Felix Dzerzhinsky Watch Regiment
Encyclopedia
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
: Wachregiment "Feliks E. Dzierzynski") was an elite motorized rifles regiment under the command of the Ministry for State Security
Stasi
The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security (German: Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS), commonly known as the Stasi (abbreviation , literally State Security), was the official state security service of East Germany. The MfS was headquartered...
of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It was named in honor of Felix Dzerzhinsky
Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky
Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky was a Communist revolutionary, famous as the first director of the Bolshevik secret police, the Cheka, known later by many names during the history of the Soviet Union...
, founder of the Soviet secret police
Cheka
Cheka was the first of a succession of Soviet state security organizations. It was created by a decree issued on December 20, 1917, by Vladimir Lenin and subsequently led by aristocrat-turned-communist Felix Dzerzhinsky...
. As the only highly visible part of the feared Stasi, it was very unpopular with the population.
Mission
It was tasked with protecting government and partySocialist Unity Party of Germany
The Socialist Unity Party of Germany was the governing party of the German Democratic Republic from its formation on 7 October 1949 until the elections of March 1990. The SED was a communist political party with a Marxist-Leninist ideology...
buildings in the GDR capital of East Berlin
East Berlin
East Berlin was the name given to the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. It consisted of the Soviet sector of Berlin that was established in 1945. The American, British and French sectors became West Berlin, a part strongly associated with West Germany but a free city...
and the security of the party leaders' residential compound in Wandlitz
Wandlitz
Wandlitz is a municipality in the district of Barnim, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 25 km north of Berlin, and 15 km east of Oranienburg...
, near Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. Per Soviet practice, the regiment was a politically-reliable internal security force that could be deployed to suppress rebellion and unrest.
Organization
- Personnel: At full strength, the regiment consisted of over 11,200 personnel, including 2,500 officers, 8,735 NCOs and enlisted men, and nine civil staff. Its commander was a Major GeneralMajor GeneralMajor general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
after 1956. - Subunits: It comprised the following:
- Three combat groups with six motorized rifle battalions and three training battalions,
- an artillery battalion and
- engineer, medical, support and reconnaissance companies.
The Regiment was subdivided into commands as of 1980 to 1989:
- Kommando 1 – Standort Adlershof, Standorte in den Bezirken Command 1 - Location Adlershof, locations in the districts
- Kommando 2 – Standort Erkner - Erkner
- Kommando 3 – Standort Teupitz - Teupitz
- Kommando 4 – Standort in Eberswalde-Finow later (mid 80s) in Erkner, Prenden and Biesenthal
- Kommando 5 – Standort Berlin until 1982, then Freienbrink Ahrensfelde
The site was acquired by the Ahrensfelde guard regiment until mid-January 1989. Until then he had formed of accommodation facility for UAV units of the Ministry for State Security (e.g., backup units of VRD, BDL, HA VI, AGMS). These units were uniformed as well as the guard and security units of the counties of the Stasi (BV) no subdivision of the guards regiment. Part of these units were merged in January 1989 into the guard regiment, which is why the site was taken over by the Ahrensfelde guard regiment. Until 1989, the guard regiment had no "locations in the districts. The service objects there were guarded by the WSE, which were placed under the respective BV.
Personnel Strength
The personnel strength of the regiment:- 1955: 1.475
- 1960: 4.372
- 1965: 5,121
- 1970: 7,924
- 1975: 9,245
- 1980: 10,082
- 1985: 10,192
- 1989: 11,426
Senior Management
Commanders of the guards regiment were:- 1962 to 1972: Major-General Heinz Gronau (provisional)
- 1972 to 1987: Colonel (Major General since 1976) Bernhard Elsner
- 1987 to 1990: Major-General Manfred Döring
Recruitment and training
Guard regiment in the military service was completed as WED (alternative military service). The term of service for conscripts was three years. Was convened in contrast to the army in April and September / October, a month earlier.For military service in the guard regiment were exclusively recruits from a particularly politically reliable force families moved in, with an express wish of the conscripts only in some cases played a role. Basically, any recruits have already been selected by the appropriate MfS county and district offices and then the convening authority (district military command) mentioned as possible contenders for the guard regiment in Berlin. The recruits took place in the majority of cases no preliminary, but they were relevant to the Stasi-circuit or district office ordered, where all subjects were tested for their political reliability, and to them a three-year military service was proposed. This selection for "Three-year" always had its beginnings in the military district headquarters of the districts which had the leading survey of all vintages to be recovered within the GDR. Against the elitist preselected by the Stasi could not defend or county. Military district denied. The Stasi inspected in principle, all conscripts who had agreed to a three-year military service, and selected out of this stock its recruits. The guard regiment no reservists were deployed, which means that soldiers who had completed their service in the WR was recovered is usually not returned to the WR.
At dismissal, many conscripts in Adlershof traditionally decorated with their locker-padlocked the fence of the opposite DFF plot (German TV broadcasting). For the record, it later withdrew the guard regiment ever again with the help of bolt cutters.
Equipment
It received the same training and equipment as the Alert Police and some of its personnel were paratrooperParatrooper
Paratroopers are soldiers trained in parachuting and generally operate as part of an airborne force.Paratroopers are used for tactical advantage as they can be inserted into the battlefield from the air, thereby allowing them to be positioned in areas not accessible by land...
s. It was also equipped with modern armored fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers, anti-tank guns, anti-aircraft weapons and mortars.
The guard regiment was equipped with small arms (pistol Makarov, Walther PP, Kalashnikov AK-47, AK-74, LMG, RPG-7) to light armored personnel carriers (SPW 60 PB, SPW, 70, PSH).
Stationed in the command 3 (on military Teupitz - cones), there was also a battalion of special weapons. It consisted of a company, which was armed with heavy anti-tank recoilless gun SPG-9 (in 1987, was reorganized into a rifle company), a company which is an essential weapon, the heavy machine gun (HMG-company) and had the 70mm - anti-aircraft missile armed "Strela-2 'Company. Until 1982 there was also an artillery detachment armed with 122mm howitzer D30. Previously they had 85-mm PaK D-44, and 82mm mortars and 120 mm in the stock.
Regulator
Traffic warden
A traffic warden is a non-warranted officer employed by a statutory authority in jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Ireland, to assist in regulating the flow of traffic.- Ireland :...
s company RSK was additionally can be equipped with the AKS74 around the shoulder stock to collapse. At least in the 1970s, the former intelligence battalion, the mortar batteries and the I-battalion with Kalashnikovs in the S version were equipped. Specialized units such as the honor companies (28. and 29 MSK of the 10th MSB) were fitted in addition to the above-mentioned weapons, rifles and sabers.
The paratrooper company, located in the reconnaissance battalion also used the small Skorpion machine pistol from Czechoslovakia.
Transportation
Personnel transport were mainly prepared by W50Industrieverband Fahrzeugbau
Industrieverband Fahrzeugbau , usually abbreviated as IFA, was a conglomerate and a union of companies for vehicle construction in the former East Germany ....
and the Ural
Ural Automotive Plant
The Ural Automotive Plant is a major manufacturer of heavy-duty trucks in Russia. It was established in 1941, when the ZiS factory was evacuated from Moscow during the World War II, and is now part of the GAZ group.-External links:* on GAZ website...
trucks. In line with this design the vehicles of the army, however, bore the registration plates of the People's Police, with the letters stacked VP. When events were Ikarus
Ikarus Bus
Ikarus is a bus manufacturer based in Budapest, Hungary. It was established in 1895 as Uhri Imre Kovács- és Kocsigyártó Üzeme .-History:...
buses used.
Additional equipment
For large events, there were as accessories batonsBaton (law enforcement)
A truncheon or baton is essentially a club of less than arm's length made of wood, plastic, or metal...
(flexible), down from 1989 shields and helmets and chains.
Uniforms
Its uniforms were nearly identical to those of the those of National People's Army (NVA) and were distinguished primarily by the dark red MfS service color of its insignia and by an honorary cuffband on the left sleeve bearing the regiment's name. Other Stasi officers wore a similar uniform, but without the cuffband. Members were selected from among the most reliable volunteer recruits and had to perform a three-year minimum service tour.The service or dress uniform of the regiment was an army uniform made of high quality (of officers) with claret
Claret
Claret is a name primarily used in British English for red wine from the Bordeaux region of France.-Usage:Claret derives from the French clairet, a now uncommon dark rosé and the most common wine exported from Bordeaux until the 18th century...
fabric collar and brown (officer) leather belt. The left sleeve was fitted with a cuffband and the words "wachregiment F. Dzerzhinsky".
Soldiers of the MOS units typically had the following personal uniforms:
- 1x service uniform (cap, tunic, trousers Parade (breeches), gray shirt, tie, officer boots grained, brown belt)
- 1x semi-dress uniform (cap, tunic, output pants, gray shirt, tie, shoes, brown belt)
- 1x summer field service uniform ( "one line, no line," Steel Helmet ( "eggshell") / cap, gray Gurtkoppel, officer boots grained)
- 1x Field Service Uniform Winter ( "one line, no line")
- 1x special service uniform – tunic, parade trousers (breeches), gray shirt, tie, an officer in plain boots, belts, NCO Professional version (with at least Corporal epaulets, even if the soldier in question was only temporary soldiers and rank only a soldier) (not in the personal cabinet)
- 1x Drillich (Arbeitsuniform) fatigues (work uniform)
- 1x Winter Service Uniform
- 1x sport suit "SV DynamoSV DynamoThe Sports Club Dynamo was the sport organization of the security agencies of former East Germany. The sports club was founded on 27 March 1953 and was headquartered in Hohenschönhausen in East Berlin...
" in burgundy, white sneakers
In command 4 - Eberswalde-Finow in Bernau contributed UAZ, professional officers and professional officers uniforms of the regular army with weapons Color black (pioneers) and (white Motorized Rifle) to camouflage the Wachregimentseinsatzes.
The UAZ wore the army uniform from the rough cloth.
Issued
The civilian dress was issued for use from stores. This was quite uniform, and often targeted for supposedly "young people" so unusual that it was often striking. The civilian clothes should meet anyway and in any case a Tarnfunktion. The presence of security forces was not kept secret, but quite openly documented. This was precisely one of the tasks of the guard regiment in Berlin. Camouflaged forces were often also posted. These were the recruits of the guards regiment but mostly unknowns. After 1987, on appropriate occasions, guards personnel only wore privately purchased civilian clothes.Private
After 6 months of service were authorized to SaZ and UAZ in the main, leave, and take private civilian clothes. From the civilian population, units of the Guards Regiment with the construction of the Berlin Wall have been associated. After harassment in Berlin pubs and dance halls, and attacks on members of the guards regiment in East Berlin since 1987, could only go out in civilian clothes. On outings and holiday trips, the passport was issued and withdrawn the military ID card.Other guard units
The regiment was one of three guards regiments in the GDR. The other two were units of the regular army:- 1. Wachregiment "Friedrich Engels" (WR-1) guarded the Memorial to the Victims of Fascism and Militarism on Berlin's Unter den LindenUnter den LindenUnter den Linden is a boulevard in the Mitte district of Berlin, the capital of Germany. It is named for its linden trees that line the grassed pedestrian mall between two carriageways....
and performed other honorary duties, including the welcoming ceremony for state visitors. - 2. Wachregiment "Hugo Eberlein" (WR-2) guarded the Ministry for National DefenseMinistry of National Defence (East Germany)The Ministry of National Defense was the chief administrative arm of the East German National People's Army. The MND was modeled on that of the Soviet Union. The headquarters of the Ministry was in Strausberg in Berlin. The Hugo Eberlein Guard Regiment provided security and guard services to the...
command center in StrausbergStrausbergStrausberg is a city in Brandenburg, Germany, located 30 km east of Berlin. With a population of 26,206 in 2010 it is the largest town in the district of Märkisch-Oderland.-History:...
, near Berlin.