For 15 years Harry Tisch was the leader of the Confederation of Free German Trade Unions, commanding more than 9 million members and almost limitless perks. But when communism fell, so did Tisch, and last week he became the first member of the former East German regime to go on trial for abusing his power. Among the charges against him: diverting $70 million in union funds to personal projects, including the construction of a luxury hunting lodge on the Baltic.
In the Berlin courtroom, Tisch, who once reveled in the limelight alongside East German head of state Erich Honecker, spoke in...
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