Egon Krenz

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Egon Krenz
Official portrait, 1984
General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party
In office 18 October 1989 – 3 December 1989
Deputy	Günter Schabowski
Preceded by	Erich Honecker
Succeeded by	Gregor Gysi (as Chairman)
Chairman of the State Council
In office 24 October 1989 – 6 December 1989
Preceded by	Erich Honecker
Succeeded by	Manfred Gerlach
Chairman of the National Defense Council
In office 18 October 1989 – 6 December 1989
Secretary	Fritz Streletz
Preceded by	Erich Honecker
Succeeded by	Office abolished
First Secretary of the Free German Youth
In office 9 January 1974 – 1 December 1983
Second Secretary	Wolfgang Herger Erich Postler Eberhard Aurich
Preceded by	Günther Jahn
Succeeded by	Eberhard Aurich
Chairman of the Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation
In office 8 February 1971 – 9 January 1974
Preceded by	Werner Engst
Succeeded by	Helga Labs
Volkskammer Member of the Volkskammer for Stralsund-Stadt, Stralsund- Land, Ribnitz-Damgarten, Rügen In office 14 November 1971 – 11 January 1990 Preceded by multi-member district Succeeded by Bernd Blässe[1]
Central Committee Secretariat responsibilities[2]
1983–1989	Youth
1983–1989	Sport
1983–1989	Security Affairs
1983–1989	State and Legal Affairs
Personal details
Born	Egon Rudi Ernst Krenz (1937-03-19) 19 March 1937 (age 87) Kolberg, Province of Pomerania, Free State of Prussia, Nazi Germany (now Kołobrzeg, Poland)
Political party	Independent
Other political affiliations	Socialist Unity Party (1955–1990)
Spouse	Erika Krenz ​ ​ (m. 1961; died 2017)​
Children	2
Residence	Dierhagen
Occupation	Politician Locksmith Teacher
Awards	Order of Karl Marx Banner of Labor
Signature
Criminal information
Criminal status	Served prison sentence 13 January 2000 – 18 December 2003, released on parole until 2006
Conviction(s)	Manslaughter (4 counts)
Criminal penalty	6½ years imprisonment
Central institution membership 1983–1989: Full member, Politburo of the Central Committee 1976–1983: Candidate member, Politburo of the Central Committee 1973–1989: Full member, Central Committee 1971–1973: Candidate member, Central Committee Other offices held 1985–1989: Member, National Defence Council 1984–1989: Deputy Chairman, State Council 1981–1989: Member, State Council 1971–1976: Volkskammer Chairman, Free German Youth
Leader of East Germany ← Honecker Modrow→

Egon Rudi Ernst Krenz (German pronunciation: [ˈeːgɔn ˈkʁɛnts]; born 19 March 1937) is a German former politician who was the last Communist leader of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) during the Revolutions of 1989. He succeeded Erich Honecker as the General Secretary of the ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) but was forced to resign only weeks later when the Berlin Wall fell.^[3]

Throughout his career, Krenz held a number of prominent positions in the SED. He was Honecker's deputy from 1984 until he succeeded him in 1989 amid protests against the regime. Krenz was unsuccessful in his attempt to retain the Communist regime's grip on power. The SED gave up its monopoly of power some weeks after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and Krenz was forced to resign shortly afterward. He was expelled from the SED's successor party on 21 January 1990.^[4] In 2000, he was sentenced to six and a half years in prison for manslaughter for his role in the Communist regime. After his release from prison in 2003, he retired to the small town of Dierhagen in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. He remained on parole until the end of his sentence in 2006.^[5] Together with Karel Urbánek from Czechoslovakia, Krenz is the last former General Secretary from the Eastern Bloc still alive.