He suppressed any criticism of his decisions or his person with uncompromising severity and acted as a sole ruler, ruthlessly persecuting dissenters, even from within the party ranks.

He returned to Leipzig in the early afternoon, where he strongly criticized the previously hesitant police forces for their indecisiveness and ordered them to shoot the insurgents.

Fröhlich's brutal use of armed force, even before martial law was declared, earned him the favor of Ulbricht,[3] paving the way for his political ascent to the inner circle of the SED leadership after the suppression of the uprising.

Party Congress) a full member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED,[1][2][3] the de facto highest leadership body in East Germany.

[1][2][3] Until 1958, he was a member of the Committee for Clemency, where he spoke up against philosopher and Karl Marx University lecturer Ernst Bloch, who was persecuted for criticising the repression of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.

From 1973 to 1990, the main facility of the TAKRAF combine operated under the name VEB Loading and Transport Systems Leipzig "Paul Fröhlich" (VTA).