Strelets, Fritz

Fritz Strelets
Fritz Strelets
Date of Birth
Place of Birth	;
Affiliation	GDR
Type of army	NNA
Years of service	1950-1983
Rank	Colonel General
Communications	Heinz Kessler - immediate superior in 1967-1979
Retired	December 31, 1989

Fritz Streletz ( German: Fritz Streletz , September 28, 1926 , Friedrichsgrets, Oppeln district) - a military leader of the GDR , in 1979 - 1989 he was chief of the Main Staff of the National People's Army of the GDR , Colonel General ( 1979 ).

Content

1 Biography
2 Military ranks
3 Most Important Awards
4 Literature
5 Links

Biography

He was the second illegitimate son in a peasant family in the Upper Silesian Friedrichsgretz, north of Oppeln. After the mother of Shtrelets got married, a new family, headed by her stepfather, moved to Eschenrod , a place 35 kilometers northwest of Magdeburg . At the age of ten, Strelets became a member of Jungfolk , a children's analogue of the Hitler Youth .

After graduating from the eight classes of a public school from April 1941 to October 1943, Strelets is studying at a school for training non-commissioned officers of the Wehrmacht, located in the Lower Bavarian Deggendorf on the Danube. Such schools were opened in the spring of 1940 for young men aged 14-17, who were trained to serve in the army at the front as non-commissioned officers.

In 1944 - 1945 he served as a non-commissioned officer, first in the 551st People’s Grenadier Division, and then in the 21st Infantry Division . He fought in Lithuania and East Prussia. In 1945 - 1948 he was in Soviet captivity.

In 1948 - 1951 he served in officer posts in the East German People's Police. Member of the SED since 1948 . In 1951 - 1952 he studied at training courses for regiment commanders in the Soviet Union. In 1952 - 1956 he served in the Barracks People’s Police . From March 1, 1956 to May 30, 1959, Colonel Shtrelets held the position of 1st Deputy Commander of the 3rd Military District ( Leipzig ). At the same time, from September 1 to November 30, 1957, he served as commander of the 3rd Military District. In 1959 - 1961 he studied at the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR .

After returning to the GDR from August 1, 1961 to July 31, 1964, Strelets served as chief of staff and deputy commander in the 3rd Military District. In 1964 - 1979 he held the position of chief of the Operations Directorate of the Main Staff of the NNA . At the same time, from 1971 to 1979, he was secretary of the National Defense Council of the GDR. On October 1, 1979, he was awarded the rank of Colonel General .

From January 10, 1979 to December 31, 1989, Strelets served as Deputy Minister of National Defense of the GDR , Chief of Staff of the NNA and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Joint Forces of the Warsaw Treaty Organization. In 1981 - 1989, he was simultaneously a member of the SED Central Committee. December 31, 1989 was dismissed from the ranks of the NNA .

After the reunification of Germany, the Berlin Regional Court recognized him as involved in the killings and attempted murders of civilians who fled from the German Democratic Republic to the Federal Republic of Germany through the Berlin Wall , and sentenced him to five and a half years in prison.

Military ranks

Major General - March 1, 1964;
Lieutenant General - October 7, 1969;
Colonel General - October 1, 1979

Most Important Rewards

Hero of Labor GDR
Order of Karl Marx
Order of Merit to the Fatherland in bronze, silver and gold
Scharnhorst Order (twice)

Literature

Roman Grafe: Deutsche Gerechtigkeit. Prozesse gegen DDR-Grenzschützen und ihre Befehlshaber. Siedler, München 2004.
Klaus Froh, Rüdiger Wenzke: Die Generale und Admirale der NVA. Ein biographisches Handbuch. 4. Auflage. Ch. Links, Berlin 2000