Operation company

The operational company was a special unit of Main Department I (HA I) of the Ministry for State Security in the border troops of the GDR .

Task / structure

It was founded in December 1968 on the orders of the head of HA I, Karl Kleinjung , to prevent terrorist and violent crimes and the desertion of soldiers. Company commanders were Eberhard Starke (1968–1979), Wolfgang Singer (1979–1983) and Alexander Baier (1983–1985). It was initially subordinate to the "Operative" department, later to the "External Defense" department of HA I. Outwardly, it acted as a border company of the 42nd border regiment and was temporarily stationed in Stolpe ( Oranienburg district ) and Schulzendorf ( Königs Wusterhausen district ). The operational company was dissolved in 1985 (after the young boys' retirement in 1981) because the border troops now had their own unit with a corresponding task profile. Parts of the operational company that u. a. had the task of securing the underground canals and tunnels to West Berlin , were legendary as a security company in the border regiment 33 Berlin-Treptow , integrated into the guard and security unit (WSE) and subordinated to the secretariat of HA I.

The best-known operation was the attempted arrest of Michael Gartenschläger on the inner-German border in April 1976 , who was shot dead by members of the operations company.

The members of the operational company, initially 10, in 1969 already 30, later between 50 and 70, were recruited from graduates of the Border Troops NCO School VI in Perleberg who were considered to be particularly “ class-conscious ” and who, following their training, spent half a year in the central school of the HA I were trained on the island of Stintenburg ( Hagenow district ). They had the status of full-time unofficial employees in special operations (HIME), but continued to appear as regular members of the border troops.

Between 1971 and 1974 alone around 144 soldiers fled to the West, a total of around 2,800. The problem arose because every conscript was able to do his basic military service with the border troops and despite a thorough examination one could never be sure about their actual motivation. At least 9 border guards were shot dead by deserters .

Order to shoot

Order to shoot, page 3

The emergency company received special attention when, in August 2007, an instruction with an order to shoot , including against "women and children", was presented to the general public . Not least because the Stasi records authority initially thought it was a completely new document and spoke of a "sensational find". Just a few days later it turned out that these instructions had been known since 1993.

In the course of this rediscovery, Stasi expert Hubertus Knabe pointed out that it was not a general order to shoot, but a special instruction for special cases. The federal commissioner for the Stasi files , Marianne Birthler , also made it clear that, unlike in some headlines, it is not about the shooting order for GDR border troops: “It is not an order addressed to the border guards, but an order Order to a special Stasi unit that was supposed to prevent soldiers from deserting by all means. "

" Order [...]

1. Prevention of desertions

Recognizing intentions to desert in order to ensure that they are prevented with all the consequences that arise from it. In order to prevent attempted desertions during the border service, it is necessary that you recognize and thwart this in good time. For this reason you are not allowed to part with your weapon and the functionality has to be checked before the start of the border service. If necessary, you have to use the firearm consistently in order to find or liquidate the traitor. [...]

2. Prevention of border breaches

It is your duty to use your lone fighter and Chekist abilities in such a way that you break through the ruse of the border violator, put him in or liquidate him in order to thwart the border violation he has planned. Act carefully and consistently, as practice repeatedly proves the dangerousness and underhandedness of the traitors.

Do not hesitate to use the firearm, even if the border breaches are made with women and children, which the traitors have often made use of. [...] "

See also

Wikisource: Instructions for members of the special unit of the MfS within the border troops of the GDR (shooting order)  - sources and full texts

• Berlin wall
• Fatalities at the Berlin Wall
• Iron Curtain
• History of the GDR
• Escape from the Soviet occupation zone and the GDR
• GDR justice

Web links

• The Stasi killers. Secret command at the wall. , Contribution to the ZDF program Frontal 21 on October 2, 2007

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Page no longer available , search in web archives: Spokeswoman for the Stasi files authority, Ilona Schäkel: formed to prevent terrorist and violent crimes and the desertion of soldiers
2. ↑ Stephan Wolf: Main Department I: NVA and Border Troops in MfS Handbook Part III / 13, BSTU Berlin 2005, p. 81
3. ↑ Hubertus Knabe: Special instructions for special cases
4. ↑ Marianne Birthler: It is not an order addressed to the border guards ( Memento from October 21, 2007 in the Internet Archive )