In a speech, Krenz attempted a reckoning with history, which also criticized his political mentor Honecker.

The CDU Presidium also demanded the resignation of Krenz as head of the Council of State and Chairman of the National Defense Council.

In addition, all operational senior staff members from EMEA & Asia, including Jürg Reuthinger, Senior VP Aircraft Management ; Stephan Krenz, Senior VP Completions EMEA & Asia and General Manager Jet Aviation Basel ; Christof Späth, Senior VP MRO & FBO services ; Martin Bernegger, Senior VP Aircraft Charter and from the U. S., Gary Dempsey, President of Flight Services for The Americas and Chuck Krugh, General Manager of Jet Aviation St. Louis are also reporting to Dan Clare.

* 1997 – Egon Krenz, the former East German leader, is convicted of a shoot-to-kill policy at the Berlin Wall.

Egon Krenz ( born 19 March 1937 ) is a former politician from East Germany, then German Democratic Republic, and the GDR's last Chairman of the State Council of the SED party.

Unlike several other high-ranking members of the communist regime, like Günter Schabowski and Günther Kleiber, Krenz continues to defend the former German Democratic Republic and maintains he hasn't changed his political views.

Following the riots in the GDR in October 1989, including those in East Berlin and Leipzig, on 18 October 1989, at a special Politbüro meeting, Honecker was forced to resign ; he was replaced by Egon Krenz.

The party's last leader, Egon Krenz, was unsuccessful in his attempt to retain the SED's grip on power, and was sentenced to prison after the German reunification.

However, civil rights activists from Eastern Germany rejected the term Wende as it was introduced by SED's Secretary General Egon Krenz.

Krenz was unsuccessful in his attempt to retain the communist regime's grip on power, and was forced to resign some weeks after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Krenz was born in Kolberg in what was then Germany, now Poland.

Krenz visited West Germany for the first time in June 1989, when he was invited by Oskar Lafontaine, who was then Minister-President of Saarland for the Social Democratic Party of Germany ( SPD ).

Following popular protests against the GDR's Communist regime, the SED Politburo voted to remove Honecker on 18 October 1989, and Krenz was elected as the new General Secretary of the SED Central Committee.

Krenz had been approached several months earlier about ousting Honecker, but was reluctant to move against a man he called " my foster father and political teacher.

Despite many protests, Krenz was elected by the People's Chamber to Honecker's other posts as Chairman of the Council of State ( a post equivalent to that of president ) and Chairman of the National Defence Council.

Krenz was forced to send Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski to beg West Germany for a short-term loan to make interest payments.

However, West Germany was unwilling to even consider negotiations until the SED abandoned power and allowed free elections — something that Krenz was unwilling to concede.

In 1997, Krenz was sentenced to six-and-a-half years imprisonment for Cold War crimes, specifically manslaughter of four Germans attempting to escape the communist regime over the Berlin Wall.

Krenz began serving his sentence in Hakenfelde Prison shortly thereafter, before he was transferred to Plötzensee Prison, a prison with stricter rules.

On 18 October, Erich Honecker was forced to resign as head of the SED and as head of state and was replaced by Egon Krenz.

In August 1997, Schabowski was convicted along with Egon Krenz and Günther Kleiber.

However, Egon Krenz was selected instead.

Götting remained Chairman and an SED ally until Erich Honecker was deposed in favour of Egon Krenz in October 1989.

** The Communist leader of East Germany, Erich Honecker, is forced to step down as leader of the country after a series of health problems, and is succeeded by Egon Krenz.

** Egon Krenz resigns as Chairman of the State Council of the German Democratic Republic, and is replaced by Manfred Gerlach, the first non-Communist to hold that post.

Reformist members of the East German Politbüro sought to rescue the situation by forcing the resignation of the hardline Party chairman Erich Honecker, replacing him in October 1989 with the marginally less hardline Egon Krenz.

It was designed by: Bogdan Pietruszka, Wiesław Szyślak, Wojciech Mokwiński and Jacek Krenz.

Despite the presence of non-SED members as deputy chairmen and members of the leadership group, SED control was guaranteed by the presence of Honecker, Stoph, Sindermann, and Egon Krenz, probably the four most powerful individuals in the country.

In an attempt to stem the tide, Krenz authorized the reopening of the border with Czechoslovakia, which had been sealed to prevent East Germans from fleeing to West Germany.

** The entire leadership of the East German Communist Party, including its General Secretary, Egon Krenz resigns.

Krenz has on several occasions referred to the German Reunification as " Anschluss ".

In December, the East German Volkskammer eliminated the SED monopoly on power, and the entire Politbüro and Central Committee — including Krenz — resigned.

Brigitte Schulte, the parliamentary floor leader for the SPD, who accompanied him during his visit, described Krenz as " utterly unsympathetic ".

** Cold War: The Communist government of East Germany resigns, although SED leader Egon Krenz remains head of state.

Egon Krenz, the Politburo and the Central Committee resign 2 days later.

On 18 October 1989, they voted to oust Honecker and replace him with Egon Krenz.

Egon Krenz resigned concurrently as General Secretary.

Throughout his career, Krenz held a number of prominent positions in the communist regime.

Krenz joined the Socialist Unity Party of Germany ( SED ) in 1955.

Throughout his career, Krenz held a number of posts in the SED and the communist government.

Krenz spoke knowledgeably of choice foods, fine wines, and the privileges of power.

In his first address as leader, Krenz promised democratic reforms.

Also on the same day he took office, Krenz received a top secret report from planning chief Gerhard Schürer that showed the depths of East Germany's economic crisis.

Although Krenz had been the number-two man in the regime, Honecker had kept the true state of the economy a secret from him.