Erich Honecker

Erich Honecker (25 August 1912–29 May 1994) was a German Communist politician who led East Germany from 1971 until 1989. After German re-unification, he first fled to the Soviet Union but was extradited by the new democratic Russian government to Germany, where he was imprisoned and tried for high treason and crimes committed during the Cold War (specifically the deaths of 192 Germans who tried to escape the Honecker regime). However, as he was dying of cancer, he was released from prison. He died in exile in Chile shortly after.

Famous quotes

• "The Wall will remain so long as the conditions that led to its erection are not changed. It will be standing even in 50 and even in 100 years, if the necessary conditions are not removed." (Berlin, 19 January 1989)
• "We have done our perestroika, we have nothing to restructure."
• "Neither an oxen nor a donkey are able to stop the progress of socialism" (Den Sozialismus hält in seinem Lauf/ weder Ochs noch Esel auf)