SED 'PARTEI-AKTIVS'

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00457R002300500001-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: November 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 16, 1999
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: February 15, 1949
• Content Type: REPORT

I... MV. al 4A
SEPT. 194!
~C CY P82-d0 RT NO.
%NEN
1t 1rA KI-Alb ars^15= -
'7 I&T1TM e' 949
COUNTRY Germany (Russian Zon
SUBJECT
,
~t
~
~
~
SED "Partei-Aktivseta a
PLACE
ACQUIRED
DATE OF IN
widely-,aif.erent endeavors; for example, shop groups of large factories)
large party units, government offices, and group organizations (such
as tract. this) all contain organic Aktivs selected and organized
make lve
work a4, w o are above average in capability. Aktivs are found in
of Ti
vs" T
e
age 017 afi.e personnel in the SED2 the building of "Kaders" has
es
not le possib
- O. OF PAGES
M ~?~
.4
The " -- biased on the tr. itionalcommunist concept of the
"taderr'anizational system for party work. Because of the short
particular units. Until now such Aktivs have been choOded
more than seeing to it that the party line is being
the unit to which they belong, bringing communistic vigor
1BittlatiQn W,
ito the
fa1w
wit 4l
the "unctlonary Activist Group" or "Funct
(UFunktiongraktiv oder FunktionRrkorps").
b. The Aktivs of various shop groups in:
iimportant ;
it. The Pe,rtej-A.ktiv of the S. Landesverband aerlin - 4t cal with
and being prepared to make tactical use of any political
develops.
At the present time the party organization is in the uncomfortable
position of not being able to fulfill the assignments given by the
party leadershi , and apparently it is not possible to carry through
it basic reorganization of tie party without reducing its efficiency
oven futh . in order to meet the needs for more effective action.,
t varioti Aktivs are now be be enlarged and strengthened. In this
strengthening of the Aktivs three major types are considered the most
t:1
2)
3)
Large industries.
rc
Next Review Date)
Large governmental offices and mass or-ganizattvns
.ti now.
The police, where the term "Aktivs" has never been used
The.Aktivs of the BED Kreise..~ 0.1-A A It
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CEN `AL INTELLJIG ;NCE AGENCY
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01- 4U tivs w i1 vary quite distinctly. The urgency also with
which the various Aktivs.must be built up will vary considerably,
with the Shop oup Aktivs now holding top priority. To explain
the differences ,between the CT F"_ ), the following additional ddtails
a. Tb.e, Pa d,i-Aktiy of. the Landesverband About three months ago
cn the ;{lost progressive and reliab
sight together. Ac
o much the settin
on of an existing one. The original-Aktiv
f the Lndesverband had been, made up of those party members
who had worked`~themselves into prominent positions in the party
iA-nd as communists, occupied more or less leading positions
in. the party, irk government, in industry, or in group organiza-
tionS, Essentia'lly' this Aktiv was not-an activistst, group at
a`.J, but rather a union of party veterans. It was clear that
it was not a militant organization ready for the class struggle,
and that it wou Id need. new blood to fit it for coming assign-
'Me Tits, Consequ n.tly, the Kreise were instructed to select mem
bers who by virtue of experience, training ability, and will-
ingness were suitable for membership, and to make them available
for a new Aktiv of the Landesverband, It cannot be said posi-
tively whether the old Aktiv of the ,andesverband will be dis-
solved and its pplace' taken by the ne* organization,#;*errwh )h0trr
it will absorb the,latter.
At present the Kreise are under instructions to furnish, ten
personsea_ch for this purpose, and the Screening Commissions
4kre to be held responsible for the reliability of the selectees,
The Krei~e have passed. the assignt4ent on down to the Screening
Commissions of the City Districts ~Stadtbezirke)'.who are,to
consult with the Screening Commissjons of the appropriate House
Blocks (Wohngruppen) and establish the following facts about
each potential selectee
,) Does the prospective selectee hive a first-class ideological
ation. and is his knowledge 'and understanding:so well
grqunded that he will not under *ny circumstances be seduced
from his communistic convictions
Is he capable of practical application of his knowledge
under all circumstances and at every opportunity? Does he
have any special ability, such as journalistic training,
rhetorical talent, experience in agitation and; propaganda?
3) Is he, under all circumstances, able and willing to accept
assignments? That is$ is he healthy' physically capable,
and not committed to a profession or occupation from 'which
he cannot at any required time absent himself?
Only party members for whom affirmative answers to all three of
these questions can be made will be reported to Kreis head-
quarters'as potential candidates for. the required quota.
After the names of those recommended by the Kreise are received
in the Landesverband, another investigation of each selectee.
will be made by the appropriate Personnel gommissionIf the
Personnel Commission concerned concurs in the Screen , Sg -Commis
sionls eva~uatioxj Qf the Is qua-liti~s y he will be sent
t a apectiA?l course of instruction planned for such selectees,
`anal s 1ec on 'or membership in the Landes'Yerband Partei-
Aktiv will be made only after favorable recoimendations.hgve
been received based on the observations of the instructors.
~qa
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CENTRAL INTE,IGENCE AGENCY
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Those persons finally selected for membership will be given a
special identity card and will receive extra ration allowances.
25X1Xg +~
i'k ]~ There are several opinions in party circles as to
'e:ute assignment of the Landesverband Partei-Aktiv will
e ,jj#*_ It is safe to assuare, however,,that they will be specially
trained, as 4, it'-prop functionaries who can be used in critical
political situations as storm troop officers ("Stosstruppoffiziere").
Except in rare instances, it is extremely unlikely that they will be
used as a closed formation or committed as a unit. In all probability
they will be used individually at first to organize Aktivs in other
party units.)
b, The 21~op, G.o A t : The effort is being made to build up
D select the personnel for them on the basis of the- two types
of work.to be,done. TheVone group will seek to come leaders
In the professional, technicalp or industrial actvity of their
place of.work and to a certain extent will hold their political
ai .sec_ret _ the other group will seek to influence the political
direction of the f,~.rm or office, and for them the technical work
of the firpa will secondary. Although personnel will be selected
with the afferent assignments in mind and a distinction will be
marls within the .ktivs between the two types, there will not be a
formal grouping of the two apparent to an outsider,
The over-all character of the party assignments of these Aktivs
will,, of course, vary with the place of work.
1) The Aktivs in large industries in the Soviet Sector will
sows as models U. rcrea.sed production as in the Stakhanovite
movement or the "Henne.ckebewegung" in the Soviet Zone, Further,
they will infiltrate and attempt. to control plant leadership.
nd will agitate for social measures The mess selected
for political work will be responsible for the detection of
theft, sabotage, and espionage within the plant and for re
porting on the orientation of employees and their political
activities outside of the plant.
Although the Aktivs of gevernmental agencies and mass organ-
izations have been even less well known then other Aktivs,
they have in factxisted for some tjW.
In the Volksrat (Peoples' Council.), every SED member who has
performed a special assignment for the party (e.g., extra
work during the "Volksbegehren" activity of the spring of
1948) is considered as belonging to_the Aktiv. These Aktivs
have until recently been charged only with the infiltration
of controlling positions and the observation of the personal
and political activities of other employees. Of late, in the
administrative offices of the Soviet Sector) where the shortage
of qualified personnel is making itself felt, the Aktivs have
been urged to work toward greater efficiency in their particu-
-lar offices,
3) Aktivs within the Soviet Sector police formations will be
built up by pik~ itical commissars assigned to each police unit
These commissars will tae responsible not only for the general
political instruction and supervision of their units but
prdl Foise : CIA-RDP82-00457R002300500001-4
hese ce s. ave a i~e.a, y een referred to in panty cir~.. es as
Polizeiaktivs" ,
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CENTRAL INT ,-LIGENCE
25X1X6
mentt The so-called political commissars are usually
graduates of the Polit-Kultur courses which have been given at tb
Advanced Police School of the German Administration of the Interior
since August 1948. The political commissars will be second in
command in each police unit and will outrank the functional deputy.)
they' NZgise: These Aktivs are not a new forma-
ox~ bu t with n e last three months they have undergone a
considerable change. Fundamentally, the Kreis Aktivs as they
now tang are simply a loose grouping of members of proved
Ability and of members with the qualifications. of functionaries-
who because of their assignments outside the party, do not`
25X*R office in the.lower party levels.
C s It is not clear just what i6m means by the latter
wate'or r One assumes he is speaking of reliable members who have
att4ned significant positions outside the party and who are too busy
to concern themselves with routine party work.)
Thus, the Kreis Aktivs consititute a functionary reserve from
Which' the Kreis leadership can from time to time draw talent
for specific assignments. At present, for example, efforts are
being made to use the Kreis Aktivs to, form new shop groups and
strengthen old ones, Furthers it is hoped that"inteial party
organization and performance can be strengthened through use of
the lreis Aktivs. It is now planned that to alleviate the short-
to particular posts., perform the duties temporarily..
e--of functionaries personnel can be drawn from the Kreis ~%
ktlvs and, without being definitely and _ permanently appointedy
It the future an attept Will be made to assign to the Kreis
25XlX6Akttvs members with experience applicable to agi_t-prop work.
I` C Batt For purposes of explaining the composition and
6 the various Aktivs it has been necessary to define them
re concretely than they in reality are. That is to say,
somewhat m
a
a descript on of. the arious Aktiv organizations must necessarily
give the impression t at they are sharply differentiated, permanent
formations. Ties is not the case: as with all other SED organiza-
tions they are all more or less shifting in their composition and
aptat any moment to be redesignated or reorganized.
One must also guard against the idea that only these groups can be
committed for,olitical activity: each party formation can at any
time organize additional or different Aktivs, and each Aktiv can
spawn other.it*vs to fit a situation. An example of the creation
of Aktivs for special purposes is the recent organization of the so-
called 'pres ealtiv". This was set up in December, composed of the
most import4t SPD correspondents of Berlin, and will be given special
train.ng by 'e.Landesverband department responsible for publicity
and press affairs. The Press Aktiv will be responsible for reforming
and improving' the party press.
It must also be considered that there is usually a wide gap between
the plans of the party leadership and the actual accomplishment.
Party circles especially the veteran communists, are most skeptical
of the chances that the Aktivs_will actually be formed as the
Landesverband has planned. Firsts theyFpoint out there are simply
not enough qualified party members, and, second, the higher fuk-
tionaries of the party will work on t.is program only grud ingly
because the pew;functionar formations would bring capable profes-
ssional rivals to the fore. )
ied -Approved For>`R1Iease : CIA-RDP82-00457R002300500001-4