THE BORDERGUARDS OF THE MINISTRY OF INTERIOR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80T00246A003800120055-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 1, 2008
• Sequence Number: 55
• Content Type: REPORT

THE BORDFRGU*D 3 OF THE MINI gl'RY OF INT] tIOR.
In this chapter I will discuss certain
preventive measures carried into e/ eat by the Bordersuards
well as the means, which made C~uar4ine of the borders more
1iksly to be su essful by making; the approach to and the
cro :sin: of the borders more difficult of achievements
:Measures desiGned to keep order in territories adjacent to the
These measures effected civilian and milita^y personnel
alike and regulated and limited the activities of the people.
T,ese iea5ures defined who may or may not approach the border,
to what extent ( 15km.,-s 500m-s 50a-s) and with what vehicle.
During the years 1950-51 individuals and families who
have shown their antipathy toward the communist regime were re-
moved from border-areas, while the remaining popolation was alo st7t
watched and tied upon ( set BorderSuard Forces Reconnoitre section)
One of the effective ways of reachinc the border was
with the aid of the local farmers. To put an end to privately
o?.med and cultivated farms 15 km-s from the border, aovermnent
owned farms and so called ttsw-a or Producer's W-operatives
;c ere fonmied. One measure made effective in 1950 4pecified that
t.,.o se whopreferred to cultivate their own land could do go provi-
ded they Cave up the farm-land on the border and emohanced it
for land already in Government possession away.from the border.
In this way one of the effective ways of reachinc the border was
blocked.
The populatioh in the vicinity of the border was for-
bidden to leave settled areas after daikk, or to use vehicles to
apprtach the border without permission to do so from the autho-
rities.
The restricted border areas wares
Until wring, 1956 areas add acent to the
Yuco Slav border. After this time, only the western border areas,
that is the territvies adjacent to the kastro+Hungarian border
were subs act to the above rsstti ctionas.
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In areas 15km-s from the border only such persons were allowed
to stay who had upon their person a permit from the Police Pbroe
of the Interior Ministry, a118~ft% them to temporarily stay in
the border zone or to enter the zone once or more than once.
Only persons who lived in the 15km?s wide border-zone had permanent
zone permits. 33ch a permit was striped upon the eight' page of the
person' s identification booklet, and signed by the authorized repre-
sentative of the Ministry of Interior: This may be described as
follows: On the left hand side page there was a large arable number
tuo, showing that the owner of said identification booklet had per-
mi ssion to stay in the 15 km wide border zone. The stamp used for
the authorization of such permit shown the county, the political
district, the town or village, the date of the issuance of add
permit and finally the readable signature of the one who issued it.
The bearer of this permit was not allowed to go as close as 500M-s
to the border in the territory of the fbunty mentioned in the permit.
The permit was subject to withdrawal.` For the purposes of temporary
work that needed to be done along the border within the 500M wide
strip the Ooiruaanding Officer of the Borderguard-Outgo at concerned,
could ccive temporary entrance permit:
Seldom was there a private residence to be found inside
this 500 m wide strip, in some cases though there were whole
settled areas directly adjacent to the border,. Persons who had in
their possession entrance permits into the 56o m zone had to report
in at the Outgo at C.O. twice daily ( in the morning and in the vening)
who carefully scrutinized their papers and identity, and then notified
the Guards on duty by telephone ordering them to ictpect and carefully
watch the person or group. With a 500 m zone permit the person was
allowed to r---o as close as 50 m to the borddlr ' It was customary
to malce such -permit effective for one or two -days only. When
a. permanent entrance permit was issaed for the 500 m zone, it
too was stamped into the personal identification booklet of the
bearer, with the difference that in- the left hand side page in-
stead of the arable numeral two an arable numeral one was to
be found. Only border-guards on patrol duty were allowed to ens
ter the 1_70 m wide zone this side the border: Being found here
was considered as attempted border-violation and was punishable
 by Courts. Guards were ordered to arrest and take in to the
Outgo st i-ftmever they would find here. If within one of
these border zones both military p satmbliand civilians
had to Shaw identification papers to the guards."-
Permit was necessary to go to border waters such
as La,,e Ferto, for the purposes of fishing or cuttinc reed.
These permits were either for "Border-water fishing" or
"Border-water reed cutting". Both could be issued by the
Cutpo st Co=,aider if recommended by the Town-Council. 21e
per:iit was valid for a whole season.' In cases of abuse or
:i sr se the permit was withdrawn and the deed regarded as puni-
-iable offence. From time to time ( two or three times in a
:rezr) hunters could obtain entrance permits into the 5oo m
zone for the purposes of hunting. One or two of the wards
were assi.;;ned to such group s- for accompaniement. At any other
occasion civilian or military personna could remain in the
1-00 m zone only for the purposes of doing some needed work
if accompanied bu a borderguard.'
Without Special entrance-permits the following per,ons
had the right to stay in the 15 km wide border-zone, or had
the richt to epprac ch the borde %
1. The president and members of the Cabinet Council
2. The Secretary or the members of the Parry's Cent-
ral Directorate.
3.' Mini stars.
4. The particular District's representative to the
Partiment.
r. At certain Decified places those tmo and visas.
Persons ato_-~hedcTisas in their possession could
remain for the minimum lencht of time in the bor-
der zone, they were not allowed to stop over or
at.-,,r there.
case however even the above mentioned had to iden-
tify themselves to the guards on patrol duty.
Borderguard personnel if away from the station
of their own unit also needed permit or leave-order authori-
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The building; of technical barriers was 'litarted in 1948 along
the Yu;;?-o g.av border and continued in 1949 along the .aastro-
hun':at ian border, These barriers were to serve a moral as
well as a military objective.' The first was aimed at the
:coral intimidation of tho se who contemplated border-violation
the second was to hinder physically those who actually attemp-
ted to cro ss them,
The reenforced technical barriers consisted of two,
that is three sections.` In the. first row were the technical.
barriers, in the second the various mine-fields, in the third
the barrier wire-g'lstem.
The technical barriers were placed two to three meters
this side the border," In U6 rows pine pol ea ( 150-160 em abpve
Ground) were pl aced oppo site one another 250 am di stance between
them and barbed wire streched upon them in such a way Itio make
it very cliff cult to go acro as it, and in axV case very time co*'
tumirn. Every pole was held in place and supported by two other.
poles, one placed two meters to the right the other two meters
to the left of the row at 90 degree angle to the row. of poles
and barbed vire lines. Five rows of barbed wire were streched
on each row of poles.
Parallel with this ba)erUt b11La tkesaty meters wide strip
of land tread-mines and trip mines were scattered, At critical
points where border-violations were more frequent than elsewhere
exanmlea Hegyeshalom), the technical barrier was further re-
enforced; on the twelve meter wide stretch of land prellel to
the nine-fielA trip-wire colonies were placed, that is trip-wire
:fines. In other words besides the double rows of barbed wire
barrier and the mine field where the mines exploded when stepped
or stubbled upon an additional trip wire mine system was placed
to nalke the crossing over even more insurmountable.
In order to Stermine the place, the time and the
direction of the ( attempted or successful) borderoro ssing along
the ::iine-f'_el s a 10 m wide track zone was to be found. The
;;round in this zone was cultivated and kept in such crumbling
condition that would make clear track-determination possible.
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zation certificate in order to be allowed to stay in a border-
zon e :-"ea. 3Adiers could stay within the 15 km wide border
-.c ,,,e ?:rri tli 7ernit or leave authorization certificate for the
cxti cul ~x area.
It was the duty of every citizen inside the 15 km
'.order zone to keep the enforced "Order alone: the Border".
The enforcement of this was the duty of the DorderGuard-
units. In order to maintain this order the Bordercuards
srfcr- ed the following, procedure:
(a) they inspected the drivers and passengers on
vehicles that travelled on roads that lay inland from the
border, in order to make sure of their identity.
(b) ?_orderguards inspected passengers of trains
( c_ ec'.:ed their papers) that travelled toward or paralell
the border. ( PCXanple: Heryeshalom-Sombathely route and back
G-1or-tpron route and back etc )
(c) They inspected the identification papers of
the persons tho ,orked on fields either ljovernment or privately
owned, which lay outside the 500 m zone but Close to the border.
(d) Reconnoitre units kept account of the activities
of everyone who resided inside the border-zones. ( see: B Pbroe:
Battalion
District and Reconnoitre Sections and their work)
In the enforcement of the order along the border I t
was the dut',r of the Borderguard personnel to stay clear of
violations in the course of identification per examination
or abuse of any kind.
Until the summer of 1956 technical
barriers were used along the border to make border-guarding
easier. During the summer lof 1956 most of these barriers were
tat-en up. 91 such barriers would have been removed however th e
events of Octobc~er 1956 in Hungary put an and to this intention.
The (b::nmuni st dictatorship now once more feel s the need of
Hun- rV s enforced isolation from the western nations.
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Foilowinr track evaluation 24 hours after a border-violation
the tracks were erased on the track-zone. Where the terrain
was flat machines were used to keep the track-zone in proper
condition, Wdaile on hilly or mare y terrain, man-power was ettpi
loyed. Only Outpo at Oonusanders had the right to put foot
on the track-zone, if they had a good enough reason for so
doi? c.
Elevated watch and guard-towerai
With the help of elevated
toi:rers the border was sealed off and made almost hole-pro of.
By using the elevated guard-towers a si.r.-le borderguard on
patrol duty could take care of a 600-800 m long border sec-
tion. At the request of the District - the Battalion - or the
Outgo st-Co:.'.i'tander, the Borderguard ffi ineering Divi sion built
the elevated towers at specified places.
In General these towers were 10 meters high above
-round ( from 6 to 12 m-s) The towers were built upon pine-
yrood poles, were equlped with port-holes and look-out windows.
The bordercuard on patrol duty was able to watch and fire at
the sate time. The ladder leading up to the tower was camouf-
l a ed and the chancing of guarcU was thus not obvious. Every
tow.aer was equipped with a telephone and a sathceteh to aid
the ,guard in keeping himself properly oriented. By means of the
tel phone he could oontanct the Outgo st Commander and throuch
him the Battalion and/or the District Orm:':ander, or Headquarters.
He could read off the map in the tower the exact location of
the particular *ower in relation to the other towers, and re-
lative to the Outpost* From here the guard was to keep under
observation the elevated and more slenificatnt points of the
enen:-(:) territory,the other side the border, so that if ne-
cessary he may .r;ive accurate description of it to the Outpo at
C.O. The exact distance from the tower of points 'that were to
be kept under observation from here was given an the map
ketch. ( Hcamplet The railroad Station on the Aastrian side i s
northward 500 m-s from the watch tower. The !W strian Police-
Force Barracks are 1500 m-a northeastward from the watchtower. )
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The borderguard was C'rdered to approach and leave the
elevated towers concealed and uner cover`
In order to orient and guide the
borderc-uards on duty the Outpost established reference-points
in each border section. Near every reference-point ( ~-10 m-s
from it) a hidden telephone apparatus was placed. When the
reference Point was one of the elevated towers, then of course
the telephone was in the towel-: In other oases the telephone
apparatus was built in a 30 am high concrete block, in such a
way that when the door of it or the Dover was opened by the
patrol ( by means of a key and a apeoiel "Pipe-key") three
electric plug opening became visible.' The three plug opening s
were placed so as to form a ninety degree angle. The guard on
patrol-d-ty carried a telephone receiver2: If he plugged in his
receiver in horizontal direction he got connected with the
c usrd on duty at the Outgo std whereas if he plugged in hi s
receiver in a vertical direction he could be called by the
gu:rd-on duty at the Outpost, at any time with a buzzing
mound. The Outpo at C.0, gave orders and instructed reci-
fically every guard on duty by way of telephone.. These
phones were most important though when on alarm or when bor-
der incidents occur"
,qt,;nal-apparatuas
The signal apparatus in urn by the guards were:
1 Flare signals,
2. No i se- signal s
3. Halast-type electric signals.
With the use of these signaling devices one guard could patrol
as large a section of the border at night as he could during
daytime. the signal-apparatus! would indicate when a person
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were approaching the border, it would show where such persons
were located , in what direction t4/,41A/ did they Flo, and would
po s3ibly show how many they were; The most frequently used were
the flare-signals, The flare-colors indicated the direction in which
the border violators were traveling, where they were at present and
how many they were. The flare-fire-ing apparatus' were fastened to
50 cm high pine piles . Two such apparatus' were fastened to-ether
with fits wiere upon
in such a Way that contanct 4th the wi4re, the wire itself popped
out the aafety-gigot which in turn that would cause the flare
apoaratus to fire up the signal. In the light of the flare the guard
could see where and how many the border-violators were, In order
to determine the direction the border-violators were
travel ins the flare-signal apparatus were placed in three rows
i-ad the fl are-color of each row was dif'erent. Fbr exampl e; the
the row closest to the border was red the one in the middle white and
the one on this side yellow: If the border violation wanted to go
signal a
out of the contry the order of flare colors would be the reverse of
in case he to
the color sequence were he to attempt oomt in.
These signals were eaither placed for the whole season of
su i er or winter, in which case the Outpost C.O. ordered the Outpost'
,..ua1d in charge of flare- signala to place them in position, specified,
or in many cases the guard on duty would place then along the
300-500n border section in his charge, at du sc and take them up at
dawn. Tile flare-signal apparatus were continuous and camouflaged
eve: in the deytjirie difficult to got. In no st cases if the
--u on duty pla-ed the flare- signals he would place only one
row.,, of it and take up the ro,,
on
"-is dThty time ended*
at t)14/47{Pdi' dawn or whenever
It shoal'. be mentioned here that the 7uards used
":lire-pistols to light up the terrain when necessary and in the
'bsene of telefones as communic'tion signs]. s. If for some reason
the -u-rd on duty could not establish contact with the Outpost
via tel ephone he then would use fl are- signals previou sly rcree
upon, to convey his messagee For exmples 3 red flare signals -
' nflun1.'-hed border violation oecured. 2 red and 1 yellow -
hor'_er-v4olator was captured, - 3 yellow a - additional guards
are needed. 2 yellow 1 red - unpunished bor'ler-violaton toward
out of the country occured 4 red armed provocation.
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oi;;e sirtnal sl~l~ afi14 deices
where flare sigmas could cause fire ( near wheat held
or in woody areas) noise sigma mechanisms were used. These media-
pet's.
Zisms ,ere :ererally made by the Outpost and placed in position by
them, Very simple operation it was. t ty cans were nudged then
filled with -ravel and tied to thin but strong wire. The wire was
from the ground
streched 3 to 4 feet high from tree to tree itt woodsq areas, aoro as
every path W41%4 and road to obstruct traffic. The cans Tare
sa ud,7ed so that they mayT- not be shit and obvious in sun light and
in moon-lit nights. 3ach ndise-signi