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Franz Rydz

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Franz Rydz
Rydz in 1977
Head of the Sports Sector in the Security Affairs Department of the Central Committee of the SED[a]
In office
January 1953 – 20 May 1959
Secretary
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byRudolf Hellmann
Personal details
BornFranz Rydz
(1927-05-27)27 May 1927
Salsitz, Province of Saxony, Free State of Prussia, Weimar Republic (now Saxony-Anhalt, Germany)
Died20 November 1989(1989-11-20) (aged 62)
Kienbaum, Bezirk Frankfurt (Oder), East Germany
Cause of deathSuicide by firearm
PartySocialist Unity Party
Alma mater
Occupation
  • Sports Official
  • Party Functionary
Central institution membership
Other offices held

Franz Rydz (27 May 1927 – 20 November 1989) was an East German high-ranking sports official and party functionary of the Socialist Unity Party (SED).

Rydz started his career in the SED apparatus, later serving as a high-ranking official in several East German sports organizations, including as vice president of both the German Gymnastics and Sports Federation and the East German German Football Association.

Early on during the Peaceful Revolution, Rydz shot himself.

Life and career

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Rydz was born on 27 May 1927 in Salsitz, then part of the Prussian Province of Saxony.[1][2] Following the establishment of East Germany, Rydz served as chairman of the State Sports Committee of Saxony-Anhalt from 1950 to 1952.[2]

After attending the SED's "Karl Marx" Party Academy,[1][2] he joined the apparatus of the Central Committee of the SED as head of the newly established Youth and Sports Sector in the LOPMO Department in 1953, reorganized as Sports Sector in the Security Affairs Department in August 1955.[3] This made him the highest-ranking party official for sports at the time.[3][4]

In May 1959,[5] he was transferred to the German Gymnastics and Sports Federation (German: Deutscher Turn- und Sportbund, DTSB), the recently created mass organization for all East German sports. He was succeeded as sector head by Rudolf Hellmann.[3]

He initially joined the DTSB as secretary, being promoted to vice president with responsibility for finance in 1966.[1][2][6] Additionally, he was a member of the Central Council of the Free German Youth from 1959 to 1976.[2] Furthermore, he was vice president of the East German Football Association of the German Democratic Republic starting in 1961 and, from 1970, treasurer of East Germany's National Olympic Committee.[1][2]

Among the leading East German sports officials, Rydz was more open towards what the SED deemed the "commercialization" of sports, culminating in him signing an advertising contract with West German sports apparel company Adidas in May 1982 as DTSB vice president.[7] Rydz had previously been accused of repeatedly having been to West Germany to buy shoes for top East German athletes in 1970.[8]

In the early 1970s, Rydz unsuccessfully tried to pressure East Germany national football team member Jürgen Croy to transfer from his club BSG Sachsenring Zwickau to a more prominent Bezirk-level club.[9]

Death

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During the Peaceful Revolution, many high-ranking East German sports officials came under intensive public scrutiny, facing accusations of corruption and embezzlement.[10] On 20 November 1989, Rydz destroyed potentially incriminating documents for one and a half hours and later died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Kienbaum,[1][11][12][13] seat of the Olympic National Training Centre. After his death, 291,000 West German marks in cash were found in his East Berlin office.[1][11][13] The cash is said to have been used to buy sports equipment and medicines in the West, among other things.[13] Rydz was one of several mid-level SED functionaries to commit suicide during the Peaceful Revolution.[14]

After German reunification, many high-ranking East German sports officials were convicted for their involvement in the mass doping of East German athletes.[1][15]

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Behling, Klaus (2015). "Plötzlich und unerwartet ... ": Selbstmorde nach Wende und Einheit (in German) (2. Auflage ed.). Berlin: Edition Berolina. p. 171. ISBN 978-3-95841-004-6.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Baumgartner, Gabriele; Hebig, Dieter (1996). Biographisches Handbuch der SBZ,DDR: 1945-1990 (in German). München New Providence Paris [etc]: K. G. Saur. p. 747. ISBN 978-3-598-11130-3.
  3. 1 2 3 Hartmann, Sieglinde (2007). "Abteilung Sport im ZK der SED". www.argus.bstu.bundesarchiv.de (in German). Berlin: German Federal Archives. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
  4. ↑ Seppelt, Hans-Joachim; Helmstaedt, Karin, eds. (1999). Anklage: Kinderdoping: das Erbe des DDR-Sports. Tenea Sport (in German). Berlin: TENEA Verl. für Medien. p. 104. ISBN 978-3-932274-16-9.
  5. ↑ Räuber, Ute, ed. (2007). "Protokoll Nr. 14/59 Sitzung am 20. Mai 1959". www.argus.bstu.bundesarchiv.de. Protokolle des Sekretariats des ZK der SED (in German). Berlin: German Federal Archives. Retrieved 1 February 2025. 16. Verstärkung des Sekretariats des Vorstandes des DTSB – 17. Bestätigung des Gen. Rudolf Hellmann
  6. ↑ DDR Handbuch (in German) (2nd ed.). Köln: Federal Ministry for Intra-German Relations. 1979. pp. 258–259. Retrieved 1 February 2025. Zum Sekretariat zählen außer dem Präsidenten Ewald die 7 Vizepräsidenten; für Organisation (Werner Berg, SED), Finanzen (Franz Rydz, SED), Kaderwesen (Siegfried Geilsdorf, SED), Leistungssport (Bernhard Orzechowski, SED), Volkssport (Professor Dr. Horst Röder, SED), Agitation und Propaganda (Johannes Rech, SED) und Internationale Arbeit (Günther Heinze, SED).
  7. ↑ Boeger, Peter (10 August 2015). "Kampf gegen "Professionalisierung und Kommerzialisierung" im Sport. Wie die DDR dennoch zu einem adidas-Land wurde (Teil II)". Deutschland Archiv (in German). Federal Agency for Civic Education. Retrieved 1 February 2025. Am 26. Mai 1982 traf in der adidas-Zentrale im bundesdeutschen Herzogenaurach Franz Rydz, Vizepräsident des DTSB der DDR, ein. Rydz war kein Unbekannter im Hause adidas. Als Rydz am nächsten Tag wieder abfuhr, hatte er vom adidas-Geschäftsführer Alfred Bente das Angebot für einen Werbevertrag in der Tasche. Noch im gleichen Jahr unterzeichneten adidas und der DTSB den Vertrag.
  8. ↑ Boeger, Peter (31 July 2015). "Kampf gegen "Professionalisierung und Kommerzialisierung" im Sport. Wie die DDR dennoch zu einem adidas-Land wurde". Deutschland Archiv (in German). Federal Agency for Civic Education. Retrieved 1 February 2025. Dopingarzt Dr. Höppner, berichtete bereits 1970, dass der Vizepräsident des DTSB, Franz Rydz (1927–1989), wiederholt in Westdeutschland war, um Schuhe für DDR-Spitzensportler einzukaufen.
  9. ↑ Hendel, Maximilian (19 October 2011). ""Ich bekam weiche Knie"". 11 Freunde (in German). Retrieved 1 February 2025.
  10. ↑ "East German sports in chaos". Cayman Compass Archive. 15 December 1989. Archived from the original on 9 June 2026. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  11. 1 2 Braun, Jutta; Treichler, Hans Joachim, eds. (2006). Sportstadt Berlin im Kalten Krieg: Prestigekämpfe und Systemwettstreit. Forschungen zur DDR-Gesellschaft (in German) (1. Aufl ed.). Berlin: Links. p. 80. ISBN 978-3-86153-399-3.
  12. ↑ Smoltczyk, Alexander (9 December 1989). "Wende und Wahn – auf dem Weg". Die Tageszeitung (in German). ISSN 0931-9085. Retrieved 1 February 2025. Ende November erschoß sich der Vize-Präsident des Sportbunds, Franz Rydz. In seinem Büro waren 291.000 D-Mark gefunden worden.
  13. 1 2 3 Weinreich, Jens (27 December 2009). ""Moral statt Medaillen"". deutschlandfunk.de (in German). Deutschlandfunk. Archived from the original on 11 February 2026. Retrieved 1 February 2025. Im DTSB wurden schwarze Kassen gefunden, und im Büro des DTSB-Vizepräsidenten Franz Rydz auch knapp 300.000 West-Mark in bar. Rydz hatte Ende November noch Unterlagen vernichtet – und sich dann erschossen. Mit den Barmitteln sollen unter anderem im Westen Sportmaterialien und Arzneimittel gekauft worden sein.
  14. ↑ Bartsch, Michael (10 April 2006). "Schuldige und unschuldige Wende-Opfer". Neues Deutschland (in German). Dresden. Archived from the original on 20 March 2025. Retrieved 1 February 2025. Andere Systemträger wie die ehemalige stellvertretende FDGB-Vorsitzende Johanna Töpfer oder DTSB-Vizepräsident Franz Rydz resignierten vor der Last der Verantwortung.
  15. ↑ "2 Sentenced in Doping Cases". Berlin: Associated Press. 21 May 2000. Archived from the original on 9 February 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2025.

Notes

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  1. ↑ Youth and Sports Sector in the LOPMO Department until 31 August 1955
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