Elly Winter
Encyclopedia
Elly Winter was a German
communist and notable political activist. The eldest daughter of East German president Wilhelm Pieck
, Elly Winter was a longtime activist in the anti-fascist movement and was a well-recognized member of the Socialist Unity Party
(SED) in East Germany after the Allied triumph over Nazism
.
Marxist activist and Social Democrat
Wilhelm Pieck
, Winter was born Elly Pieck in Bremen
on 1 November 1898.
Politically active from an early age, she joined the Communist Party of Germany
(KPD) in 1919 (Wilhelm Pieck had joined the newly-founded Communist Party in 1918). She married Theodor Winter, a fellow activist in the Communist Party.
Upon the Nazis' seizure of power in 1933, the Pieck family fled from the Third Reich. Having successfully obtained asylum in the Soviet Union
, they stayed in Soviet territory until the 1945 surrender of Nazi Germany in World War II.
Theodor Winter, who fought the Nazis in armed struggle, was arrested by the Gestapo
and executed during the Second World War.
Back in Germany, Winter settled in the Soviet zone of Allied-occupied Germany, rejoining the Communist Party of Germany and becoming a member of the Socialist Unity Party
(SED) upon the merger of the Communists and Social Democrats in eastern Germany in the process of the Communists' consolidation of power in the East.
The Socialist Unity Party elected Wilhelm Pieck to assume the function of president in newly-formed German Democratic Republic
(East Germany) in 1949, and Winter continued to act as an assistant and personal secretary to her father, caring for him in his last period of illness just prior to his death in 1960. She managed his personal archives thereafter.
Concurrently, Winter was a leading member of the Institute for Marxism-Leninism of the Central Committee
of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany in East Berlin
, where she died in 1987.
For her long service in political work appreciated by East Germany, Winter was recognized with various awards, including two medals of the Vaterländischer Verdienstorden and the Medal of Fighters Against Fascism 1933-1945.
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
communist and notable political activist. The eldest daughter of East German president Wilhelm Pieck
Wilhelm Pieck
Friedrich Wilhelm Reinhold Pieck was a German politician and a Communist. In 1949, he became the first President of the German Democratic Republic, an office abolished upon his death. He was succeeded by Walter Ulbricht, who served as Chairman of the Council of States.-Biography:Pieck was born to...
, Elly Winter was a longtime activist in the anti-fascist movement and was a well-recognized member of the Socialist Unity Party
Socialist Unity Party of Germany
The Socialist Unity Party of Germany was the governing party of the German Democratic Republic from its formation on 7 October 1949 until the elections of March 1990. The SED was a communist political party with a Marxist-Leninist ideology...
(SED) in East Germany after the Allied triumph over Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
.
Biography
The first-born daughter of GermanGermans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
Marxist activist and Social Democrat
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
Wilhelm Pieck
Wilhelm Pieck
Friedrich Wilhelm Reinhold Pieck was a German politician and a Communist. In 1949, he became the first President of the German Democratic Republic, an office abolished upon his death. He was succeeded by Walter Ulbricht, who served as Chairman of the Council of States.-Biography:Pieck was born to...
, Winter was born Elly Pieck in Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
on 1 November 1898.
Politically active from an early age, she joined the Communist Party of Germany
Communist Party of Germany
The Communist Party of Germany was a major political party in Germany between 1918 and 1933, and a minor party in West Germany in the postwar period until it was banned in 1956...
(KPD) in 1919 (Wilhelm Pieck had joined the newly-founded Communist Party in 1918). She married Theodor Winter, a fellow activist in the Communist Party.
Upon the Nazis' seizure of power in 1933, the Pieck family fled from the Third Reich. Having successfully obtained asylum in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, they stayed in Soviet territory until the 1945 surrender of Nazi Germany in World War II.
Theodor Winter, who fought the Nazis in armed struggle, was arrested by the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
and executed during the Second World War.
Back in Germany, Winter settled in the Soviet zone of Allied-occupied Germany, rejoining the Communist Party of Germany and becoming a member of the Socialist Unity Party
Socialist Unity Party of Germany
The Socialist Unity Party of Germany was the governing party of the German Democratic Republic from its formation on 7 October 1949 until the elections of March 1990. The SED was a communist political party with a Marxist-Leninist ideology...
(SED) upon the merger of the Communists and Social Democrats in eastern Germany in the process of the Communists' consolidation of power in the East.
The Socialist Unity Party elected Wilhelm Pieck to assume the function of president in newly-formed German Democratic Republic
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
(East Germany) in 1949, and Winter continued to act as an assistant and personal secretary to her father, caring for him in his last period of illness just prior to his death in 1960. She managed his personal archives thereafter.
Concurrently, Winter was a leading member of the Institute for Marxism-Leninism of the Central Committee
Central Committee
Central Committee was the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, whether ruling or non-ruling in the twentieth century and of the surviving, mostly Trotskyist, states in the early twenty first. In such party organizations the...
of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany in East Berlin
East Berlin
East Berlin was the name given to the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. It consisted of the Soviet sector of Berlin that was established in 1945. The American, British and French sectors became West Berlin, a part strongly associated with West Germany but a free city...
, where she died in 1987.
For her long service in political work appreciated by East Germany, Winter was recognized with various awards, including two medals of the Vaterländischer Verdienstorden and the Medal of Fighters Against Fascism 1933-1945.