Hans Jendretzky

Gustav Ernst Hans Jendretzky (20 July 1897 – 2 July 1992) was a German communist politician and trade unionist. He was a prominent functionary of the Socialist Unity Party (SED) in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany).

Political career Weimar era

He became a member of the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany in 1919 and of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) in 1920. In the 1920s, he was one of the most prominents members of the KPD, and was head of the Roter Frontkämpferbund in Berlin-Brandenburg. He was a member of the Landtag of Prussia from 1928 to 1932 and served as secretary of the KPD's sub-district in Frankfurt an der Oder from 1929 to 1932.

Nazi era and imprisonment In 1934, he was sentenced to three years of prison, being charged with "conspiracy to commit high treason."

Post-war career After World War II, he became active in communist politics in the Soviet Occupation Zone, and was president of the Free German Trade Union Federation (FDGB) 1946-1948, First Secretary (head) of the East Berlin SED district from 1948 to 1953. He was a candidate to the politburo from 1950, deputy minister of the Interior from 1957 to 1960, a member of the SED central committee 1957-1989, member of the Volkskammer 1950-1954 and 1958-1989.

Jendretzky famously denounced the Freedom Bell in West Berlin, a gift from Americans as a sign of the fight against communism in Europe, as the "death bell", warning: "The rope of the death bell will become the gallows rope for those who ring it."

Literature Hermann Weber/Andreas Herbst: Deutsche Kommunisten. Biographisches Handbuch 1918 bis 1945, Berlin: Karl Dietz Verlag 2004, S. 344-345