Siegfried Böhm (20 August 1928 – 4 May 1980) was an East German politician and long-term finance minister of East Germany. He was in office for nearly fourteen years between 1966 and 1980.

Siegfried Böhm
Minister of Finance of the German Democratic Republic
In office
12 December 1966 – 5 May 1980
Prime Minister
Preceded byWilly Rumpf
Succeeded byWerner Schmieder
Personal details
Born20 August 1928
Plauen, Weimar Republic
Died4 May 1980(1980-05-04) (aged 51)
Berlin-Karlshorst, German Democratic Republic
NationalityGerman
Political partySocialist Unity Party of Germany (1948-)

Biography

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Böhm was born in Plauen on 20 August 1928.[1] He received a degree in economics.[2]

Böhm was appointed the finance minister in December 1966, succeeding Willy Rumpf in the post.[2] Böhm's term lasted until 1980.[1] He was among the central committee members of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany.[3] He was also a member of the Working Group Balance of Payments from 1974 to 1980.[1] Böhm was one of the first officials who alerted the East German authorities about the negative consequences of the indebtedness to the Western countries.[1][4] He also criticized the illegal currency and gold transactions carried out in the country.[5]

Böhm died at his home in Berlin-Karlshorst on 4 May 1980.[1][6] The East German officials reported on the next day that his wife shot him during a quarrel and then she committed suicide.[3][7] The official paper Neues Deutschland argued that Böhm and his wife died in an accident without giving any further details about the incident.[8] One week later their children issued an obituary in a state-controlled paper.[8]

Böhm was buried in a state ceremony.[8] He was succeeded by Werner Schmieder as finance minister in June 1980.[9][10]

It was revealed in 2003 as a result of the investigations that Böhm was in fact killed by an East German hit squad due to his potential reports about the bankruptcy faced in East Germany.[7] His wife was also murdered by the squad to fabricate the official story of his death.[7]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Siegfried Böhm". European University Institute. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  2. ^ a b Ursula Hoffmann-Lange (1971). Die Veränderungen in der Sozialstruktur des Ministerrates der DDR: 1949-1969 (in German). Düsseldorf: Droste Verlag. pp. 54, 60. ISBN 978-3-7700-0281-8.
  3. ^ a b "Rätsel um Tod eines DDR-Ministers". LR Online (in German). 26 November 2003. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  4. ^ Maximilian Graf (2020). "Drifting Westward? East Germany and Integrated Europe". In Angela Romano; Federico Romero (eds.). European Socialist Regimes' Fateful Engagement with the West: National Strategies in the Long 1970s. London; New York: Taylor & Francis. p. 122. ISBN 978-1-00-021035-4.
  5. ^ Andreas Förster (27 September 2003). "Bundesanwaltschaft ermittelt im Fall Siegfried Böhm / SED-Politiker war 1980 erschossen worden: DDR-Killerkommando soll Minister getötet haben". Berliner Zeitung (in German). Berlin. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  6. ^ "Questions over death squad". news24. Berlin. 29 September 2003. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  7. ^ a b c "East German leaders' hit squad revealed". The Sydney Morning Herald. Deutsche Presse-Agentur. 29 September 2003. Archived from the original on 27 February 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  8. ^ a b c "East Germans Hush Up Killing of Official and Wife". The New York Times. 5 June 1980. p. A9. ProQuest 423949775. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  9. ^ "Was War am 22. Mai 1980" (in German). Chroniknet. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  10. ^ Peter Joachim Lapp (2013). Der Ministerrat der DDR: Aufgaben, Arbeitsweise und Struktur der anderen deutschen Regierung (in German). Opladen: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. p. 137. ISBN 978-3-322-88734-4.
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Political offices
Preceded by Finance Minister of East Germany
1966–1980
Succeeded by