Talk:Erich Honecker

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Hi everyone, I want to ask you all a question, what did Erin Honecker do to the people of East Germany (where he ruled)?

He oppressed, tortured and murdered them.
He was the leader of an opressive government. People were shot for trying to flee, and he had such organisations as the Stasi.
Provided free education, health, housing, jobs, social security and citizen's security, facts that today are only a remember of past days in East Germany. Maybe for that, PDS will win Election next September in former GDR.
Education was not freely available to those critical (or just failing to demonstrate their support of) the régime, and it was heavily biassed. Healthcare was free & generally good, but I remember being operated in a room where the rain seeped through the ceiling at the end of the 80s. In regions with chemical industries, doctors were prohibited from diagnosing diseases caused by pollution and denied access to information about the latter... As for jobs - well, everyone had one but could at any time be banned from working in it for political reasons (due to discrimination in the education system as well as the requirements of the planned economy, they might not have been able to choose a job corresponding to their wishes and abilities anyway), social security... well, poverty was actually a problem for pensioners, and E. Germany cynically allowed them to emigrate to the West... as for housing, it wasn't free, but the rents were much lower than today. So was the standard, too.

Obviously he's a dictator in a communist country that disappeared. Anyone who lived in East Germany of the time can't stand up and oppose freely some of the things Honecker did to interfere with the liberties of his country. He wasn't as infamous like Adolf Hitler or as disloyal like Kaiser Wilheim II, but Honecker is one of the least liked personalities in Germany's history. No wonder the former communist East opted to join their brethren in the democratic west, now Federal Republic of Germany. There wasn't enough freedom and prosperity under communism and the eastern provinces strifed to recover for the next decade after reunification. Honecker is a criminal in the eyes of not only international law, but to the East German people. --Mike D 26 22:34, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

This is such a crucial person in german history. surely there is more to be written about him. I propose to nominate for expansion. opinions? Sophia 81 01:58, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

This man and the regime he lead, was an utter disgrace to Germany and Germans. He was a traitor and if there is a Hell, then this man is in it and he deserves no less for the rest of eternity. Detmold '29. 08 January 2007

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[edit] Erich Honecker virus

I recall reading that a computer virus was created in which Erich Honecker appeared - and the comment was that this was the first time a Communist had become a ghost. Any more details?

Jackiespeel 18:38, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

I’m Chilean, living at this moment in Germany. Let alone the fact that Honecker died in my country (which is certainly not something to be proud of), I know that this man was responsible of serious crimes against humankind. Not only in relation to all those East Germans who died trying to cross the border to West Germany – and to freedom -, or against all those people who were seriously oppressed by the Stasi and by the system itself, but in relation to humanity as a whole, for his crimes affected, in my opinion, the entire world. It is very true that his crimes cannot be compared with Hitler´s, but they can surely be compared, to some extent, with A. Pinochet´s in Chile. Although the political context is hardly similar, the procedures undertaken by the leaders were pretty much the same: oppression, murder, etc. Hence, and correct me if I’m wrong, this man should be remembered by humanity as responsible for crimes against humankind, and, as such, should be an example of how history should not be written down.

P1nkfl0yd 10:05, June 1, 2008

Last time I checked, the reason many Chileans are living in Germany is because the Stasi smuggled them out to save them from certain death or torture under Pinochet. If I were you, Id've been grateful, but that's just me I guess.

[edit] Length of first marriage

There is a discrepancy between the English and German versions of this article as to when Honecker married his first wife. Here, it says 1950, but in the German version it says 1947.

[edit] Length of first marriage

There is a discrepancy between the English and German versions of this article as to when Honecker married his first wife. Here, it says 1950, but in the German version it says 1947.--Tabun1015 22:52, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

He had been living with her since 1947, but married only in 1950, when she was pregnant of their daughter already. Some sources say he had been married before, and may have been waiting for his divorce from a previous wife having gone through legally. Fact is that in GDR-publications all this was stated differently, contrary to the truth. Kraxler 19:59, 23 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Neutral

There seems to be an edit war developing on this article. Please lets read Wikipedia:Neutral point of view. For example, stating "He will always be remembered as one of the greatest and most successful statesman Germany has ever produced," while removing comments about issues of civilian deaths during the cold war is very unbalanced. —Gaff ταλκ 02:05, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

There seems to have been no discussion of this. Further, the edit war is long over. I have removed the "neutral" tag. Jd2718 11:41, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Was Erich Honecker Bisexual?

Recently, i found a picture online, not the one from the Berlin Wall where there is a picture of him kissing Leonid Brezhnev, but a real picture of Erich Honecker and Mikhail Gorbachev physically kissing each other. I just have to wonder if Erich Honecker was bisexual or was the picture doctored to look that way? I found this picture while looking at pictures of Erich Honecker on Yahoo! and that picture was right down at the bottom of the page. If Wikipedia Administrators want to see the picture and have experts look at it and see if it's fake or not, that is ok with me, but i do not know if this picture is copyrighted or not. --Alexandergungnahov (talk) 06:23, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

In the Eastern Bloc it was a usual procedure during state visits that the communist leaders exchange "socialist brother kisses". Der Eberswalder (talk) 12:53, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

- I keep getting this image in my head of them doing that and then calling 'no homo'.

[edit] Where is everybody?

How come nobody has answered my question yet? --Alexandergungnahov (talk) 01:42, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

Okay, here i go : the picture is genuine, but it is not a sexual kiss at all. It is the (once) famous "fraternal socialist kiss" (de:Sozialistischer Bruderkuss). RCS (talk) 12:42, 17 March 2008 (UTC)