Central Auditing Commission of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany

Central Auditing Commission

Zentrale Revisionskommission
Logo of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany
Agency overview
Formed	July 1950
Preceding agency	Auditing Commission
Dissolved	December 1989
Jurisdiction	East Germany
Headquarters	Haus am Werderschen Markt , East Berlin
Employees	9 (1986)
Agency executives	Kurt Seibt, Chairman Karl-Heinz Lorber, Deputy Chairman
Parent department	Party Congress

The Central Auditing Commission (German : Zentrale Revisionskommission) (ZRK) was a body of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) mainly tasked with ensuring orderly party finances and work of the party organs.

Compared to the Central Party Control Commission, which enforced party discipline, the ZRK's power was limited.

History

An Auditing Commission was first set up at the founding party conference in April 1946. ^[1]

Analogous to the CPSU Central Auditing Commission, it was converted to the Central Auditing Commission at the III. Party Congress of the SED in July 1950, which also elected Alfred Oelßner, former head cashier of the KPD and SED, as its first chairman. ^[1]

Work

The ZRK was mainly tasked with controlling the SED's finances, in particular the collection and accounting of party members' membership fees. Additionally, it performed financial audits in the party apparatus, in particular party enterprises such as the Dietz publishing house. ^[1]

Aside from finances, the ZRK was tasked with ensuring orderly work of the party organs in general, especially if petitions by party members and citizens at large were processed appropriately. ^{[1] [2] : 842–843  [3]} It also "oversaw" the work of other auditing commissions in mass organizations such as the FDGB's ZRK. ^{[1] [2] : 843  [3] : 2, 12–13}

The ZRK de jure only reported to the party congress and stood aside the Central Committee. ^{[1] [2] : 843  [3] : 2  [4] : 16, 22} However, de facto, the ZRK was not able to independently audit the central party apparatus, as the later did not have to divulge information. ^{[4] : 25} The ZRK's limited jurisdiction furthermore made it significantly less powerful than the SED's other disciplinary body, the Central Party Control Commission.

The ZRK originally also investigated petitions addressing problems in industrial enterprises, ^{[3] : 3  [5]} to the detriment of Central Committee Secretary for economics Günter Mittag. ^[5] On one such occasion, Mittag was able to discredit the ZRK's report, after which it largely ceased its controls in the economy. ^[5]

Structure

Subordinate bodies

The ZRK had subordinate bodies: the Bezirk (or, until the administrative reform in 1952, the state-level auditing commissions) and the district-level auditing commissions of the SED. ^{[1] [2] : 843  [3] : 2  [4] : 16} The SED also had so-called functional district organisations in large universities, ministries such as the Ministry for State Security and other institutions, and these also had auditing commissions.

All of these commissions officially worked at their own discretion in regards to their audits, ^{[3] : 13–14} but were still bound by the directives of the ZRK and were obligated to report to it. ^{[2] : 843  [3] : 19} The auditing commissions could not issue penalties directly, but were required to give recommendations in regards to punishments and control their implementation. ^{[3] : 16–17} Gross violations had to be reported to the next highest auditing commission immediately. ^{[3] : 18}

Composition

The ZRK's members and candidate members, largely unpaid except for a few staff members, ^{[2] : 843} were elected by the party congress. ^{[1] [2] : 825  [3] : 2  [4] : 22, 25} The ZRK's membership grew over the course of its existence; whereas the ZRK had nineteen full members (excluding the chairman and deputy chairman) and four candidate members in 1970, ^[6] the ZRK elected by the XI. Party Congress in April 1986 composed of forty full members and eight candidate members. ^[7]

Membership in the ZRK was usually incompatible with membership of the Central Committee, chairman Kurt Seibt being a notable exception. Members did not need to have any formal qualifications in auditing. ^{[3] : 18–19}

Notable members include Günter Sieber (1963–1967), ^[8] Heinz Kuhrig (1971–1976), ^[9] and Gisela Glende (1986–1989). ^{[7] [10]}

Leadership

The ZRK's leading official was a chairman who led the commission's work, prepared its meetings and kept party leadership informed. ^{[3] : 18} The chairman and deputy chairman were officially selected at the ZRK's inaugural meeting after a party congress. ^{[1] [11]}

Chairman	Tenure
Alfred Oelßner	July 1950 – April 1954
Fritz Gäbler	April 1954 – April 1967
Kurt Seibt	April 1967 – December 1989

The chairman was assisted by a deputy chairman, ^{[1] [3] : 18  [6] [7] [11]} notably Sepp Hahn under Fritz Gäbler ^[11] and Karl-Heinz Lorber under Kurt Seibt. ^{[6] [7]}

References

1. Gräfe, Sylvia, ed. (2005). "Zentrale Revisionskommission im ZK der SED". www.argus.bstu.bundesarchiv.de (in German). Berlin: German Federal Archives . Retrieved 2025-05-10. Im April 1946 wurde auf dem I. Parteitag der SED eine Revisionskommission gewählt, die auf dem III. Parteitag 1950 in die ZRK umgebildet wurde. Sie setzte sich aus Mitgliedern und Kandidaten zusammen, die auf den konstituierenden Sitzungen jeweils einen Vorsitzenden und einen stellvertretenden Vorsitzenden wählten. Die ZRK war gegenüber dem Parteitag rechenschaftspflichtig. Vorsitzende der ZRK waren Alfred Oelßner (1950-1954), Fritz Gäbler (1954-1967) und Kurt Seibt (1967-1989). Neben der ZRK gab es bei den Landes- bzw. Bezirksleitungen sowie den Kreis- und Stadtleitungen der SED Revisionskommissionen. Sie kontrollierten den Einsatz der materiellen und finanziellen Mittel der SED, insbesondere die Kassierung und Abrechnung der Beiträge der Parteimitglieder. Zu Ihren Aufgaben gehörten weiterhin Finanzprüfungen im Parteiapparat, in Parteibetrieben und -organen, die Finanzwirtschaft (einschließlich der Statistik) und die Kommission zur Betreuung alter verdienter Parteimitglieder.
2. Ammer, Thomas. Die Machthierarchie der SED (in German). Enquete-Kommission „Zur Aufarbeitung von Geschichte und Folgen der SED-Diktatur in Deutschland“. Retrieved 2025-05-10.
3. Direktive für die Tätigkeit der Revisionskommissionen der SED (PDF) (in German). Zentrale Revisionskommission der SED. 1984-03-27. Retrieved 2025-05-10.
4. Arnold, Otfried; Modrow, Hans (1994). "Das Große Haus". In Modrow, Hans (ed.). Das Grosse Haus: Insider berichten aus dem ZK der SED (in German). Berlin: Edition Ost. ISBN   978-3-929161-20-5.
5. Janson, Carl-Heinz (1991). Totengräber der DDR: wie Günter Mittag den SED-Staat ruinierte (in German). Düsseldorf: Econ. pp. 217–218. ISBN   978-3-430-15043-9.
6. Parteiapparat der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik (PDF) (in German) (4th ed.). Bonn: Gesamtdeutsche Institut – Bundesanstalt für gesamtdeutsche Aufgaben. 1971. p. 6. Retrieved 2025-05-10.
7. "Mitglieder der Zentralen Revisionskommission". Neues Deutschland (in German). Berlin: Berlin State Library. 1986-04-22. p. 6. Retrieved 2025-05-10.
8. Müller-Enbergs, Helmut (2010). "Sieber, Günter". www.bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de. Wer war wer in der DDR? (in German). Berlin: Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship . Retrieved 2025-05-10. 1963 – 67 Mitgl. der ZRK der SED
9. Kuntsche; Müller-Enbergs, Helmut (2010). "Kuhrig, Heinz". www.bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de. Wer war wer in der DDR? (in German). Berlin: Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship . Retrieved 2025-05-10. 1971 – 76 Mitgl. der ZRK
10. Müller-Enbergs, Helmut; Herbst, Andreas (2010). "Glende, Gisela". www.bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de. Wer war wer in der DDR? (in German). Berlin: Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship . Retrieved 2025-05-10. 1986 – 89 Mitgl. der ZRK
11. "Begeisternder Abschluß des VI. Parteitages Einstimmige Wahl der zentralen Parteiorgane". Neues Deutschland (in German). Berlin: Berlin State Library. 1963-01-22. p. 1. Retrieved 2025-08-02.