Word: ulbricht
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...late 19205 when German Communism was still in its adolescence, sly. ruthless Walter Ulbricht and scrappy, fanatic Franz Dahlem were two of its brightest stars and, hence, bitter rivals. Both were sent to take part in the Spanish civil war as political commissars. Both were soon ordered home, and Ulbricht obeyed, ending up in Moscow. But Dahlem stayed on until he had to flee Spain in defeat. He was interned in France, and subsequently turned over to the invading Germans. He wound up in a Nazi concentration camp. All this time, safe in Moscow, Ulbricht solidified his own position...
After the war, when Moscow set up its East German satellite, Ulbricht's sedulous sycophancy was rewarded with the key party job in the new state, that of party general secretary. Dahlem got the less important job: chief party organizer. But though Dahlem was his subordinate, such eminence was still too close to his own for Ulbricht's comfort, and Ulbricht waited his chance to pounce...
...East Germany, Party Secretary Walter Ulbricht faced an unruly party convention. Young Communists heckled party leaders with interruptions such as: "If Stalin was so bad, then our party leadership must be bad too!"-an obvious conclusion that was certainly drawn by millions of people in Russia and the satellites. At the party conference called to agree on the new line, Premier Otto Grotewohl won the big cheers by criticizing Minister of Justice Hilde ("Hanging Hilde") Benjamin for failing to safeguard citizens' rights. Red China finally broke its silence about the disgrace of Stalin, and broadcast without comment Pravda...
...Soviet Union foreign Communist Party leaders, after 20 years of Stalin worship, had their troubles adjusting to the new line. In satellite Poland, Communist newspapers published pictures and laudatory biographies of Polish Communist leaders executed by Stalin. Hungary's Communist Party Boss Rakosi, East Germany's Walter Ulbricht (who likened Stalin worship to the Führer cult) and Italy's Togliatti each made statements downgrading Stalin's position. In Manhattan Daily Worker Editor Alan Max asked himself aloud some surprisingly pertinent questions: "Many things bother a person like myself: Where were the present [Soviet] leaders...
...between West Germany and West Berlin, which must cross East German territory. "The sooner the politicians of Bonn and West Berlin realize that they cannot undermine the East German regime, the better it will be for the populace of West Berlin," said East Germany's Deputy Premier Walter Ulbricht...