Erich Honecker

Honecker, Erich (1912–94), leader of East Germany (1971–89). He joined the Communist Party (1929) as a youth and was imprisoned by the Nazis (1935–45). After World War II, he rose to the top of the political ranks in East German and Communist Party politics. He resigned in 1989, not long before the beginning of the process of German reunification. In 1992 he was tried for his involvement in the killings of people who had tried to escape from East Germany. Due to his poor health, the trial was discontinued.