 He very soon became a member of the newly formed SED, the old German Communist Party and SPD (party) being forcibly merged in April 1946 to give birth to East Germany's ruling party.From 1946 till 1950 he was Editor in Chief of the weekly newspaper "Die Wirtschaft" (""The Economy""), before returning to Moscow where, in 1950/51, he was the Trade Commissioner at the East German embassy.He then remained in Moscow till 1955 as head of the East German mission to the Comecon ("Rat für gegenseitige Wirtschaftshilfe / Совет Экономической Взаимопомощи").