POLITICAL ATTITUDES OF SOVIET TROOPS IN GERMANY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A002800380008-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 4, 2013
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: December 2, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
This Document contains information affecting the Na-
tional Defense of the United States, within the mean-
ing of Title 18, Sections 793 and 794, of the U.S. Code, as
amended. Its transmission or revelation of its contents
to or receipt by an unauthorized person is prohibited
by law. The reproduction of this form ie nrnhihitari
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SECURITY INFORMATION
COUNTRY USSR/Germany (Soviet Zone)/Poland REPORT
SUBJECT Political Attitudes of Soviet Troops DATE DISTR.
in Germany
2 Dec zaber 1953
NO. OF PAGES 1
DATE OF INFO.
REQUIREMENT NO. RD 50X1-HUM
PLACE ACQUIRED
REFERENCES
THE SOURCE EVALUATIONS IN THIS REPORT ARE DEFINITIVE.
THE APPRAISAL OF CONTENT IS TENTATIVE.
(FOR KEY SEE REVERSE)
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SICRET/StCURITY INFORMATION
ARMY
NAVY
AIRR
FBI
AEC
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(Washington Distribution Indicated By "X"; Field Distribution
By
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S.N.DRET
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POLITIUAL INT!:.0.12ZP.aaciA ON SOVIET TROOPS .];1\r.
Index
1. Introduction.
2. Work as a ZAMPOLIT.
3, Reactions among Soviet troops to recent events -7
(a),Doctorst Plot
b Death of Stalin
c The events of 17 June 1953 in :astern Germany
d Anti-Soviet feeling in l'oland
(e) The Amnesty
(f) The Arrest ?of B-ARY.
4. Criminal Offences. . 1
5. Women Serving in the Army Group in Goluo:Ay.
6. Morale of troops in Germany and in Russia.
7. Defections.
8. Leaflets.
9. Broadcasts.
1. Introduction
This Appendix contains information
01:ficer) and onMorale and reactions to
in Germany during the 1952-195J period.
on the pork of a Zavpait.(Political
oolitGal events amonp Soviet troops
2. York
/and woe
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Tho politial talks wore quite formal, and gave
rise to no particular disQussion. SOPOtlfiles, however, some listeners,
the great majority of whom wore peasants, would contrive to slip in a remark
which showed very clerly what they were thinking. ,For example, in a talk
on the developments within the Soviet Union, explaining party theory on
trorisition Iroia socialism to communsm? or the like, one soldier would interrupt
with the c:uestion, "and why is there so little bread in the 'Villages"? This
would have to be dealt with, in most cases by explaining sternly that the
euest.:en had noth:_nc, to do with the subjeetunder discussion: -
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AllIfEpl:11X D.
3. Aodot1:0.ns..-qmo.P.R..S.9Y.3.,KtAr.6.PDP-A0.J1.0.0.9P.t..9.v.9.w0
(a) ,T.h.p_p_ont.ors_1!.:lo.t.. Tho arrest of the doctors seems to have
produced an ibmedf.ato anti-somitic reaction
ino ruatlon when the doctors were rehabilitated was quite.differont.
This decision was treated with a certain amount of contempt because it scorned
to bring the whole system into disrepute. 1
? (b) Death ov Stalin. . The death of STAILdi and 11-.!.s -il)noss bocnmo known
through broadcasts
when tee doatn was, announced
.there was no excitement of any kind no soecf.al meeti s and no directives
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si cc no one can !.tve fwcver death was sometning that came to everyone an
had thcr
The appointment of al.EITKOV as Frime Elnister
came as' a great surprise because everyone had expected it to be MULuTOV_
The appointment ey: pa.rw-JaT oruusedno particular feclin,r!s
. _
? a...Lthough 13-Li;:p: is a civilian in uniform he had been Defence
Yinister before, and natural that he should become it again. The
apoointment ui'ZIItJKOV, on the other hand, was received with obvious ploanure.
ZUMAT is stall a verTjDo-ouicr firmre soldierql
tho portrait had not clsappeared, but at as ZHUKOV was no longer actively
concerned with military afa'aLrs in Germany there was no particular reason to
display his,portrat.
(0) The ,'Irts..9X..17..!"..unu..1.9.a.J-11E9Fn agFIlla.nY-
the.anti-Uomounst riots of June 1953 affected the STAAKEN .
Garrison only to a liuited extent. Troops wore alerted on 1 Juno 1
the State' i r
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I I 'entries and ,,,atrois wore reinforceaand all leave was cancelled.
Leave for all'effl.cors,?._n particular for sub-unit commanders, had already
been limited from 1 Juno until 31 August 1953, :A was officially explained
that these leave restrictions were connected with the summer training period.
the. ? . .
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_ /anti-Communist riots were directed not against
the Russians but against the Communist 4oriman Government. The Germans were
friendly towards the Russian troops all the time. There were no hostile
activities against Soviet personnel, and the Russian soldiers observed the
unusual situation with typically Russian indifference. Apparently the Army
Group H.Q. did not expect trouble from the Germans because all procaftions
/Were taken
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were taken in order to prevent. an "attack from tho 'West".
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"Everyone" (in the Soviet Army) believed :that the Whole affair .??
was prepared in the West and directed by Western agents. The Russians_
considered the Germans unable to organise anything serious without ..foreign
help,. and the attitude of the. Germaa population towards Russians during the
riots justified this opinion.' On the other hand the.Russian efficerb were
rather impressed by thb Unexpected scale of the riots.
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instructions given by the 24 Air Army Political ?
Branch also made clear that troops ought to understand that the action had
been organised in the West and was a typical example of a hostile Western .
provocation.
Later on, when all was over, the .politcal officers were instructed
"to confess" in the POLIT:.6hATSIYA lectures that the German gornment had
gene too for in their -economic and political policy (laAITITEISTVO Fia.L.N1YI0
S NaTSAi!t) and that changes in the method of introduction crj the German
Communist economic policy wore necessary. This explanation did not impress
the pmdiffereat mass of Soviet 0.11s, but the oi:s..cer's came to the conclusion
that a.'"NEP" .would be introduced in. the :astern Zone of Germany, as was done
in the, U.S.S.R. after the 1917-1921 period.
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?
(d)
tion about Poland usually reaaos the Soviet troops in Germany .through Soviet.
personnel returning Via 'Poland froie leave in 'Russia.. There were no reports
of any anti-Soviet riots in connection with the events in Eastern Germany.-
the. Soviet personnel in Gesman.y consider the political 50X1 -HUM
atmosphere to be .alch worse in Poland (as .f.y as anti-Soviet feeling is-
concerned) than in Germany. .
The latest news to reach the Soviet OL.G,_;726' in the STA!-FLIN rea was. of
an atteApt to wreck a Soviet transit train in 195. Personnel returning .
from leave spread a St=v-that in April or (1.,.rly -;:ay.I951i a Soviet train was
derailed betweon?WART.:4 and the Soviet frontier. It was. rumoured that the
Poles 'had been trying to kill Col. Gun. SilTaEZKO, vino was on his way from
MOSCOW to 13-2.1,1d. Gen. MUM:IA-KO avoided the crash because he loft MOSCOW
one day later than had been planned. There were very few casualties in the?
wrecked train, Soviet 'personnel proceeding to or from
Russia did not feel very sac., on -2e.J..ish terf,tory. the
officers in Germany "know" that Marshal 7,16.1SOVS.Iy.spunds a couple of Months
each year in Russia roc:over:Jag from attempts. OA his li.u.
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(4 7.11P 1q1Y.st.X.
. the Amausty causeilittle 50X1 -HUM
comment ameng Soviet sorces in L,-urmany. inc Army 'authorities stressud the
importance of the amnesty, and politi:.al p:rsennelwere instructed to as
much propaganda -as possApie about it. .Spu;.ial placrds with the text of .the
amnesty were distributed to .all umts. In spocird lectures the Zampolits
stressed how juJA the Perty was. Among thu wricers the 'amnesty gave rise
to some sarcastie?remarlIn e.g. that the rate of criminal offences 'would rise
when people from the camps and prisons started their "new life"; This
opinion appeared to be juatiied when arrivals from thJ. Sdviet Union after .
the Amnesty started to talk about -a new wave of crimes committed by people
released from prisons and corrective labour camps.
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(f) The tsrLst? of BEP. The announcement of the removal of ??BERIA
reached rby way of the ?17iXclose. There wore no special meetings,
no special directives, and?no advance informat:.on on the subject, 'nor had
there boon any changes' .of any kind
-Tho rnformation was T:cIssod on to the troops in the ordinary way
in accordance with the official version - that it was "the best example of
the spirit of justice which reigns inside the Party..." - end did not appear
to cause any particular excitement.
I there had boon traitors discovered in ?
?
the U.S.S.R.. in the cast and no doubt there would be in the Arturo. When it
was suggested it was a little- peculiar that No.2 in the Cabinet,
who had boon an aGtive Bolshevik all his life, should be suddenly stated to
be a traitor and to :have been an agent of the imperialljts for years, and
this on the word ei kr.,s Cabinet colleagues without 13-at:i. being 'given any
opportunity to sax a word in ;.-las defence and without Any ovtdenco belna
'produced,
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ec.rty meetings to be convened first at the higher levels
and then down to the lowor levels at intervals of a few days. Thus on the
Wednesday after the annuunr.ement of the kali of a.:21. -a. divisional party
mooting was held', the agenda having already been proparod at Corp S level and
with a Corps party reprosentativo an attendance. On. the Friday a Battalion
party r000ti.na wan to hr.v-'b ? ?n bo 1 with c firmi nrsonan rronnrnii by
Division
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4. Criminal Offonno^
at least 10-15% of the Soviet Armed Forces O.Rs.
in Germany and in the ?Unioa?ere in ..prison. This estimate is based on
experience with the KONTR.R.kZVIOKA... In Germany the
percentage of svatonees is even.highor than an the -U.S.S.R.
the 11.14'..E.nTfPlIT emep is alic,ys overcreuded in spite of the fact that they never
keep customers longer than two or three days. Every day a special railway
truck loaves the ein transit camp full of soldiers under sentence, who aro
usually. sunt under escort of special troops, in one of the Russia-bound
transit trains.
The :main w.:.onces are drunkenness, contact with German omen, assaults
on -.1emen, broL.....hos of discipline, theft etc.
Komsomol -members are much loss
?disciplined then non-Party soldiers. In 454. Air M.aintonance Battallion, which
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consisted mainly of peasants who were, on the whole, easier to disciplino.
than townsfolk, the 33 Party members encl.-the 200 or so Komsomol members
normally suppTi'd more than 90% of defaulters. .Tho remaining 120 non-Party
soldiers were in general the best-disciplincdgroup in the battalion.
officers cannot stand lift in the Army Croup in
Gorpiany.. Their standard of civilisation is not Very high; their interests
are liMited,. In Russia the greater Itrt of thorn spend their off duty time
drinking or -musing themselves with women. In Germany they are confined to
barracks, drinking is forbidden, any contact with German Women is considered..
a crime. The Russian women sent to the Army Group aro not very numerous
and are .in general disliked by their countrymen. bfficors therefor? drink.
illegally and heavily,- look for German women, Whom-they-often assault,- and
many of them ultimately get bored to death, tired of constant supervision and
restrictions, and commit 'suicide. The usual seasons for officerst Suicide
attempts are the May' and'November festivities. Every year the same story
repeats itself. The Army Commanders organise conferences for surlier ?
officers, order special precautions, patrols and chocks, mobilise ao political
personnel instructing there to increase "vigilance": and the results are.
exactly the same as they were in previous years. In 24 Air Arty alone;
during the three days of the 1952 November festivities, cight.officers,.all"
of them young men, committed suicide. In November '1951 one young officer
shot dead three of his fellow officers and committed suicide. It was "an
officers' bottle party". There were also cases when officers, caught by the
patrols with German women, fought -desperately and used their firearms,; In
November 1951 a young officer caught by the patrol and apparently afraid of
the consequences,Iiiled the German woman and committed suicide before ti16 men
of the patrol had time to disarm him.
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Assault on women appears,
the Soviet Armed Rorcas. Several, examples of officers'- ?
"affairs" which werepublished in Army ordets. In spring 1952 an Artillery
Captain raped a- 13 year-old German girl and was sentenced to eighteen years'
imprisonment. In early July, 1953 tOo.captains from units of 37, Air Technical
Division gave a lift to two German Women. They attempted to rape them in the
truck but the women resisted fiercely.- The officers shot both -Women dead end
loft the bodies on the road. They were sentenced to eight yea in cerrootive
labour camps.
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5. Women Serving in the Army Group in Germany
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the idea of sending Russian women to the Army
Group in Germany In order to prevent officers and O.Rs. from being demoralised
by German women has not proved very successful in practice. The majority Of. .?
the Russian women engaged for service in Germany, both military personnel and.
civilian employee's are of a very low standard in all respects and aro very
unpopular among the male personnel. They are generally rude, ill-mannered,
tactless and very ambitious. All these typists, waitresses, cleaners, cooks,
etc., demonstrate their dislike of O.R.s. and seek for a friendship with officers
and if possibe with the senior officers. The very few women officers generally
behave decently. Most of the women are, hOwever, undisciplined; they drink
heavily and their language is often. enriched with the choicest specimens of
the Russian "special" vocabulary. On the other hand they cannot bo punished
like the male soldiers, and commanders are often helpless and do their .best to
got rid of them WS soon as possible. The position is much -better in Army or
Group HQs., where the female personnel is specially selected; but. In the units
they are often unbearable. There were cases when. a unit commander discovered
a "private party" of naked women and officers completely drunk .in the Officers'
quarters.
. /There is
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APPENDIX D.
There is in FRANKFURT/ODER a trtnsit comp- for woman arriving from or
returning to Russia. At one time there' were 800 pregnant- service girls
awaiting transport to the Soviet Union.' '
O.Rs. hate and despise the fouale. ? 50X1 -HUM
service personnel. They are offended by the attitude and behaviour of the
girls and they do,onstratp their hatred in exactly the same way as the girls
demonstrate their dislike of the O.Rs. All attempts by-commandomand
political officers to improve thia unhealthy atmosphere have failed,
the higher authorities realisod that the whole affair
was a taaluro, and that this was probably the reason wily new replacements
due to arrive in Germany in 1953 did not arrive and the number of women in
the Arny Group docreased considerably.
6. iiibrale of troops in Gormahy and in Russia'
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about the morale of the 'Soviet Foreos
in Germany and at home. the usual storiesabout lack ,of confidence
as betwoon-officers and 0.2s. the wrong attitudo of the higher authorities
towards the Mosses of?serving'personnel, severe punishnonts, political .super-
vision, etc. But in spite of all this in the evont of
war Soviot officers and 0.Rs.,17ould fight wall.: ? In particular the troops in
Germany would fight, becauto war would mean for them -the end of barrack
discipline and spoical regulations. They would have excitement, spirits,
women and "trophies".
Ressian:soldiors are well, trained, they, trust
their weapons and they believe that there. would be no shortage of equipment
as was the. case in the disastrous retreat of 1941. For -a long time
officers were. afraid of atomic weapons, H bombs etc. At present they feel
much better, believing that the Soviot Union is also in possession of thoso
powetful weapons,. Hence the popular slogan "1941 will never be repeated
again" and the .offensive spirit easily noticeable in all tactical. lectures and
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conforonces: ? in spite of political "peace loving"
speeches- and Priondly suggestions, a hostile attitude towards the West is
still cultivated in the Lrmed Forces.
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7. Defections
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There were no defections from any units
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nor was there any official instruction on the subject or discussien 50)0 -HUM
of it with the troops. H only one instance. in which
an. order had come through dbout.a'defector:. in this cede a men from another 50X1 -HUM
unit, who had been apprehended owing to the vigilance of a soldier 50X1 -HUM
?The order, which was shown to all Zampolits of the battalion,
stated that the soldier concornod was to be commended for his exemplary conduct 50X1 HUM
and that the .defector had been handed Over for trial to a military tribunal.
This order was read out on parade, and although the. order 'said nothing of the
sentence which had been passed, rumour very soon reported that the man had
been sentenced to 25 Years-
because 'of gossip with the frontier guards who
between the Russian zone at
wero-notM.V.D: troops, but ordinary infantry.
of the .BERIOIN Komandatura, and had free ac6ess
Those troops talked freelyI
the defector situation 50)0 -HUM
were guarding the boundary
STAAKEN. Those frontier gaardt 50)0 -Fi UNA
They were under the command
in their own transport to BERLIN.
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defeetions viere-euito
frequent and that there had been only one instanoe in which had . 50X1-HUM
hrnded a:defector back. Sucx defobtors had broadcast froth the other side; 50X1-HUM
: In
another case a senior sergeant- had actually been seen by the frontier guards
on the .0ther side.
Absence. for more than two hours required imuediate notification to the
battalion, while in the event ..of absence for more then 21i. hours the' division
had to be alorted, and.'thero -,4ere also standing order dealing with search
Parties, frontier ur,rn:Lngs., and .se .forth.
C. Leaflets
.---..... ,
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STALI:11 there woro four occasions ':hen leaflets were dropped
by baLleon. On each o-casion thoro -had bc;en?an?inaudiate alarmjnst, if not
all of the- "raids" occurred tho.sall hours of morn:mg) and the leaflets
were promptly gathered up under the direction of the battalion Zamoolit and
all burnt on the spot, iththe exception of ono copy of each leaflet which 50X1-HUM
. was attached to the report sent b:;,. the. battalion Zacaoolit to Brigade H.O.
(Pro: i?
his doscriot.2.en of the.loailots'tne3, were or NIS oragin.)
[hen asked ? there wore any :nstructions to discuss leaflets 50X1-HUM
the -troops in order to amr;ier any criticism of the regime which they might
Gontoin-
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It was not easy to hoar because of the jamming, and as they ware separated
from thoir neighbours in the:bbrrackS only by a ply-wood door, ? it Va.9 often not
-oossiblo to ricrese the volume sufficiently to make the words audible.
/their
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