HUNGARIAN AUTHORITIES TIGHTEN BORDER CONTROL, USE FORCED LABOR TO STRENGTHEN DEFENSES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600380163-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: R
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 12, 2011
• Sequence Number: 163
• Publication Date: February 27, 1951
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/14 :CIA-RDP8O-OO8O9AOOO6OO38O163-9
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INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS CD NO.
RESTRICTEQ
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPOR~
e
COUNTRY Hungary
SUBJECT Military - Border control
HOW
PUBLISHED Weekly newspapers
WHERE ?
PUBLISHED Munich
DATE
PUBLISHED
IJ~NGUAGE
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NI[ITlO tY LAN. t[ItODU OTION Of TNI[ TONY It I[O XItIT[D. -
DATE DIST.q~, Feb 1951
NO. OF PAGES 2
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT N0.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
HUIQGARIAN AUTHORITIES TIGHIFEN BORDER CONFROL,
USE FOR(~D LABOR TO .. R(;'1l'HEN DEFENSES
NEW MIRE FIELD, REINFORCED BARBID WIRE ON AUSTRIAN BORDER -- Munich, Hungaria,
19 Jan 51 ?
The new Austrian border fortifications were designed in the Ministry of
the Interior under the supervision of Laszlo Piros. A reinforced barbed wire
fence follows the border, 2 meters from the line on the Hungarian side. The
wire fence consists of parallel lines of barbed wire 20-25 centimeters apart,
fastened to staves alternately 1,.5 and 2-meters high. Supporting wires lead ,
from the staves of the outer Pence to the tops of a line of fence posts which
are 2 meters behind the outer fence and are spaced 10-12 meters apart.
The staves of the outer fence are equidistant from the posts. Ia addi-
tion, the wire Yence is crossed with a network of fine wi_~es, soma of ~thich
lead to mines. The construction and support ie repP,ated on the inner aide. of
the line of fence posts. The area between the wire fences ie strewn in aiy ir-
regular pattern with contact and lighting 1star shell mines. The minimum dis-
tance bei{ween mines is 2 meters. A,10=meter deep zone behind the inner row of
stakes is'"lsept freshly plowed sad raked to show footprints. The mines are?in
poor condition and have sunken because of the autumn rains.
Y About 300-5~ meters behind the barbed wire are watchtowers, spaced accordL
ing to the terrain. There are no watchtowers between the Budapest-Vienna high-
way and the Latta canal. T'ae first watchtower in the'zoae of the Hegyeshalom
State Security Authority (AVH) border guard is about 1.5 kilametere south of the
intersection of.the bor2es? and the Budapest-Vienna highway.
The watchtowers consist of a 12-meter wocden tower topped by a 2-meter high
wooden booth with Windows. and a pointed roof. On top of the roof is a battery-
poirered rotating searchlight with a raage?of about 500 meters.
At present, the on1~Y guards 1n the border zone are patrols. aie `ii.nteF,
the patrols conllleted of two guards armed with submachine guns and accompanied
by a dog. The .only watck~ kept on the above-mentioned route is during the night,
and then, very irregularly. The searchlight of the above-mentioned tower'ie
turned on once for about aA hour during the night.
CLASSIFIr.ATION RESTRICTED
RESTRICTED
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DATE OF
INFORMATION 1951
STAT
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REST{~ICTE~
STRIC`PER CONTROL OF SHIPS LEAVING IIUNGARY -- Munich, Hungaria, 19 Jan 51
certification of boats and personnel leaving and entering Hungary and of for-
eign boats crossing the country is now under the supervision of AVH (State 3e-
curity Authority) border poJ_ice. Boats leaving for the West are examined at
Szob and those leaving for the East, at Mohacs.
Regulations on ships leaving the country have been made unusually strict.
For instance, boats carrying coal from Dorog to Ceepel, are inspected as thor-
oughly as those which will land at a foreign dock. Since the trip is a short
one, this may happen several times a day. Ships leaving the country for Austria
or Czechoslovakia undergo a ~. 5 hour inspection.
An AVH official escorts all foreign ships, except those of the USSP., between
Mohacs and Szob. Since no Hungarian authorities may board Soviet vessels, ships
of the USSR have become the focus of the black market and smuggling on the Danube.
~'ie identification papers of ships' crews, written in seven langua ea, are
examined at each border ~o further identification or procedure required. How-
ever, in Yugoslavia these papers are considered passports, and are stamped at
each crossing of the Yugoslavian border.
Members of the crews of foreign ships may land in Hungarian ports only
with the written permission of the AVH, and for a maximum of 4 hours. As for
Yugoslav ships, however, only the captains are allowed ashore in Hungary.
The party representative on board Hungarian ships a noncommissioned member
of the crew, is the only one who goes ashore in a foreign country. Even the
captain must get permission from the party representative to leave the boat.
New cadres of comparatively uneducated men are being trained to command river
boats.
FORCED LABOR BATTALIONS TAKEN TO WEST AND SOUTH BORDERS -- Munich, Hungaria,
12 Jan 51
By the end of December, the number of labor battalions, the organization
of which was begun in November, had increased to 25? These battalions have
been constantly on the move and apparently consist of unreliable army reserves.
At the end of January, labor battalions organized in different parts of the
country were sent to the western and southern boundaries to work on new forti-
fications.
To prevent the leakage of news from the interior of Hungary, the entire
winter will be spend in reconstructing and strengthening border defenses. Las-
zlo Piros, a Russian and former trade-union leader, supervised the planning of
the border defenses in the Ministry of the Interior. Piros has been made com-
mander of the border guarc'.s, who have come to be despised even among the State
Security Authority police.
NEW USSR ARMED UNIT IN HUNGARY -- Munich, Hungariay 19 Jan 51
The week before Christmas a USSR armored regiment equipped with 50 of~the
latest model T-34 tanks arrived at Nagykanizsa and campc,~d in barracks south of
the city. At the same time, Hungarian mechanized artillery units stationed in
southern Hungary moved to .the western border and are billets@. in villages in
the vicinity of Szombathely and Koazeg.
RESTRI~'T~~'~
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