Paul Merker

Paul Merker (1 February 1894 – 13 May 1969) was a German trade unionist and politician of the Communist Party of Germany who later became a leading official of East Germany's ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany.

Merker featured for several years in the show trial culture of the time, placed under a lengthy investigation process that formally began in 1950, and jailed for eight years as a spy in 1955. Released less than a year later, he appeared as a reluctant witness against his friend Walter Janka at another show trial in 1957. Provided by Wikipedia