Willy Brandt Biography

Willy Brandt was the pseudonym adopted by the German youth Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm who fled to Scandinavia to escape the wrath of Hitler and his ever-rising Nazi empire only to return to Germany later on to become a prominent politician. Born in Lubeck, the future German statesman and leader of the Socialist Democratic Party suffered a poverty-stricken childhood with no father and witnessed the anguish and the sufferings of the common people firsthand. His childhood memories and the prevailing conditions edged him into entering the political scenario possibly to make a difference. The first party he joined was the Socialist Youth in 1929 before heading onto the Social Democratic Party in 1930 and finally he became a member of the more left wing Socialist Workers Party. After passing his university examinations he became an apprentice for F. H. Bertling, a shipbroker and agent. He left Germany on a ship for Norway to avoid Nazi persecution through his contacts with Bertling. After returning to Berlin after several years he joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany and served as their leader from 1964 to 1987. Another important post that he held was that of the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.