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 The Volkspolizei (German for "People's Police") was the national police of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). The Volkspolizei was responsible for most law enforcement in East Germany, but its organisation and structure were such that it could be considered a paramilitary force as well. Unlike typical police in most countries, they were equipped with armored personnel carriers and artillery and trained as military units. While any East German citizen could be a non-commissioned officer, all members of the commissioned officer corps had to be members of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), as the force was expected to maintain the interests of the Party and its regime as well as public order. The VP was founded after World War II, taking the East German remnant of the Nazi Ordnungspolizei (Orpo) and Kriminalpolizei (Kripo), and abolished after German reunification. East Germans nicknamed the Volkspolizei the "VP", "Bullen" ("Cops"), and "die Grünen" ("the greens", from the color of their uniforms), while West Germans tended to call them the VoPo, following an article in the newspaper Bild-Zeitung.
[edit] Organisation  The Volkspolizei executed traditional police duties such as investigation and traffic control. The VP transferred most of their reports to the Ministry of State Security (MfS) and the high density of MfS informants in the GDR, especially in the forces, meant that every police action and investigation could be monitored as besides the official MfS liaison-officer (VO-Verbindungsoffizier), the MfS had agents in nearly every police unit. The Volkspolizei were a national police force and was directly administered by and subordinate only to the Ministry of the Interior. Rather than the civil service status that West German police enjoyed, each Volkspolizist had a personal contract with the government. The monthly salary was above the average income. [edit] Main Administration of the People's PoliceThe "VP" was administered by the Ministry of the Interior. The overall commander was the 1st Deputy Minister of the Interior and Chief of Police (Erster Stellvertreter des Ministers und Chef der Deutschen Volkspolizei). His section was subdivided into five departments:
The military part of the Volkspolizei, i.e. Kasernierte Einheiten, was administered by the Deputy Minister of the Interior and Chief of the Administrative Center (Stellvertreter des Minister und Chef der Hauptinspektion). [edit] Regional Commands
[edit] LeadershipMinister des Innern - Minister of the Interior
Chef der Deutschen Volkspolizei - Chief of the German People's Police
Minister des Innern und Chef der Deutschen Volkspolizei - Minister of the Interior and head of the German People's Police
[edit] RecruitmentTo become a Volkspolizei officer, an East German needed to have completed at least ten years of education, vocational training (see education in East Germany), and military service. A history of political loyalty was also a must. After joining, a recruit would go through a 5-month course at the "VP-Schule" (Police Academy). The schedule contained political education, police law, criminal law and procedures and also military-style fitness training. Afterwards the recruit completed a 6-month practical internship. Though vastly different from most police forces in most respects, the reasons Volkspolizei officers gave for joining the force were the same: a desire to work with people, idealism, family tradition, belief in the system and the wish to serve one's country. [edit] Training .jpg) Since 1962, the DVP had its own school in Berlin-Biesdorf which trained some 3,500 officers up to 1989Template:Factoid. In addition, there were several schools. The Kasernierten Einheiten (barracks units) had its own training facilities. Officers were initially trained in the army ground forces, from 1963 at the Officers' school and from 1971 to the officers' school - readiness - in Dresden-Wilder Mann.
The People's Police last had approximately 80,000 full-time police officers and 177,500, "Volunteers". Of the so-called Section representative, for example, were die Hausbücher kontrolliert. The House books checked. About the personal identification number (PKZ), the DVP as well as the Stasi was able on every citizen will receive all the information stored in various databases. With the accession of the GDR to the Federal Republic on 3 October 1990, the police went to the newly created federal jurisdiction over, about 40 percent of the DVP-employees had to leave the service. [edit] Effectiveness When the army and the Volkspolizei erected the Berlin Wall in 1961, it was declared by the East German leadership that it would protect East Germany against what were represented as the negative elements of West German and NATO societies, particularly fascist sympathizers (the wall was officially called the "anti-fascist protection rampart") and help on the way to a crime-free workers' state. This partially came true. In comparison to West Germany, East Germany had almost no crime.[citation needed] This crime-rate increased when the Wall fell in 1989, a common feature of transitions from one-party states. The unfamiliarity of the Volkspolizei with what were everyday occurrences in West Germany meant that the Volkspolizei were suddenly hit with crimes they were not equipped to solve after 1989. In Leipzig, for example, cases of serious theft rose 540% from 1989 to 1990.[citation needed] [edit] History[edit] FoundationThe Volkspolizei was effectively founded just following World War II, when the Soviet Union established central police forces in the regions of Germany it occupied (in violation of the agreements at the Yalta Conference and the Potsdam Conference). The SVAG approved the arming of community-level police forces on 31 October 1945. The name Volkspolizei began to be used in 1946. In August of that year, the Volkspolizei was placed under the control of the German Administration of the Interior. The first Volkspolizisten were mostly former Wehrmacht officers who had converted to communism, as well as former German members of the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War. The "Volkspolizei" has been organized in the same style as the militia in the Soviet Union. By November 1946, the Volkspolizei had more than 45,000 officers. In that same month the SVAG authorised the creation of the Border Police, 3,000 men who were charged with preventing mass emigration into West Germany. In December, the Transportpolizei was established. [edit] OathThe official oath that all Volkspolizei officers swore was:
[edit] Purges In the spring of 1949, the SVAG ordered that the Volkspolizei be purged of all "undesirable officers". This included anybody who had served in the Wehrmacht, anybody who had been a prisoner of war in an Allied country (not including the USSR), anybody who had come to East Germany as refugees from former German territories that had been placed under Polish or Soviet control, and anybody with relatives in West Germany. People not deemed sufficiently committed to the communist cause were also dismissed. With these purges, the SVAG created a force that was, politically, steadfastly loyal. To further instill the correct politics into Volkspolizei officers, the Main Administration of Training was established in 1949. These training courses were run by communist heroes such as Spanish Civil War veteran Wilhelm Zaisser, and the man who would later become East Germany's Minister of Defence, Heinz Hoffmann. By 1950, East Germany, though officially still without an army, was able to muster a well organised and well-armed security force, and with the establishment of the Volkspolizei came the foundations of the future Nationale Volksarmee. [edit] Uprising of 1953The first major use of the Volkspolizei in a crisis situation was on June 17, 1953, when workers in East Berlin rioted because of the raising of work quotas without an increase in salary. This led to mass demonstrations and strikes across East Germany. Backed by Red Army tanks, the Volkspolizei broke the strikes and killed about 50 people. [edit] 1948-1990In 1953, the DVP possessed Sportvereinigung (SV) Dynamo as the sports club of the Ministry of Interior of the GDR. The last East German law regarding the police was passed in 1968, saying that the duty of the policeman was not only the aversion of danger, but also "the protection of socialist achievements, of free life and the creative work of mankind". [edit] Following reunification In preparation of the German reunification in East Germany five federal states were founded. Every state created its own police forces. Every former VP-officer could apply for a job with the new police if he had not worked as an agent for the MfS. Recently before and after the reunification every VP officer had to undergo a new training based on West German law. Even in the 21st century, there is much social stigma connected with being a former "VoPo", and the blame of having been on the "wrong side" during the Cold War is often leveled against many ex-Volkspolizei officers to this day. [edit] See also[edit] References[edit] External links
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