Erich Mielke demonstrations politically and giving "every DDR citizen the right to travel." On 17 October 1989, Mielke and the rest of the GDR's Politburo met to follow Gorbachev's demand, voiced in August, for Erich Honecker be removed as General Secretary of the SED and State Council chairman. Suspecting that Honecker's personal bodyguards might try to arrest the members of the Central Committee when they met to vote Honecker out in favour of Egon Krenz, Mielke saw to it that Stasi agents were stationed near the meeting room. While deliberations were underway, Mielke told Honecker that "we simply cannot start shooting with
Erich Peter Erich Peter Erich Peter was a German general in the National People's Army. He commanded the GDR Border Troops of East Germany, also holding the position of the Deputy Minister of National Defense. Erich Peter was born in 1919 into a working-class family. He took part in World War II, being taken prisoner by the American forces in 1945. Shortly after the end of the war, Peter joined the Communist Party of Germany. In 1948, he joined the People's Police, earning promotions in the force and becoming head of a technical school for armoured troops in Erfurt. He was educated