. Since August 1995, Mielke has been living in
a high rise apartment block in Berlin-Hohenschönhausen, under
police protection.
