Günther Kleiber (16 September 1931, in Eula – 29 March 2013, in Berlin) was a former East German politician. He was a member of the politburo of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) from 1984 to 1989, and previously served as a minister for machinery, agricultural machinery and vehicle construction from 1973 to 1986.[1] He was also a member of the SED central committee and the People's Chamber from 1967. He was Vice Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 1971 to 1989.[1] From 1986 to 1989, he was the representative of the GDR to COMECON.[1]
Günther Kleiber | |||||||||||||
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 Kleiber in 1981 | |||||||||||||
| First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers | |||||||||||||
| In office 4 November 1988 – 7 November 1989 Serving with Alfred Neumann | |||||||||||||
| Chairman | |||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Werner Krolikowski | ||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Position abolished | ||||||||||||
| Permanent Representative of the GDR in Comecon | |||||||||||||
| In office February 1986 – 4 November 1988 | |||||||||||||
| Chairman of the Council of Ministers | |||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Gerhard Weiss | ||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Horst Sölle | ||||||||||||
| Minister for General Mechanical, Agricultural Machinery and Vehicle Construction | |||||||||||||
| In office 1 November 1976 – 12 March 1986 | |||||||||||||
| Chairman of the Council of Ministers | |||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Rudi Georgi | ||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Gerhard Tautenhahn | ||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||
| Born | Günther Kleiber 16 September 1931 Eula, Free State of Saxony, Weimar Republic (now Borna-Eula, Germany) | ||||||||||||
| Died | 29 March 2013 (aged 81) Berlin, Germany | ||||||||||||
| Political party | Socialist Unity Party (1950–1989) | ||||||||||||
| Alma mater | |||||||||||||
| Occupation |
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| Awards | |||||||||||||
Central institution membership
Other offices held
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Kleiber resigned all his offices on 8 November 1989, the day before the fall of the Berlin Wall. He was expelled from the party on 3 December. An investigation into abuse of power and corruption was suspended in May 1990. After his release from custody, he was unemployed.
In 1997, Kleiber was convicted of manslaughter for his role in ordering border guards to shoot East Germans who were attempting to flee to the West, and sentenced to three years in prison.[2][3] The verdict was upheld by the Federal Supreme Court in November 1999, and Kleiber reported to a prison in Berlin to begin serving his sentence on 18 January 2000. After a request for clemency, where he expressed his regret for his actions as a member of the East German regime, he was, along with Günter Schabowski, pardoned by Governing Mayor Eberhard Diepgen[4] (CDU) and released from prison on 6 September the same year.
References edit
- ^ a b c "Chronik-Biographie: Günther Kleiber". Retrieved 13 September 2010.
- ^ "1997: East German leader guilty of Berlin Wall deaths". BBC Online. 25 August 1997. Retrieved 13 September 2010.
- ^ Andrews, Edmund L. (26 August 1997). "Ex-East German Chief Gets 6 Years for Deaths at Wall". The New York Times. p. 6. Retrieved 13 September 2010.
- ^ Moore, Jeanne (7 September 2000). "World Briefing". New York Times. Retrieved 13 September 2010.
