ORGANIZATION AND EQUIPMENT OF PARAMILITARY POLICE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00457R002100400002-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: November 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 5, 1999
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: December 7, 1948
• Content Type: REPORT

CLASSIFICATION T 25X1A2g
Approved For RelemT , WRI IG &F 1~F~&00457RRPPPPN~O
INFORMS ION REPORT.
COUNTRY Germany (Russian Zone)
DATE DISTR. 7 December
NO. OF PAGES 4
ACQUIRED (LISTED BELOW)
Organization and Equipment of
Paramilitary Police
DATE OF I
1. The,paramili$ary police (Polizeibereitschaften) was established
by the German Administration of the Interior, upon orders of the
Directorate for Internal Affairs of the SMA., in the early summer
of 1948. The exact date of the new organization's formation was
not known to source; additional food rations for members of. the
paramilitary and border police (Grenz and Polizeibereitschaften)
were authorized by the German Economic Commission (DWK) on 5 July
1948.
2. The paramilitary police are organized on a uniform basis in each
of the five Soviet Zone Lander. The chain of command extends from
the German Administration of the Interior in Berlin-Wihelmsruh
through the Chiefs of Police of the states to the Bereit.schaften
in the field. The Bereitschaft which has a Table of Organization
strength of 250 men is the basis administrative and operational
unit of the paramilitary police.
3.
The following diagram illustrates the chain of command of the
paramilitary police!
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Department for Border and Paramilitary Police
(Hauptabteilung,.Gxenz and Pplizeibereitschaften)
1Land Police Chief
Department for Border and Paramilitary Police
Abteilung "G" der Landespolizei
T
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Par military Police Units **
Poli,.zeibereitschaften
Hunde tscliaft
(Company)
Gru a Gru'o Grp
(Squad
Zug
* in each of the 5 Lander
** Number of these units varies in each Land
Zug
4. The basic paramilitary police unit, as stated before, consists of
250 men. Each of these units is organized on the following basis:
Chief of Bereitschaft Unit
1
1st Deputy (Political Commissar)
1
2nd Deputy (Functional 2nd in command)
1
Chief of Staff
1
4
Administrative Section
Personnel Clerk
1
Bookkeeper
1
Supply Section
3
Cooks
3
Ordnance Section
4
Messenger Squad (motorcycles)
6
18
Operational Personnel
Company Commanders
2
Deputy Commanders
(Political Commissars)
2
Platoon Commanders
4
Deputy Commanders
(Political Commissars)
4
e
12
aders
Squad L
Assistant Squad Leaders
12
Patrolmen
92
228
Authorized T/O Strength of "Bereitschaft" Unit
250
'-E
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-WI
Deutsche Verwaltung des Inneren
Hund2rtschaft
(Company)
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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
i
W
and the so-called "Tell er-Mtttze," _ (similar- to the U.S. Army s
garrison cap). Rank insignia are worn by all ranks on grass-green
shoulder straps. Following are the titles and the corresponding
insignia of paramilitary police members:
Non-commissioned ranks
grass-green shoulder straps:
plain Candidates
with one silver stripe Wachtmeister
with one silver stripe and one star Oberwachtmeister
with one silver stripe and two stars Hauptwachtmeister
filled out with silver stripes interwoven
Commissioned ranks
Polizeimeister
grass-green shoulder straps:
with four flat silver cords Kommissar
with four flat silver cords and anetatar Oberkommissar
with four flat silver cords and two stars Polizeirt
filled out with interlaced silver cords Oberpolizeirat
In addition to the shoulder insignia, officers may be recognized by
the silver cap piping.
The paramilitary police are equipped with machine guns, submachine
guns, carbines or rifles, and pistols. The following weapons were
issued to a typical Bereitschaft unit in Brandenburg:
Machine guns, 7.9 mm caliber, M "06, water-cooled 5
Submachine guns, 7.9 mm caliber, M "44" 26
Pistols,(various caliber and manufacture) 25
Rifles, German Army standard Mauser "K 98" 192
The following initial issue of ammunition was made, with assurances
that additional ammunition would be furnished for training as
required:
150 rounds of ammunition per machine gun
30 16 ~~ -1 it It submachine gun
It pistol
15 it rifle
According to source; there is considerable talk about motorization
of paramilitary police units and the issue of heavy weapons, such
as tanks and artillery, but no such measures had been taken in
Brandenburg by the end of October 1948. The present training
program does not include courses on automobile maintenance nor on
the use of heavy weapons; it consists mostly of general police
training, such as elementary principles of police work, penal code,
trade laws and police laws. There is also extensive political
indoctrination and exercises for special police actions in case of
riots and civil disturbances. Weapons training is envisaged on a
limited scale only: five shots per man per weapon are planned for
familiarization yearly plus sharpshooting exercises twice yearly
with fifteen shots per man on rifles and pistols and thirty to forty
shots on machine and submachine guns.
8. Members of the paramilitary police are paid in accordance with
civil service regulations of the state in which they serve. They
also receive an additional .fifteen per cent, of base pay. (A
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15 per cent. The gges n ucemen
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ration, which is approximately twice that receives by folders
of Ration Card I (heavy workers). Members of the paramfl'tary
police receive the following basic allowance daily In graters:
Bread
750
Cereal
125
Fat
35
Marmalade
30
Meat .
8
Potatoes
900
Sugar
30
Vegetables
400
Cigarettes
10 each
According to source, standards for recruitment for the paramilitary
police are rather.strict, which is one explanation for the
difficulties the German Administration of the Interior has encountered
tti, ifii fin itr the proper number of candidates. In accordance with
instructions of the SMA, the Personnel Section (Abteilung ") of
the GAI issued the following requirements for employment in the
paramilitary police:
a.
Age: 18 to 45 years
b.
Height: 162 cm. minimum
c.
Good vision and physical condition
d.
Passing of intelligence test
e.
Satisfactory character references
f.
No former member of the NSDAP or its affiliated
organizations
g.
No professional soldiers or former members of the
Wehrmacht over rank of sergeant, unless recruited through
the Free Germany Committee
h.
No
former members of the Hitler police
i.
No
Eastern refugees or resettled Germans
J.
No
recent returnees from Western PW camps
k.
No
former members of the 535, CDU, or LDP
(So
iz-
urce Comment: Governmental pressure and very favorable salary
and food allowances will probably bring the paramilitary police to
its T/0 strength in the near future. Most recruits, however,
join for purely materialistic reasons and will not become a
politically reliable force by any amount of indoctrination. About
50 per cent. of present strength consists of personnel recruited
directly from prisoners of war camps in the U.S.S.R.)
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