TRAVEL CONTROLS AND DOCUMENTATION OF SOVIET FORCES IN GERMANY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A008600760006-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 2, 2008
• Sequence Number: 6
• Publication Date: December 20, 1955
• Content Type: REPORT

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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Travel, Controls and Documenta'ion
of Soviet Forces in Germany
This material contains information affecting the National Defense of the United States within the meaning of the.' age Laws, Tt~Mt
18, U.S.C. Secs. 793 and 794, the transmission or revelation of which in any manner to an unauthorized person is p ihibited by law.
S-E-C-R-E-T
COUNTRY East Germany/USSR
DATE OF INFO.
PLACE ACQUIRED
DATE ACQUIRED
DON QEPORY MFORMA
REFERENCES
This is UNEVALUATED Information
REPORT
DATE DISTR.
NO. OF PAGES
JOH REPO T
20 Dece be
.5'
AEC
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GERMANY/U. S. S. R.
MILITARY/POLITICAL
r)
Travel. Controls and Documentation of Soviet Forces
in Germ y
REASONS FOR TRAVEL
B3oth Soviet Officers and O.R.'s - but particularly the for;ner - are
frequently to be seen travelling on trains in t1e : wiet zone of Germany.
They r?ay be doing so for any of the following reasons:-
(a) On duty between one German town and another
(b) On local leave within Germany. Officers may, if they wish,
spend their annual leave of about I month -r..:ermany instead
of in the U.S.S.R. There are a few approved centres, of which
the only one recalled is HRJMBACH, very close to the Czech
frontier about 150 km. due south of LEIPZIG.
(c; On their way to ERPURT, FRANI PUR.T -on-Oder or other points in
order to join the Soviet military leave trains with run daily
from ERFURT and POTSDA M to BREST.
SOVIET COACHES ON GERMAN TRAINS
2. On most, if not all, German trains there is one coach reserved
exclusively for the use of the Soviet occupying forces. Germans may not
travel in these cuaohes, whilst Soviet forces may not travel in the German
coaches. Occasionally, however, Soviet officers are to be seen in the latter,
when the Soviet coach on a train is full. Apart from the 2 military trains
to BREST mentioned in para I (c) above, there are no others reserved for Soviet
DRESS C^ SOVIET FORCES
3.
Soviet officers and O.R.'s are not allowed to wear civilian clothes in
Germany, so that those travelling are always. in uniform. There are, however,
some Soviet civilians working in Germany, who are also entitled to use the
Sovie'c cos.ohes.
/TRAVEL........
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TRAVEL WJ flRANTS AND TICKETS
1+. In all cases Soviet corces travelling on German trains are issued by
their units with a Travel Warrant (Voinskoe Trebovanie na Bilet) in Russian
and German, which they are supposed to exchange at the Ge:.snan booking-office
on the station before boarding the train.
complied with.
This regulation is frequently not
A German conductor/conductress usually comes into the Soviet '
coach diuring the journey and asks to see tickets or ,ravel warrants. This
is apparently a cursory'cheok in most cases, and no 'personal documents' need
be shown. Only at a few of the largest stations, such as ERFURT and FRAME AMT,,
are there special Soviet booking-offices wI're train tickets can be obtained.
At many of the larger stations there are spearate waiting-rooms for Soviet forces,
where they can eat and even sleep if they wish.
5.
trains between:
NORDHAUSEN and ERFURT
ERFURT and LEIPZIG
LEIPZIG and KOTTBUS
KOTTBUS and FRANKFURT.
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DOCUMENTS CARRIED
6. Ir. addition to the travel warrant or train ticket the following documents
must be carried by Soviet officers travelling in Germany:-
(a) On duty. Identity Booklet (U(lostoveronic Lichnosti) cncl ;:ovoraent
Order (Komandirovochnoe Predpisanie).
/(b) Ono?....,..
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-3-
(b) On local leave. Identity Booklet and Leave Pass (Otpusknoj
Bilet). If travelling to a Soviet leave centre, an accommoda-
tion authorisation (Putevka) would probably be required.
(c) On leave to the U.S.S.R. Identity Booklet, Leave Pass and
Permit to Enter the U.S.S.R. (Razovyj Propusx - see paras
10-16 below).
With-the exception of the Permit to Enter the U.S.S.R.
all the above mentioned documentis arc. s fined by the Adjutant
('Komandir Stroevoj Chasti) plus the C.O. (Komandir Chasti) or Chief of Staff
(Nachal'nik Shtaba).
TRAVEL TO BERLIN
8. Soviet officers and O.R.'s are not alloyed to travel to BERLfl without
a special permit (Fropusk) which must be obtained in addition to the normal
documm:n .; s.
Groups of officers and/or O.R.'s are, however, frequently taken
to BERLIN o:. conducted excursions in the charge of one particular officer.
It is not known what the documentation of such groups would be,
arart from the individual identity documents, there would be one
group movement order and permit Incidentally, group excursions to other
places in Germany, where a permit is not required, are also frequent occurrences,
e.g. to the LEIPZIG Fair and the HARZ district.
TRAVEL Or BU"ES AND TRAMS
9.
Soviet officers and men are allowed to use municipal transport, e.g.
trams and buses. They may also sometimes travel on buses between one town and
another, usually in cases where the distance is fairly short and there is no
diree'4 train service.
RAZOVO.T PROPUSK (Permit to Enter the U.S.S.R.)
10. Every member of the Soviet occupying forces travelling either on leave
or duty f:;-om Germany to the Soviet Union by train must have this permit. Its
period of validity covers the period of leave, and it must also be carried on
the return journey from the, Soviet Union to Germany. A person must leave the
Soviet Union before the expiry date; only in exceptional oases may its validity be
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extended.
its -olour was different
each time. In April, 1954 it was light-green. On a previous occasion it
ha0. been yellow'. The permit consists (reading from left to right) of the
following three sections, all on a single sheet of stiff paper with an
unusual watermark (details not recalled):-
(a) A narrow counterfoil, with no photograph;
(b) A vriaer counterfoil, w-:.th photograph;
(o) A main section, with photograph.
On each section is inserted the rank, full name, date anc? place of birth, and
(at any rate on the main section) the ultimate destination in the U.S.S.R.
.12. Section (a) is detached at the holder's unit before the permit is
it is sent immediately by military courier
to the Frontier Troops unit in F'RI'JRT-on-Oder (or perhaps now to ERFURT where
document checking is now carried out instead). This enables the
Frontier Troops to have advance warning of-a-person's arrival and forms a
double identity check.
Section (b) is detached by the Frontier Troops unit at BREST station.
Section (c) is retained by the holder, until he returns to Germany from
15. Tha permits
by
were always signed
the Chief of Staff of the 8th Guards Rifle
Army. ,.Thy signatures were in green ink.
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