Franz Dahlem was a German communist politician who was a leading official of the Socialist Unity Party. Dahlem helped establish the SED and German Democratic Republic, and held senior positions in the
Dahlem in 1946
Dahlem's official Landtag of Prussia portrait, 1921
Dahlem's official Reichstag portrait, 1930
Dahlem (second from right) at the merger of the KPD and SPD in April 1946
Karl Schirdewan was a German anti-fascist activist who after World War II became a high-ranking politician of the SED, later becoming disgraced for his outspoken critique of the party from a communist
Franz Dahlem
…office 23 April 1946 – 24 January 1949 Serving with Erich Gniffke Chairman Wilhelm Pieck Otto Grotewohl Preceded by Position established Succeeded by Karl Schirdewan (As Secretary of Leading Party Organs and Mass Organizations, 1952) National Leader of the Revolutionäre Gewerkschafts Opposition In office November…
Schirdewan in Wilhelm Pieck – Das Leben unseres Präsidenten, 1952
Schirdewan gives a speech at the Friedrichstadt-Palast in East Berlin commemorating the 36th anniversary of the October Revolution, 6 November 1953
On 6 May 1955, in a ceremony timed to honour the tenth anniversary of the "Liberation from Fascism", Karl Schirdewan was an early recipient of the Patriotic Order of Merit (Vaterländischer Verdienstorden) in Gold from president Wilhelm Pieck in recognition of his "struggle against Fascism and his contributions to the creation of the German Democratic Republic"
Schirdewan gives a speech, 1952