Karl Schirdewan was a German Communist activist who after World War II became a top East German politician.
Schirdewan in 1952
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 the president in recognition of his "struggle against Fascism and his contributions to the creation of the German Democratic Republic"
Walter Ernst Paul Ulbricht was a German communist politician. Ulbricht played a leading role in the creation of the Weimar-era Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and later in the early development and establishment of the German Democratic Republic. As the First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party from 1950 to 1971, he was the chief decision-maker in East Germany. From President Wilhelm Pieck's death in 1960 on, he was also the East German head of state until his own death in 1973. As the leader of a significant Communist satellite, Ulbricht had a degree of bargaining power with the Kremlin that he used effectively. For example, he demanded the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961 when the Kremlin was reluctant.
Ulbricht in 1960
Ulbricht (standing in the background) speaking at a joint event of the KPD and NSDAP on 22 January 1931. Joseph Goebbels is visible on the left in the foreground.
"Help with the Search for the Red Murderers": Ulbricht (bottom left) on a wanted poster for the killing of Anlauf and Lenck, 1933
Mao Zedong, Stalin, Ulbricht and Tsedenbal at Stalin's 70th birthday celebrations in Moscow, December 1949
