SOVIET MORALE AND FRATERNIZATION POLICIES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00046R000500120007-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 25, 2013
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: July 19, 1955
• Content Type: REPORT

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INFORMATION REPORT INFORMATION REPORT
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
This material contains information affecting the National Defense of the United States within the meaning of the Espionage Laws, Title
18, U.S.C. Secs. 793 and 794, the transmission or revelation of which In any manner to an unauthorised person is prohibited by law.
?074
COUNTRY East East Germany/ USSR
SUBJECT Soviet Morale and Fraternization
Policies
REPORT NO.
DATE DISTR.
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19 July 1955
NO. OF PAGES 6
DATE OF INFO.
REQUIREMENT NO. RD 50X1
PLACE ACQUIRE
REFERENCES
DATE ACQUIRED
SOURCE EVALUATIONS ARE DEFINITIVE. APPRAISAL OF CONTENT IS TENTATIVE.
1.-I8RARY SUBJECT AND AREA EWES (30)
3,-02-0406 7/55
1773:;5
N(J14)
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N -P-I-D-E NT IAL
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STATE
ARMY
NAVY
AIR IffXI FBI
AEC
(Note: Washington distribution Indicated by "X"; Field distribution by "#".)
INFORMATION REPORI INFORMATION REPORT
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CONFIDENTIAL 50X1
COUNTRY East Germany/USSR
SUB3ECT
Soviet Morale and Fraternization Policies
DATE OF 'INFORMATION.
PLACE ACQUIRED
SOURCE
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
REPORT NO.
DATE DISTR. 27 June 1955
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NO. OF PAGES 6
REFERENCES:,
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MORALE FACTORS
Dependents n
L. Source stated that officers stationed in Est Germany were permitted 50X1,
to bring their dependents to East Germany. He believed that this
policy started Iduring the demobilization period. 50X1
at about the same time
db UICI some new battalion orricers. He said that the newly assigned '
. officers brought their dependents with them. Source did not know how
these individuals came from the USSR.
I.
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were married and had their families with 50X1
tnem. They lived outside the company caserne, which consisted of a
single buildingsand occupied German homes, all of which were made to
accommodate two families. Some of the houses were occupied only by
Soviet officers and their dependents while others were occupied by
both Soviet and German families. 50X1
9.9INFENTIATJ
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P a, e a ter was given permis- 50:0
sion to bring his wife to Germany. Sourde did not know by whom this
permission was granted but stated that one such overkhArachnik had told
him that all such NCO's were permitted to bring their dependents to East
Germany, Source did not. know if this sVeOchisr0Ohn1k's wife had arrived
in Germany or nOt.
No explanation WAS ever given to personnel as to the reasons why.depen-
dents of married draftees were not freely admitted into Germany Source
believed that actually no reason had.to be given in his companyvbeduise
there were nomarried draftees in it In discussions among thiMseives.'
EM Often said that none of them were able to support a family in East
Germany with the pay that they reoeived;
When source was taking basic training about five per-
50:00
cent of the trainees in his training battalion were married. Upon
completion of basic training) these married consoriptees were assigned
to Units within the USSR while the others came to East Germany.
Passes
Since all the officers in source's company lived off post, they were
authorized to leave the caserne after duty hours. He did not know if
they had. a special pass that gave them authorization to. leave the post
and go to their quarters. HoweVeri'heeIievedhatntheafripers
needed a'pass to go into town because he noticed several times that
the officers picked, up passes in the company orderly room: Source did
not know what the exact policy was for sverkharochniki but he heard
that they had the same pass privileges as offibers fn that they could
leave the caserne after duty hours during the week.
. EM of the company were not permitted to leave the caserne after duty
hours during the week, but were authorized passes for Saturdays and
SundayS. EM had, to sign out with the duty NCO and sign in upbn their
return. Passes were issued only when a group of three or four men
would get together. Therefore, they would leave in a group and return.
to the caserne in the same group. In EastA,ermany, weekend passes
were granted to EM until 2000 hours. In the USSR, conscript EM were
not able to leave the caserne during the week, as witivIhe:biewin :
Germany; but they were permitted to stay out until 2400 hours on, '
Saturdays and until 2300 hours on Sundays.
the policies stated above were not closely.adhered
to. Draftees often left the caserne without a pass during the week
and. with the connivance of the sentry on duty and nothing was said
by any one. Usually there was only one officer on duty at night,
and he was always checking the patrols or going into town to check
the streets for Soviet personnel. All the EM knew the places that
the OD Checked and just stayed away from them. All the conscripts
in the unit got along well and never turned each other in.
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Leave
Officers were authorized 50 days of leave per year and source thought
the same held true for sverkhsrochniki. Conscript EM were not authorized
any annual leave during their period ofservice, but they were, in
exceptional cases, authorized short compassionate leave or leave as a
reward for meritorious service. Travel time was not counted againat
leave time and transportation was free for all personnel going on leave.
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? Source did. not know what percentage of the company was allowed to be
on leave at any one time. Nevertheless, no more than two EM were away
from the company on leave at any one time. Even those men granted
leave for compassionate reasons and for meriterious service,had to
wait until the other man had returned. He estimated thatnavviopreiliA
thrmpercent of the company, including officers, were away on leave ?
at any one time.
Leave for Meritorious service WaSvgranted by, the company CO. This
leave was granted when a soldier was outstanding in political training
and in his other duties at all times. In ell cases, these leaves were
for a period of 10 days. Several times compassionate leave, Usua44Tfor,.
10 days, was granted in source's company, In, one instance* longer time
was granted.
?? Source never heard any officers complaining about the leave policy.
There waren? sverkhsrochniki in source's company, but in discussions
held by the other 'EM, the sentiment was that leave given to sverkhs-
rochniki was quite liberal, The conscript EM continuously complained
that they were not granted leave, except-in the rare cases mentioned
previously.
DiscipIne
? Source could not give any specific instances of what he could call good
or bad discipline, but he stated that the men were indifferent to any
action that was taken against them. Discipline was lax in his unit in
many respects. Company officers knew that the EM were leaving the
caserne during the week and were indifferent to this. In cases of
fraternization, however, they were very strict. Source had no knowledge
of recent orders from any higher headquarters calling attention to
breaches of discipline.
. During the ten-month period
only tnree men put into tne guara nouse. ro
of them were given 20 days each for stealing from German nationals.
These men had become drunk, broken into a German house and ransacked
it. They were discovered, forced to return the items, and sentenced.
When these men returned to the company after serving their sentence,
the other men in the company looked down upon them because it made all
the men of the company look like thieves, and they wanted to stay on
friendly terms with the Germans.
Source never heard of any Soviet Army personnel with venereal diseases
and drunkeness was not too prevalent. EM had little or no free time
and no great amount of money to spend on whiskey. Occasionally a man
would get drunk, but that was not the practice. EM were forbidden to
buy liquor or even to go into a German bar.
Source stated that when men were on duty at the vehicle checkpoints,
they were instructed to check every Soviet vehicle that passed their
point as well as the occupants of the vehicles. However, sentries
often checked credentials and made entries in the book haphazardly.
State of Morale
Morale was very low in source's company. The two most important things
contributing to this state were: restriction placed upon the conscripted
EM not permitting them to drink, and the restriction forbidding EM to
fraternize with German nationals. On paper, Soviet military personnel
were permitted to fraternize but orders received from their officers
did not condone this practice. The pass policy contributed to the
lowering of morale, as did the poor pay that the conscripted EM received.
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9. Many privileges extended to officers were regentekbythe,eaustripted
particularly the leave policy. The pass policy was also a
cussed grievance grievance to the EM, who were not permitted to leave the
caserne after duty hours during the week. The difference in pay:also
contributed to the low morale.
Medipai Care
D. Medical care in source's battalion was more'than adaquate. There-was
a small hospital at battalion headquarters -where men of the battalion
were sent for treatment. When the soldier cOuld not.be treated pro-
perly or if the battalion hospital did not have the proper facilities
and equipment, he was sent to a hoapital in Berlin/karlshorst. At the
time there was a man in his company who was in
th Xarisnorst hospital being treated for. stomach ulters..This soldier
had been in the hospital for nearly a year.
Recreation and Military Stores
Motion pictures were shown in the company mess hall at least once a
week. For a time, the company CO permitted the EM to go to the German
motion picture theater in Schildow (N 52-38, E 13-22) on weekends but
the men started to molest the German girls in the theater and the CO
placed it off limits. Source stated, however, that the men still
continued to go there with no reaction from the CO. '
? Once a month a mobile PX came to the company area to sell supplies to
the soldiers. This mobile PX comprised a Soviet Army ZIS-5 truck with
a traileriprobably German-made. The PX sold many small items including
shoe polish, brushes, candy, and tanned foods. ' The truck was manned
by a German male driver and a German female saleswomanoprobably Soviet
Army employees. The mobile PX made the rounds to each guard company
of source's battalion as well as to four other battalions with similar
Missions.
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? The food in source's company was not good but it was better than the
food source received while-serving in the USS. Source's company CO
often bought fruit on the German marketifor the EM with his own
money.
Promotion Policies
? Source did not know of any dissatisfaction among officers regarding
officer promotion policies. Conscripted EM did not care very much
abtut promotions and promotion policy was rarely a topic of discus-
sion. Most of the EM awaited the day when they would be demobilized
and able to return to their families and friends. Promotion.was
rarely an incentive for better soldiering.
Defections
? Source had never heard from the company political officer of the fate
that befell deserters to the West and the fate of deserters was never
a topic of discussion among the men; dt seemed inconsequential to them.
One part OtF.the-seourity duties of souroe'S unittwas to-look.for
Soviet personnel who were AWOL and apprehend them. .
FRATERNIZATION
Source had. read in Soviet newspapers that fraternization was permitted
between Soviet personnel and German nationals. However, in his unit
it was forbidden. The company CO told his men that any girl whom they
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associated with might in reality be an Allied spy. They were also told
that because of the battalion assignment, that of guarding the border
of East Germany and the French Zone of Berlin, it was especially
suseptible to enemy attempts to cross the border and gain information
detrimental to the security of East Germany. The non-fraternization
order read to source in a company formation was closely enforced by 50:00
the officers of the company and unidentified komendatura patrols were
always on the loOkout for any infraction of fraternization regulations.
However, most of the men did not obey this order and fraternized anywaYs
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members of company were only transferred
to other units in East Germany for fraternizing, but after that date
they were told by. the CO that any infraction of this regulation WOuld
warrant return to the USSR. No mention was ever.made as to what their
fate would be in the USSR once they were retur7ed,
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