Chronicle of Past Events - Legal practitioner from ex-GDR, Friedrich Wolff, passes away.
A retired East German lawyer, Friedrich Wolff, who once defended ex-political leader Erich Honecker, has passed away at the age of 101. The news was shared by his publisher, Frank Schumann, who said that Wolff peacefully drifted off to sleep at his home in Wandlitz, near Berlin.
In the old East German era, Wolff gained popularity for his appearances on the TV show "Alles was Recht ist." Before that, he served as the lawyer in the East Berlin trials against former Nazi officials Hans Globke and Theodor Oberlander - both of whom held positions in the Federal Republic's government and were convicted of crimes committed during Hitler's reign in absentia in the early '60s.
After unification, Wolff not only defended Honecker but also other East German politicians, like Hans Modrow and Hermann Axen, during legal proceedings in German courts. Later, two books came out: "Lost Cases. My Defenses in Political Trials" and "Don't Come at Me with the Rule of Law. Friedrich Wolff and Egon Krenz in Conversation."
Wolff was born on July 30, 1922, in Berlin. As per Schumann's statement, he'll be laid to rest at the Jewish Cemetery in Berlin-Weißensee, where his parents had already reserved a family plot in '35.
Read also:
- Friedrich Wolff's publisher, Frank Schumann, is based in Germany.
- Wolff represented former GDR leader Erich Honecker and other East German politicians in legal proceedings after unification, under the watchful eye of the SED.
- His legal career spanned both the GDR and post-unification Germany, with notable cases in Wandlitz and Berlin courts.
- After his death at 101, Wolff will be buried in the Jewish Cemetery in Berlin-Weißensee, a plot his parents had reserved decades earlier.
