WEEKLY OB SUMMARY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A005100070001-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 24, 2007
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: October 6, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2007/07/24: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA005100070001-0
INFORMATION REPORT
COUNTRY 'East Germany
SUBJECT Weekly OB Summary
THE SOURCE EVALUATIONS IN THIS REPORT ARE DEFINITIVE.
THE APPRAISAL OF CONTENT IS TENTATIVE.
(FOR KEY SEE REVERSE)
The following is a su.mnary of Soviet and KVP military activities
observed prior to 1 October 1954.
A. Soviet Troop Dispositions, Movements and Exercises.
1. Personnel Exchange Program:
According to an unconfirmed report, th ~t shipments of dischargees departed
on 28" and 20 September. Shuttle trainrent from Jueterbog to Guben on
27 September and shuttle train=to Kuestrin on 29 September. Both trains
were empty.
2. First Guards Mechanized Army:
Units of the three divisions of the army assembled for major exercises in
the Laussnitz Heath area west and southwest of Koenigsbrueck after 23
September. On 171September, the engineer battalion of the 9th Tank Division
returned to Riesa from the Muehlberg area.
3. Second Guards Mechanized Army:
a. 31st AAA Division: Elements of the division returned to one shipment
from Wustrow to Velten on 22 September.
b. 9th Guards Tank Division: After 24 September elements of the Heavy Tank
and SP Regiment from Neubrandenburg and artillery units from Neustrelitz
engaged in exercises in an area north of Penzlin and in the Wesenburg-,
Mirow area respectively.
c. 12th Guards Tank Division: The Neuruppin posts of the division were
only lightly occupied on 1 October after major elements had departed on
29 and 30 September.
STATE xARMY NAVY X AIR x FBI AEC
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This material contains Information affecting the Na-
tional Dc-!ease of the United States within the mean-
ing of the Espionage Laws, Title 18, U.3.0. Secs. 793
and 794, the transmission or revelation of which In
any manner to an unauthorized person is prohibited
by law.
REPORT
DATE DISTR. 6 Odtoiier 1954
NO. OF PAGES 4
REQUIREMENT NO. RD 25X1
REFERENCES
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4. Third Guards Mechanized Army:
The army headquarters, army troops, and the 14th Guards Mechanized and
6th Guards Tank Divisions were still in the Jueterbog-Luchenwalde area prior
to 25 September. Routine training and firing practice was held in the Forst
Zinna area. The army engineer regiment was still in Sperenberg up to
26 September. The 9th Mechanized D:;.vision was at the Forst Tauer training
grounds prior to 19 September. Nine shipments with troops and tanks of the
9th Mechanized Division returned from Jueterbog to their posts on 28 and 29
September.
5. Fourth Guards Mechanized Army:
a. 6th Guards Mechanized Division: Prior to 26 September most of the units
of the divsion were still located at their posts. The holding of an
officers' meeting in Eberswalde on the morning of 2 October may indicate
an impending exercise.
b. 25th Tank Division: The bulk of the division was in the Templin
,area prior to 23 September. Elements of the engineer battalion went in
one shipment from Templin to Ferchland-Elbe on 24 September while
two shipments went in the same direction on 25 September. On 27 September,
one train was dispatched from Prenzlau to Haldensleben.
c. 7th Guards Mechanized Division: After the completion of fall exercises
on 23 September, major elements of the division returned to Frankfurt/
Oder by road from the Lieberose area and by rail from the Cottbus area
between 23 and 26 September. On 25 September, elements of the 24th Guards
Mechanized Regiment returned to Berlin-Karlshorst in one shipment.
d. 10th Guards Tank Division: After the completion of exercises on 25
September, elements of the division returned by rail and road from the
Beeskow-Grunow area to Krampnitz and Potsdam.
6. Third Shock Army:
a. Large-Scale Exercise of IX Rifle Corps: Between 25 and 27 September,
corps troops and the bulk of the two divisions of the corps moved on more
than 40 trains from their quartering area to the Wiesenburg-Belzig-
Brueck assembly area. These units were reinforced by army troops arriving
in five shipments from the Vinzelberg area southwest of Stendal and
by elements of the 34th Artillery Division arriving in ?our shipments
from Potsdam. During the afternoon of 25 September, wheeled elements
of the 94th Guards Rifle Division, coming from Ludwigslust and Perleberg
passed eastward through Magdeburg. Elements of the 25th Guards RL Brigade
with eight M-13 rocket launchers and 16 rocket launchers of a
new type were observed moving to the assembly area by road on 26 September.
Troops of the 3rd Guards AT Brigade with 10 x 100 mm AT guns were observed
enroute to the area on 27 September. Preparations for the establishment
of fuel supply bases were made in the Stuelper Forest east of Jueterbog
between,12 and 22 September. The observation of traffic guides and heavy
vehicular traffic in the Burg-Genthin-Tangerhuette area on 27 September
indicated that the exercise went in a northwesterly direction across
the Elbe. Major tank movements were observed in the Gei hin-Stendal
area on 1 October.
b. Dispositions and Movements: Only rear details remained in Camps Jaevenitz,
Born and Huetten in Letzling Heath on 30 September. The kasernes in
Hillersleben were not yet occupied to capacity. Two shipments with
elements of the 3rd Guards AAA Division went from Wustrow to Magdeburg
between 14 and 21 September. Elements of the tank and SP Regiment of
the 94th Guards Rifel Division which had come in one shipment from Schwerin,
were identified in Dranse between 18 and 23 September. AAA units of the
18th Mechanized Division went in two shipments from Wustrow to Dranse on
20 September.
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SECRET 25X1
7. Eighth Guards Army:
a. Exercises: Troops began to assemble for fall exercises in the area
south of the Jena-Weimar-Gotha railroad line after 20 September. The
exercises probably began on 26 or 27 September. In this connection the
following shipments were observed on the dates indicated:
18 September: unloading of engineers with billeting equipment
in Weimar.
19 September: three shipments passing eastward through Weimar.
22 September: three shipments passing eastward through Weimar
including one with heavy artillery; one shipment
with a tank unit going through Weimar enroute toward
Gera; one shipment with an anti-tank unit passing
eastward through Erfurt.
23 September: one shipment of the 43rd Guards Army Artillery Brigade
with 14 gun howitzers was observed in Arnstadt.
R5 September: ten troop trains passed through Gotha enroute toward
Georgenthal northwest of Ohrdruf.
On 21 September, engineer, artillery and AA troops with 25 field howitzers,
ten heavy AT guns and 150 motor vehicles were observed in the Ichtershausen
area southwest of Ohrdruf. Tank exercises were observed in the Erfurt
area on 27 September.
b. Dispositions: The 91st Army Signal Regiment was identified in Weimar
on 19 September while the 446th Signal Battalion was absent from its
post. Both army artillery brigades were no'- longer in Altenburg on
22 September. The corps artillery brigades were identified in Gera
and Merseburg on 25 and 1.9 September respectively. The occupation
of the Kindel troop training grounds remained unchanged on 22 September.
Loadings are allgedly to start there on 10 October. The Soviet
garrisons in Plauen were still occupied to capacity on 25 September.
8. Fourth Artillery Corps:
a. Elements of the 34th Artillery Division returned 'Co Potsdam from
exercises in Altengrabow and in the Cottbus-Lieberose area on 25
and 26 September. The return of elements of the 65th Mortar Brigade
and the 18th Howitzer Brigade of the 6th Artillery Division from
Altengrabow to Rathenow took place between 26 and 28 September.
The 124th Heavy Howitzer Brigade was expected to depart from Brandenburg
for exercises after 30 September.
b. The following shipments of AA units were noted: one shipment of the
2nd Guards AAA Division from Wustrow to Wuensdorf On 23 September
and two shipments on 28 September; five shipments of the 6th Guards
AAA Division from Wustrow to Chemnitz and one to Aue on 27 and 28
September and one shipment with elements of the 32nd AAA Division from
Wustrow to Kuestrin on 17 September. Other elements of the division
returned to Frankfurt/Oder on 20 September. Troops of the division
left Frankfurt/Oder and Kuestrin, presumably for exercises, on 25
and 26 September.
9. GSFG Troops:
Elements of the 36th Bridge Building Regiment went from Magdeburg to
Kummersdorf in one shipment on 14 September. The unit's installation in
Magdeburg was only lightly occupied prior to 25 September.
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B. KVP Developments
1. Disposition:
The engineer and signal battalions and one infantry regiment of the Schwerin
Division were absent from their posts in Schwerin and Sternbuchholz between
2 and 22 September. The fall inspection of the Prerzlau Division took place
between 13 and 25 September. The divisional headquarters, the headquarters
of the tank and artillery regiments and the 1st and 2nd Infantry Regiments
of the Prenzlau Division, a total of 1800 men, were engaged in exercises
in the Gross Schoenebeck area between 13 and 17 September. Forty percent
of the Altwarp AAA Regiment were still engaged in harvesting crops on 20
September. The fall inspection of the 2nd Mechanized Regiment of the Potsdam
Division took place on 15 September. Troops returned from the Klietz
training grounds to Oranienburg on 26 and 27 September. The majority of
the KVP troops stationed in Oranienburg are still engagea in harvesting.
2. Miscellaneous:
More than 120 recruits arrived at the Oranienburg Concentration Camp between
1 and 12 September. The 2nd Infantry Regiment of the Prenzlau Division received
140 recruits between 1 and 14 September. The discharge of personnel with
three years of service is to begin in mid-October. Fifteen percent, approximately
200 men, of the 2nd Infantry Regiment of the Prenzlau Division, are scheduled
to be discharged. The equipment and motor vehicle holdings of the Prenzlau
Division have been brought up to authorized strength since early September.
[Comment: The Soviet fall exercises are being conducted at a
reinforced divisional level by the mechanized armies and at a corps level
by the rifle armies. The fall inspections, discharge of personnel with
three years of service and the arrival of recruits indicate the end of
KVP summer training.
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