Título: Erich Mielke
Seção: Bulowplatz trial
Background: Erich Mielke was born in a tenement in Berlin-Wedding, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire, on 28 December 1907. During the First World War, the neighborhood was known as "Red Wedding" due to many residents' Marxist militancy. In a handwritten biography written for the Soviet secret police, Mielke described his father as "a poor, uneducated woodworker," and said that his mother died in 1911. Both were, he said, members of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).

Conteúdo: In February 1992, Mielke was put on trial for the first degree murders of Captains Anlauf and Lenck as well as the attempted murder of Senior Sergeant Willig. The evidence for Mielke's guilt was drawn from the original police files, the 1934 trial transcripts, and a handwritten memoir in which Mielke had admitted that, "the Bulowplatz Affair," had been his reason for fleeing Germany. All had been found in Mielke's house safe during a police search in 1990. Mielke was believed to have kept the files for purposes of "blackmailing Honecker and other East German leaders." Former Associated Press reporter and White House Press Secretary John Koehler also testified about how Mielke had boasted of his involvement in the Bulowplatz murders during a confrontation at Leipzig in 1965.  During his trial, Mielke appeared increasingly senile, admitting his identity but otherwise remaining silent, taking naps, and showing little interest in the proceedings. In a widely publicized incident, Mielke appeared to mistake the presiding judge for a prison barber. When a journalist for Der Spiegel attempted to interview him in Plotzensee Prison, Mielke responded, "I want to go back to my bed" (German: "Ich mochte in mein Bett zuruck."). Opinion was divided whether Mielke was suffering from senile dementia or was pretending in order to evade prosecution.  After twenty months of one-and-a-half hour daily sessions, Erich Mielke was convicted on two counts of murder and one of attempted murder. On 26 O

user: What was Elrich Mielke's role in the Bulowplatz trial?

assistant: a handwritten memoir in which Mielke had admitted that, "the Bulowplatz Affair," had been his reason for fleeing Germany.

user: What major incident was recorded int he Bulowplatz Affair?

assistant: Mielke had boasted of his involvement in the Bulowplatz murders during a confrontation at Leipzig in 1965.

user: How many persons were murdered?

assistant: Captains Anlauf and Lenck

user: Was anyone else found guity for those murders?

assistant: Erich Mielke was convicted on two counts of murder and one of attempted murder.

user: Was he imprisoned for this?

assistant: a panel of three judges and two jurors sentenced him to six years' imprisonment.

user: Why was he given susch a short imprisonment for murder charges?

assistant: Opinion was divided whether Mielke was suffering from senile dementia or was pretending in order to evade prosecution.

user: Was Mielke pretending?

assistant: When a journalist for Der Spiegel attempted to interview him in Plotzensee Prison, Mielke responded, "I want to go back to my bed" (

user: Tell me something noteworthy about the Bulowplatz case? [Lets take this to $3]

assistant: In a widely publicized incident, Mielke appeared to mistake the presiding judge for a prison barber.