Hilde Benjamin | |
|---|---|
 Benjamin in 1947 | |
| Minister of Justice of the German Democratic Republic | |
| In office 15 July 1953 – 14 July 1967 | |
| Chairman of the Council of Ministers | |
| Preceded by | Max Fechner |
| Succeeded by | Kurt Wünsche |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Hilde Lange 5 February 1902 |
| Died | 18 April 1989(1989-04-18) (aged 87) |
| Party | Socialist Unity Party (1946–1989) |
| Other political affiliations | Communist Party of Germany (1927–1946) |
| Spouse | |
| Alma mater | Friedrich Wilhelm University |
| Occupation |
|
Central institution membership
Other offices held
| |
Hilde Benjamin (néeLange; 5 February 1902 – 18 April 1989) was anEast Germanjudge who served as theMinister of Justice of the German Democratic Republic from 1953 to 1967.
Benjamin was a professionallawyer and member of theCommunist Party of Germany before holding a number of high-ranking posts in theSocialist Unity Party (SED) and theEast German government. Benjamin was appointed Vice President of theSupreme Court of the German Democratic Republic where her interpretation of the1949 Constitution of East Germany helped the SED to prosecutedissident activity and developed a reputation as ahanging judge. Benjamin was appointed Justice Minister after theUprising of 1953 and was responsible for the politically motivated prosecutions, including those ofErna Dorn andErnst Jennrich.[1][2] Benjamin's career declined in the 1960s andWalter Ulbricht forced her to resign in 1967.
In his 1994 inauguration speech, German PresidentRoman Herzog cited Benjamin as a symbol oftotalitarianism andinjustice, and called both her name and legacy incompatible with theGerman Constitution and with therule of law.[3][4]
Hilde Lange was born on 5 February 1902 inBernburg,Duchy of Anhalt, into amiddle class andliberal-mindedProtestant family.[5] She was the daughter of Heinz Lange, anengineer andclerk at apotash mine operated bySolvay near Bernberg, and his wife Adele (née Böhme).[6] She was raised inBerlin, where the family relocated when her father became head of a Solvaysubsidiary in the city. Growing up in the culturally inclined liberal ambience of a middle-class family awakened in her an early interest inclassical music andGerman literature that would stay with her throughout her life.[7] Her sister,Ruth Lange, was a record-breaking athlete in theshot put anddiscus throw in Germany.
In 1921, she graduated from theFichtenberg High School inSteglitz on the south side of Berlin. She became active in theWandervogel movement, which had its origins in Steglitz. She was among the first women to studylaw in Germany, attendingFriedrich-Wilhelm University of Berlin, theUniversity of Heidelberg, and theUniversity of Hamburg from 1921 to 1924. By this time, she was a member of theSocial Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).
In 1926, Lange married Georg Benjamin, asocialist andpediatrician working inWedding, a predominantlyworking class district of Berlin. Georg was the brother of writerWalter Benjamin and of her friend, the academicDora Benjamin. Their son,de:Michael Benjamin, was born at the end of 1932. She quit the moderate left-wing SPD and in 1927 joined her husband in the far-leftCommunist Party of Germany (KPD). Because of her political convictions, she obtained aBerufsverbot and was forbidden to practice law after theNazi rise to power in 1933. Her husband, a communist and aJew, was removed toSonnenburg concentration camp directly after theReichstag fire. Briefly jobless, she returned for a time to live with her parents along with her small son. She then obtained a position providing legal advice for theSoviet trade association in Berlin. Georg was released later in the year, though he was unable to find legal work, finding employment with the underground Berlin-Brandenburg branch of the KPD. He was arrested again in 1936, being sent to numerous prisons thenNazi concentration camps until he was finally killed at theMauthausen in 1942. The camp's administration listed his cause of death as "Suicide by touching ahigh voltage power line" though he was likely beaten to death shortly after arrival. DuringWorld War II from 1939 to 1945, she was forced to work in a clothing factory.
After the war, Benjamin was appointed head of the Personnel and Schools Department of the German Central Administration for Justice in theSoviet Occupation Zone, the predecessor to theMinistry of Justice of the German Democratic Republic. She joined theSocialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in 1946, which had been formed from amerger of the KPD and SPD under pressure from theSoviet Military Administration in Germany. Following the founding of theGerman Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany) in 1949, she was appointed to a number of high-ranking positions, including the Vice President of theSupreme Court of the German Democratic Republic and a member of theVolkskammer. She assisted with the controversial Waldheim Trials and presided over a series ofshow trials against those identified as political undesirables, such asJohann Burianek andWolfgang Kaiser, as well as againstJehovah's Witnesses.[8]
Benjamin was instrumental in authoring thepenal code and the code of penal procedure of the GDR, and played a decisive role in the reorganization of the country's legal system. Her interpretation of Article 6 of the1949 Constitution of East Germany was highly influential, defining the vague offence ofKriegs- und Boykotthetze ("Incitement of war or toboycott") so that it could be applied to any form ofpolitical opposition to the state. This effectively gave the SED a legal route to prosecutedissident activity, at a time when the constitution lacked provisions on the subject ofstate security. In 1952, she imposed thedeath penalty for the first time in application of Article 6, in consultation with the SED leadership, in the show trial of Burianek
On 15 July 1953, Benjamin was appointedMinister of Justice of the German Democratic Republic, succeedingMax Fechner in the aftermath of theUprising of 1953 which nearly overthrew the SED regime. Two weeks earlier, Fechner had stated in an interview toNeues Deutschland that he opposed the prosecution of workers who had taken part in the 17 Junestrike. The SED leadership were infuriated with Fechner, removing him as Justice Minister, denouncing him as an "enemy of the state and the party", and sent to prison. Benjamin, together withAnton Plenikowski,Ernst Melsheimer and Herbert Kern, had formed the "Justice Commission" of the SED Central Committee to secure a conviction for Fechner. Concurrently, the SED launched apurge against members considered to bemoderates (mostly former SPD members) and officers of theVolkspolizei accused of "conciliatory and capitulatory behavior" towards the protesters.
Benjamin was responsible for the prosecution of those arrested during the June protests and strikes which, unlike her predecessor, she fully endorsed. She established special courts in thedistricts of East Germany made up of lawyers loyal to SED for this purpose. Her behavior and statements from the bench, as well as her regular use of heavy sentences, earned Benjamin the nicknames "Red Hilde", "The RedFreisler," and, "The RedGuillotine."[9] She openly citedAndrei Vyshinsky, the prosecutor in theMoscow trials during theGreat Purge from 1936 to 1938.
In 1954, she was appointed to theCentral Committee of the SED and would remain a member until her death.
Benjamin began to fall out of favour with East German leaderWalter Ulbricht in October 1961, when Soviet leaderNikita Khrushchev launched a second round ofDe-Stalinization. Ulbricht, under Soviet influence, criticised Benjamin and requested that she relax the politicaldogmatism of the legal system. She defended herself and argued that the "renunciation ofStalinist legal practices" would "open the door to Westernclass enemies". She did concede with relaxations and reforms in 1962 and 1963, which likely won her some favour.
In July 1967, Ulbricht forced Benjamin to resign, ostensibly for health reasons and to rejuvenate theCouncil of Ministers, and was replaced byKurt Wünsche. In 1966, theMinistry for State Security had allegedly learned through interrogations of exposedCIA agent Gertrud Liebing that Benjamin belonged to alesbian circle. This is possibly why Ulbricht removed her as Justice Minister.
From 1967 to her death, Benjamin held the chair for the history of the judiciary at theDeutsche Akademie für Staats- und Rechtswissenschaft inPotsdam-Babelsberg. She campaigned for further tightening of political criminal law and the retention of the death penalty. She died inEast Berlin in April 1989. She was cremated and honoured with burial in thePergolenwegEhrengrab section of Berlin'sFriedrichsfelde Cemetery.
Benjamin received several awards in the GDR: in 1962 thePatriotic Order of Merit, in 1977 and 1987 theOrder of Karl Marx, in 1979 the title of Meritorious Jurist of the GDR (Verdiente Juristin der DDR), and in 1982 theStar of People's Friendship.
Media related toHilde Benjamin at Wikimedia Commons
