MORALE OF SOVIET ARMY UNITS IN AUSTRIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00046R000500220010-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 4, 2013
• Sequence Number: 10
• Publication Date: September 1, 1955
• Content Type: REPORT

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I &
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 unauthorized person is prohibited by law.
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COUNTRY
SUBJECT
DATE OF INFO.
PLACE ACQUIRED
DATE ACQUIRED
USSR/Austria
Morale of Soviet Army Units in
Austria
REPORT NO.
DATE DISTR.
NO. OF PAGES
REQUIREMENT NO.
REFERENCES
13
RD
1 September 1955
SOURCE EVALUATIONS ARE DEFINITIVE. APPRAISAL OF CONTENT IS TENTATIVE.
SOURCE:
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C-0.-N-F-I-D-E-N-T-I-A-L
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STATE
ARMY
NAVY
AIR
FBI AEC 1
(Note: Washington distribution indicated by 'q
INFORMATION REPORT INFORMATION REPORT
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CONFIDENTIAL
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REPORT NO.
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COUNTRY USSR/Austria
DATE DISTR. 28 July 1955
SW:MCI Soviet Morale, Fraternization
NO, OF PAGES 12
and Propaganda
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DATE OF INFORMATION
REFERENCES:
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PLACE ACQUIRED
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50X1 THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
SOURC
_ QUZT.P.MITT IA
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Partial Soviet Standard Brief No 7
SOVIET MORALE, FRATERNIZATION AND PROPAGANDA
Item
FACTORS
Dependent Policy
a. Officers
b. Career EM
c. Conscripts
Passes and Leaves
a, Passes
b. Leave
State of Discipline
a. Drunkenness
b. Venereal Disease
o. Disobedience of Orders
State of Morale
Page
A. MORALE
1.
2.
4.
3
3
3
3
4
4
5
6
6
7
7
7
a. Feelings about Officers
b. Sentiment Towards Dependents
Promotion Policies
Defections
a. Army Policy Towards Defectors
b. Attempted or Successful Defection by Soviet Army
Personnel
8
8
8
8
7. Criminal Elements in Source's Unit 9
B. FRATERNIZATION 9
C. PROPAGANDA 10
1. Voide of America
2. Printed Western Propaganda
3. Effectiveness of Western Propaganda
4. Effectiveness of Soviet .Propaganda
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10
10
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Partial Soviet Standard Brief No 7
SOVIET MORALE, FRATERNIZATION AND PROPAGANDA
A. MORALE FACTORS
1. Dependent Policy
a. Officers
50:00
the dependents of Soviet army officers arriving
in Austria in Oct 53. Of the four married officers all.had 50X1
their dependents arrive at this time. The;fifth company officer was a bachelor.
50:00
50:00 50:00 Company officers were required to arrange for their own quarters
on the Austrian economy. They were 'paid a certain unknown amount, as a rental
allowance was the total number of dependents that
each officer had, one senior lieutenant of his company that
he, the lieutenant received aoouD 3,c00 schillings a month after the arrival
of his dependents. did not know what portion of this was considered as
a rental allowance nor whatthe officer had received previously. He heard from
conversations with other men of his unit that the average rent an officer had
to pay for two rooms with kitchen and bathrpom privileges was about 200 schillings
per month. During his tour in Austria had seen dependent children of 50X1
officers as old as 16 years in BLUMAU a s ?attalion headquarters. One such
child was the 16 year old daughter of an unknown major who was the battalion
Chief of Supply, dependent!
children of school age were attending a Russian ,school, the location and details
of which were unknown to him.
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At the battalion headquarters area, the senior officers (major and
higher) had quarters in the garrison. All other officers wen,.
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required to live on the Austrian economy.
b. Career EM
it 50)(1
was permitted by reiulation for career soldiers to bring their dependents to
Austria, he personally could not recollect ever having seen or heard of such
a case.
c. Conscripts
50:00 In addition to the above personnel,
Soviet Air Force privates who worked in an unknown Air Force radio receiving
center located in the same building with the Radio Receiving Center of-he
135th Sep Air Warning Bn in RODAUN (4808N-16I6E), Austria. These two privates
were married to two Soviet civilian female employees. These women were
reputedly working as radio operators in the same installation as their husbands.
The two couples
occupied quarters in a communal dwelling
within the garrison of the parent unit of the Air Force Radio Receiving Center,
an unidentified Air Force Signal Company in KALKSBURG (4808N-1615E), Austria.
According to information the Air Force personnel of the 59m
Center, this company was subordinate to an unidentified Air Force regiment
stationed in WIENER NEUSTADT 0748N-1615E), Austria.
50:00
The only explanation ever offered to obligatory tour EM of
as to why they were not permitted to bring their families to
Austria was that they were serving a comparatively short three year temporary
tour in Austria and that it would not be practicable to bring all dependents
of such personnel abroad. This was a Standard explanation used by the Company
Zampolit during political instruction whenever anyone asked why his family
could not join him.
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2. Passes and Leaves
a,. Passes
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50:00 the restrictions placed on freedom of movement
during Officers uring off-duty hours was dependent on the verbal orders of the
unit CO. Conscripted EM, however, required a written pass that permitted them
to be absent from the garrison for a maximum of four hours and onl to the 50:00
town nearest the military installation to which assigned. ot sure
what restrictions were placed on the enlistedcareer soldiers ?u ?e eved
that they also required some type of written pass to be absent from the garrison.
50:00
Tn Jul 54, a further unidentified order was published by what
was CGF Headquarters which revised some personnel policies
and explained others in precise language. some of the items
in the order dealt specifically with passes and movement of personnel away from
the garrison. He claimed that he was quite familiar with the contents of the
order, although he had personally never seen it, because his company CO had on
several occasions called him in and read the contents of the order from end
to end in order to be sure that he, of all the men in the company, understood
the current policies. " The following is what he remembered of the order:
(1) All restaurants and drinking establishments in Austrieb com-
munities were off limits to all Soviet military and civilian personnel.
(2) Any social contact with the local population was forbidden.
Personnel were permitted to make legitimate purchases in town but were for-
bidden to visit Austrian homes or frequent places of entertainment or public
gatherings.
(3) Enlisted personnel could be granted passes to visit nearby
civilian communities, in groups of three or four only, during off-duty days;
but such passes would be limited to daylight hours only.
(4) Soviet military personnel were not to visit Soviet military
installations other than their own except on business. Social contact between
members of different units was disocouraged.
(5) Off-duty pulses for enlisted personnel would designate the
place authorized to be visited. This would normally be the civilian community
nearest the EM's garrison.
(6) No government vehicles were to be dispatched solely for trans-
porting personnel to town. Any government vehicle dispatched on a trip would
have a legitimate pay load of cargo for both legs of the journey.
(7) Trip tickets would no longer be written for a five day
dispatch but would be written for a 24 hour period only. All trip tickets
had to be signed by the unit CO or the unit C/S. Any trips longer than 24
hours would be dispatched with a separate trip ticket for each 24 hour period
or fraction thereof, signed by the unit CO or C/S.
(8) No vehicle would be dispatched for a trip longer than 90 km,
except in an emergency or for an authorized troop movement in keeping with the
basic mission of the unit.
(9) No vehicle would depart from its garrison without a commissioned
officer in charge.
(10) It was positively forbidden for any vehicle to make a road
trip longer than 500 km under any circumstances. Trips necessitating the trans-
port of vehicles for longer distances wOuld be accomplished through the utili-
zation of railroad facilities.
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The gasoline swindle was accOmplished in the follow-
50:
ing manner. The gasoline supply for his 'btu* was ba00 on an Average gasoline
consumption per kilometer times total kms traVelech. -14114OUtd-Set the trip
speedometer of his vehicle ahead at differepttimeSandtake the gasoline thus
"saved" and turn it over to the battalion motorcycle 0o4rierla Pvt Victor
ZHABIN. This individual would then take the gasoline Said, transfer it to the
unknown buyer. that ZHABIN wWa1wayavefrhOneatyand gave 50:0
50:Qource the full amount received.
00
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(11) No vehicles would be driven on Sundays or holidays.
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50:00 each of the above instructions
was violated a considerable number of times. It was finally decided by some
unknown higher authority that unit vehicles were being. 4spatched illegally.
As a result, an unidentified Truck TranSport Battalion was instructed to move
all supplies to the 135th Sep Air Warning Bn sometime in. the late summer of 1954.
50:00
e a a on ep o the Technical SectiOnAllajOr fnO) 13.413(341N, was in a
small room off the main bar. The owner of tbe establisbment*as,visibly
agitated and told the two soldiers that an officerVaB-411 00 nett room and
that he would not sell them liquor. At this.mOthent the.'#444t'Parne out and
asked the men why they were in this place. They .1J,0'04:00d-that the Voyen-
torg was closed and they wished to buy some tobacco. :71,4,1410r .told them to
return immediately to the compound. They complied and2.11404,0?no more of the
incident0 this was the only ocoaeion'that he had ever been
caught in such a violation although his company CO seeMi4Atp-suspect that he
was constantly disobeying the standing orders requiring- tV0OPP.tO'remain in the
unit area unless granted a specific pass.
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b. Leave
(I) Officers
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,
Soviet officers statiOnSd.in Austria were
authorized 45 aays leave and a maximum of 15 days travei Omve per annum. He
was unable to define his source of information but be34sv04:that this was -
general knowledge.
(2) Career EM
Career soldiers were also authorized e-osrt W.1111Xnown amount
of leave each year along with travel time.
150 Conscripted EM
50:00
NCO's and privates serving their obligatory tour Of three years
were only granted leaves for meritorious and compassionate- reasona.'
such leaves were not applied for by the individual' but were
granted by the unit CO. A soldier might be given leave if he was outstanding
without having a compassionate reason; but no matter how compassionate the
reason no soldier got a leave for this reason alone if be was not also an
outstanding soldier. Meritorious service waa,generally.:,,aa4epted to, mean a
commendation by an inspecting officer during the semi-annual training inspection
or the achievement of high proficiency along political lines A valid compas-
sionate reason was a serious illness in the family.
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Conscript leaves were generallY?for_ab_out_An_iisall days At home
with tiie necessary travel time allowed, conscripts who
had received two or throe leaves during t 'ur, u ese- were rare ex-
ceptions since the greater majority of these EM served their full period of
service without leave.
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After the tougs of the conscript EM were extended
from three to four years, men in the unit locavea-a7-fUrther unidentified
order that authorized Air Force and Coast Artillery unit personnel whO had four-
year terms of service a:leave at least once dUrinii the, four-year period. When
the men asked the company CO about this order AvIdAtjtapplAed to them, he
replied that even if it did apply in theory to the;:unitit. WoUldmake-noildiefer-
ence whatsoever-. He would continue to give leaves onlr to who, he
thought, deserved them.
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officers an4 career soldiers taking leave in
Austria and remaining in the garrison. He had never heard of any conscript EM
doing this.
,
(4) Percentages Authorized to be on ;peeve
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not know what percentage Of officAre"and career EM
was authorized to be on!leave at any given time. 4e believed' that since they
all received a leave of about two months inclu4ing travel tiie, it must mean
that one-sixth could be absent at any given time. gcna9 A014.4...thought, were
authorized about tee per cent.absentaaa,. .
-(5) Methods of Obtaining Compassionate joaVe.
All compassionate leave requests hit40 OriitnOs in the service-
man's family. Such requests were submitted to,,the'i'0043,107qnkomat, and a
request that an individual be authorized a leave due to 00044.124ness in the
family or other equally compassionate ground .was SOut *the: EM,05 company CO.
Source had no further information on the administration of 'save requests.
(6) Morale Effects of Leave Policies ,
50X1 those personnel who received no leave were
naturally bitter. Those who went on leave appeared to"beAlatterted with the
current policy.
3. State of Disoi21101
a. Drunkenness
50X1
TO th.ere.11,greVI94riVates in the
battalion gu.
lye was n or five daY4 for 00n04441:1 intoxicating liquor
tn the garrison and the other was serving a 20 d4y sentetpe, rpr drinking in a
testaurant. His crime was all the more serious-aince he was alone when appre-
hended. This latter soldier claimed to have been called before an unknown
peneral officer during the investigation of his case. . .:
50:00 the average number of men:cOnfined in the guard
house at and une time was about two or three.. ,1 ther4:140re;anY more violators
of standing orders, the battalion CO Punishedth inotherways-to cover up a
?
high rate of breaches of discipline.
;? ? ?.
50:00 the major reasonfOr SOVietv,EM getting into
trouble in his unit was the restriction placed, on-cOn'eUmgioliOf alcoholic drinks.
According to him everyone in the Soviet Army drank w4eneVeyhere was an oppor-
tunity. EM took the risk of getting caught' withoUt'siving, t too much thought
and went to town to frequent taverns, sometime if thWOlenOnlY had the price
of one or two drinks in their pockets. Officers too were, Often seen in town
breaking the rules by patronizing Austrian dinking establishments. However,
131.8 officers had much more freedom of movemen and:did not, bave to have written
_permission to be absent from their post, they'iitre not Punished for the violations
unless they appeared in a drunken condition Wa.Public place-Where their unit
CO could see them. An officer who would see an EM drinking in a civilian establist
!Tient would almost always take the opportunity to reprimand.the EM and possibly
report him. Source stated that it was not embarrassing to ati-OffIxer to reprimand
an EM for an act of which he himself was als0014ty,
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Venereal Disease
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No venereal disease was to
exist among Soviet troops 50X1
in Austria. Although he was repeatedly asked about
the incidence rate of VD,
what punitive and remedial action was taken by the authorities and of any
knowledge he might have of personnel who had been so
that he had no knowledge on the subject.
0. Disobedience of Orders
afflicted he insisted
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Disobedience of orders were very prevalent
accord-
ing to him. He said that it was common for EM to refuse
to carry out
orders
of NCO's
as an example
and officers. He was, however, only able to give
of this alleged poor disoipline..
one specific case
50:00
Air Warning Bn agreed
_
to jointly
refuse to get up for the morning roll call.
Word was passed around
to all the men in the platoon by several ringleaders that the first individual
to arise would be beaten by all of the others.
50:00
When the platoon sergeant came into the barracks to awake the men,
he was struck in the face with a boot by an unknown soldier. All the others
then yelled at him to get out of the barracks and not come back if he, valued
his life. The platoon sergeant then went to the company CO and returned with
him. The latter shouted at the men to stop this nonsense and get up immediately.
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the men in the platoon merely yelled at him to get out or
else he would be beaten. Then the company CO left. There was no further action
taken by any one but after aboutan hour all the men, by mutual consent, began 50)0
to arise, that there was no punitive action taken by the company
CO for this mutiny and that the act was not repeated. Shortly after this,
however, about seven of the BM of the platoon disappeared, and it was rumoured
in the company that they had been selected as the ring leaders of the disorders
and sent back to the USSR to serve out the remainder of their obligatory tour.
was first formed
in 1952, the replacement personnel sent to the unit from various units in
Austria Were the worst trouble makers in their original units. *Rumours were
circulating in 1952 among the EM that a letter had been sent to the Battalion CO
from the CO of COP pointing out that 25 percent of all the criminal acts per- 50)0
formed by Soviet soldiers in Austria were done by the personnel of this Battalion.
these criminal acts included murder, rape, robbery, assault,
piirerage, and mutiny. However, he would not provide any details in order to
substantiate his claims. 50X1
50:00 50:00 He stated, however, that conduct and discipline in the unit improved
oonsiderably during the period of time from its activation
since normal demobilization and forceful return of trouble makers
brought about the replacement of these me p with average soldiers arriving with
the replacement shipments from the USSR. "
ta'A....ps.aarile
50:00 the morale in his
unit was gooa in general. uomplaints were rew and were not in the nature of
violent "gripes"; they just indicated general dissatisfaction. Some of the
2omplairts; as be 1,eoai1ed them, were aa followo: the men wile received no
leave complained about the leave system; the pass system had unpopular features,
Lncluding passes being of short duration (4 hours) and having narrow geographic
Limits; men complained about the bad quality and mopotony of the food; And
tveryone felt that the medical care was very poor.
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a. Feelings about Officers
no reason to be envious
if officers as he believed that there was nothing to hold back any individual
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who desired to become an ?Meer, Every4Atdid feel that he would, as an
individual, like to have the freedom of movement and the authorizationto
take leaves and have dependents with him ,W111,01, the. offioerS had without,
however, becoming an officer and having to WO indefinitely in the army**
b. Sentiment Towards Dependents
A point often brought up in politioalAmfOrmation periods was
that most of the men could not understand why the Soviet government expended
such an enormous amount of money to -transport dependents to Austria and main-
tain them there. Most of the men thought that these funds 0oU1d'be-put to
better use by helping the families of the van serving in Austria, who were at
home and in actual financial distress, Governmental assistance to oollective
fart workers to alleviate their poverty and hunger would have been much more
sensible, argued some of the men. Such "treasonous" complaints were answered
by the Company Zampolit who stated that the officers serving in Austria were
serving there indefinitely and as such were entitled to have their families
with them. As for the better economic pOsition of the dOpendents in Austria,
the Zapoltt would argue that "these valiant wives and children who coura-
geously joined their soldier husbands on the Outposts of freedom in Austria
should be compensated materially for risks in living on the threshold of anni-
hilation".
5. Promotion poll. ies
50X1
he had never heard any dissatisfaction voiced about
Soviet A'rny promotion policies for either officers or EM. Everyone appeared to
be satisfied with the current promotion system. He had no precise information
on this since he was never interested in bettering himself while in service.
6. Defections
a. Army Policy Towards DefeotOrt
50X1 the only time he had ever heard the fate of
deserters to zne west discussed by anyone in the USSR or in Austria was while
he was attending a movie in the officers' club of an unidentified Air Force
Battalion near his unit. Prior to the movie, the Air Forde Battalion Zampolit,
an unknown major, addressed the theatre, and his subject was the fate!
deserters from the Soviet military establishment. He stated that those mei, who
crossed over to the West would be taken by the Western powers, interrogaped and
then trained as spies and returned to the USSR to spy on their country. All
mush traitors, the major went on, were always apprehended, tried and executed.
b. Attempted or Successful Defection by Soviet Army Personnel
50X1 50X1 an unknown Pilo of his Battalion was
picked up b . 'nown persons in a woods near the demarcation'line and accused
of trying to desert. a rumour at that time that this soldier ,
denied all charges. He was allegedly sentenced to 18 montlit'imprisonment in
a disciplinary battalion near WV0V, the USSR, for being absent without leave.
that this soldier's father was a colonel who commanded an 50X1
unicnown regiment. Later on, another rumour circulated- that
this soldier was released after serving One year of his .sentence and demobilized.
50X1
50X1 ther rumours that a unidentified sergeant was caught
by Austrian police while attempting to desprt in 1952 and that anunidentified
private was caught by the police in 1953.? He was also told by his platoon CO
that in Apr 54 or May 54,- an unknown EM from an unknOwn unit in BADEN had deserted
to the Americans and was returned to stand trial after 15 4ays.: v.
no further information on attempts to defect by Soviet Army or other military
personnel. 50X1
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psiminal Elements injjaamtlEjlan
criminals with known records were not sent outside the MR although they
were called for service. However, thief did not preelude:erimt among SoNtiet
troops in Austria. His battalion, as stated previously, was notorious for
its high percentage Of crime immediately after its formation
50X1
reluctant to describe'apecifie instances or give names
of any o e personnel involved. He merely stated,that a Certain Ukrainian,
who was a huge man and whose name he would not provide, ?was the main ringleader
of most of the trouble. This same Ukrainian was caught by Austrian police and
a Kommandatura patrol during a gang rape of AUStrian women in a small town near
?BADEN in 1952. All of these unknown men were gathered together and sent to an
unidentified Soviet unit in Silesia (whether East Germanp, or Poland not known)
50X1 according to rumor, although prior to 1952 known
criminals were not sent abroad, fm personnel with known criminal records began
to arrive in his unit in Austria in 1953.
50X1
50X1
50X1
he attitude lor the Soviet military authorities
towards criminals was similar to the attitUde or the Soviet government; that
thieves and robbers were considered to be politically reliable. He said that
greater punishment was always meted out for a political or subversive act- than
for a crime. Often apprehended thieves went unpunished in the army. He believed
that the Soviet government in this case wasitattbecause the thieves and robbers
were more pro-regime than many of the other personnel. Therefore" it made
sense when a man accused of jokes against the regime should 'get a sentence of
25 years and a thief *hg after all was only "helping himself to Communal property
should go unpunished.".
To
To further support his claim that the government was lax in dealing
with criminals, he stated that on 14 Apr 53 he had read in the newspaper and
had heard on the radio announcements or a general amnesty by the government to
all minor criminals serving sentences given by military courts) since the begine
ning of WW II. Such criminals included all except those Iconvioted of murder,
banditry, capital crimes and any political misdemeanor. The origin of thXs
order, according to the news media, was the Qentral Committee in MOSCOW. 0.
B. FRATERNIZATION
50:00 the official attitude toward fraternization with Austrians
by Soviet military personnel was that it was sttictly forbidden. He believed
that the official attitude was also the enforced attitude,and was supported by 50)0
the officers of his unit.
50X1 only personnel he knew, who were interested in or responsi-
ble for controlling and reporting the violators of the non.fraterniiation policy
were as follows: A
a. Counterintelligence officers"' unit OcOmAnders, other officers (as the
spirit moved them) And soldier informers.
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50X1
oxi c. Austrian Communist reporting of soldier
violators of he non-fraternization policy constituted too much of a threat,
since the Communist Party in Austria was, reputed to be very weak. He had
never heard of any such case.
00
00 had listened to Several broadcasts originating
from the Voice of America on unit radio sets
He could?not. aescrloe.what he had heard except
Chat he remembered never gearing any news broadcasts. ' All such listening was
done surreptiously, and personnel in his unit never discussed the programs to
his knowledge. He had heard radio operators of his company diadussing on what
frequencies the Voice of America could be heard but he himself wasunable to
name either the frequencies or times of brOaddasts-. .He believed that all radio
operators in his unit who were on radiO duty listened, to Such broadcasts when.
they believed they were not being watched by other personnel.
C. PROPAGANDA
1.' ,Voice of America
50X1
50X1 never heard or seen any orders specifically stating-that
listening to these broadcasts were forbidden. This subject was never brought
up to his knowledge during political studiessolasses or politioal information
periods. He stated, however, that everyone generally understood that suoh
r listening was considered reactionary And was forbidden.
one indiVidual who had been caught while
listeni ce o erica. He described him aa a quiet little private,
name unknown, who was obedient and hard working. The rumor in the unit was that
this private had been caught by a senior lieutenant while listening to a Voice
of America broadcast and was sent to the USSR that same night. At any rate the
soldier disappeared from the unit promptly.
50X1
knew of one sergeant, name unknown and who was demobilized
in 1953, was caught listening to the Voice of Amerioa by one of the men in
his squad. The man who caught him blackmailed this sergeant and made his life
miserable until the day of his demobilization. This was considered to be quite
a joke among the more ribald Eli'of,the'battalion.
2. Printed Western Propaganda '
50X1
never seen galy Westem_iarTed_nronaRanda. He
had hearu oi sucn leaflet$0 however,, frot-soldiers who. were
serving on air-warning posts near the US -.Soviet.demarcation line in Austria.
These soldiers-allegedly.mentioned:tO hit.in idle conversation'on several
occasions that they were quite showered with such Propaganda. He could not
recall if they had described.suOh_leafleta-to,him or which Soldiers had told
him these stories.
3. Effectiveness of Western Propaganda
50X1.
any Soviet soldier would take tile time to read
or listen to printed Western propaganda if he was sure that he could. do so un-
observed. He personally .thought that Such propaganda would be moat effectlYe
on ex-collective farm workers5,s1nce they had personally experienced the misery
of life in Communist state and therefore Would recognize the truth in any
criticism of the Communist system. City dwellers, he believed., would not be
quite so susceptible' to propaganda received from the fret world, since these
people lived under conditions completely different from those of the rural
workers. The city dweller was better off and had seen with his own eyes some
of the achievements of Communism in construction of municipal and government
buildings, new schools, hospitals, sport Stadiums and.Other buildings. The
city dweller was also more carefully indoctrinated in school and in his work
CONFIDENTIAL
in Part - Sanitized CODV Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/09/25: CIA-RDP82-00046R000500220010-1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release
50X1
50:00 most Soviet army personnel were basically
against Communism, he stated that none really, dared to stand up and argue against
the Party line, as this would immediately bring everyones attention to the lone
50)0 non-conformist, no one dared to be different poli-
tically from the mass, -because such people would be quickly disposed of. Also,
those that were left could see the object lesson against being different by
otuAtiozthe number .ot-people whom they had once known and who simply had
vanished. Thus, he believed that the strongest weapon Soviet propaganda had ,
for attracting passive listeners was the fear of punishment that everyone had. m
50:00 the majority of the men in the Soviet army
th
feel ei way ne cLescricea arm= Ithe system, then why did not more Soviet
servicemen defect to the free world. He asnwered that the most important
deterrent to defection was the realization of most servicemen that such action
would immediately bring reprisals against their families. The family of the
serv!,neman was the collateral held by the Soviet government against his defection.
Those who had no family were not permitted near the demarcation line. He
brought out one specific case of a soldier in his Battalion who was serving on
an air-warning post near the demarcation line in 1953, who was transferred to
battalion headquarters and "never permitted to leave the BAttalion area" bonus&
it was discovered that he was an orphanp 50:00
50-Yr 2013/09/25: CIA-RDP82-00046R000500220010-1
CONFIDENTIAL
- 11 -
50X1
and to atte,pd more instruction by Communist agitators than the farm worker
did Also, the city dweller could easily see how his personal position and
m.-ie of life could be improved materially if he became active in the Party.
Party members received better schooling, jobs and housing than others.
4. Effectiveness of Soviet Propaganda I
Soviet propaganda was listened to in the army
simply because it was part of the scheduled program and there was no way to
avoid it. He did not think that either the Zampolits who-gave the instruction
or the soldiers who had to listen actually believed that what their were hearing
was the truth. He felt that? everyone involved in Communist indoCtrination
recognized most of the falsehoods preached but said little, since they were
following the path of least resistance by being quiet.
CONFIDENTIAL
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/09/25: CIA-RDP82-00046R000500220010-1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/09/25: CIA-RDP82-00046R000500220010-1
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/09/25: CIA-RDP82-00046R000500220010-1