Wilhelm Zaisser

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Wilhelm Zaisser
Wilhelm Zaisser in 1950.
Minister of State Security of the German Democratic Republic
In office 8 February 1950 – 18 July 1953
President	Wilhelm Pieck
Prime Minister	Otto Grotewohl
Deputy	Erich Mielke
Preceded by	Office created
Succeeded by	Ernst Wollweber
Personal details
Born	Wilhelm Zaisser (1893-06-20)20 June 1893 Gelsenkirchen, Westphalia, Prussia, German Empire
Died	3 March 1958(1958-03-03) (aged 64) East Berlin, East Germany
Political party	Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (1919-1921) Communist Party of Germany (1921–1932) Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1932–1947) Socialist Unity Party of Germany (1947–1954)
Spouse	Elisabeth Knipp / Zaisser
Children	Renate Böttcher-Zaisser, born 22 April 1924
Occupation	Politician, Soldier, Spy, Government Minister
Military service
Allegiance	German Empire Soviet Union Republic of China (1927–1930) Czechoslovakia (1930–1932) Second Spanish Republic (1936–1938) East Germany
Branch/service	Imperial German Army Main Intelligence Directorate National Revolutionary Army Spanish Republican Army
Years of service	First World War Ruhr Uprising Spanish Civil War

Wilhelm Zaisser (20 June 1893 – 3 March 1958) was a German communist politician and statesman who served as the founder and first Minister for State Security of the German Democratic Republic (1950–1953).^[1]