Dismissal candidate
Release candidate (abbreviation EK or E ) is a term from the jargon of the NVA for military service paid soldiers and sergeants on time , who completed their service in the armed forces in each running service half. It was also used in other units with military service, for example the People's Police standby .
Designations
Call-ups and dismissals for or from the 18-month basic military service took place in the NVA every six months (end of April and end of October). Therefore, soldiers called up on three different dates always performed their basic military service at the same time, the team thus consisted of three (officially always so-called) service half-years (DHJ):
- 1. DHJ (“Smooth”, “Freshness”, “Aale”, “Top”, “Splatter”, “Spreute”, “Slots”, “Sprallo”, “Springer”, “Hüpper”, “Badger”, “Struppis "," Red arrows "," tubers "," Willis "," pissers ")
- 2. DHJ ("Zwischenpisser" or "Zwipis", "Zwischenkeime", "Zwischenschweine", "Zwischenkotzer" or "Zwikos", "Mittelschweine" or "Vize-EKs" / "Vizes" as self-designation), symbol: Vizeknick (in the shoulder flap), vice thumb (representation of a fig hand ), vice ball or acorn (ball bearing ball or twisted or turned acorn with soldered or integrated eyelet, both e.g. on a keyring)
- 3. DHJ ("Dismissal candidates", "EKs", also for short: "Es"), symbol: tape measure. Their self-designation was based on the time of discharge: when discharged in autumn 1989 this was e.g. B. EK 89 II.
At the end of the second half of the year the soldiers were regularly promoted to private , so the EKs in the basic military service mostly had this rank .
For non-commissioned officers (period of service: 36 months) the following terms (unofficially) apply to the six months of service:
- 1. DHJ: "Uschi" (NCO student)
- 2. DHJ: "Kövi" (= "could be vice")
- 3. DHJ: "biscuit" (= "could be EK"), symbol: biscuit made of plywood or similar.
- 4. DHJ: "Counter" (= "Could be a reservist"), symbol: "Counter nut" (actually castle nut )
- 5. DHJ: "Vice", symbol: Vice thumb, Vice kink, Vice ball, little bell
- 6. DHJ: "EK", symbol: tape measure
Privileges
Dismissal candidates had a privileged position within the team, but this was not supported by any service regulations, for example they were often not assigned to the cleaning work that took place after work.
The privileges of the EKs were forbidden, but were often tacitly tolerated by their superior officers and NCOs. To a certain extent, they represented a continuation of the management hierarchy within the team. This made it easier to control the team based on the principle of “ divide and rule ”. The official language for the harassment of younger soldiers and NCOs in the context of the EK “movement” was “disturbance of socialist relations”. The EK “movement” was noticed right up to the top leadership of the NVA, so there are regular references to the EK “movement” (the term younger soldiers and NCOs ) in the minutes of the College of the Ministry of National Defense (governing body founded in 1956) means in this context younger military personnel, i.e. not EKs, has nothing to do with age):
"... in not a few units [...] there would be an atmosphere of fear and insecurity among younger soldiers and NCOs. The reactions would go as far as 'suicidal thoughts'. "
The conflicting attitude of the officers to the EK “movement” was also discussed:
“It is questionable and at the same time politically irresponsible that in addition to some of the soldiers and NCOs, superiors, political officers and party members also know the disturbances and accept them as unchangeable. [...] It is beneficial that superiors tolerate unjustified demands from soldiers and NCOs in the last six months of service because they see them as a means of self-regulating discipline. "
Manifestations
Discharge candidates often tried to make the service as comfortable as possible, e. B. to avoid the unpopular morning exercise. Whether this was crowned with success, however, depended on the assertiveness of the officers and NCOs. The privileged position of the EKs was also expressed in various manifestations and customs, which are listed below as examples. It should be noted, however, that these phenomena were not identical in every unit.
The higher a soldier's number of days still to serve, the higher his “weight” (and the lower his position in the hierarchy). A "fresher" then had to tease himself like z. B. "Aren't you struck by your days?" Elsewhere, the number of days remaining was equated with “temperature”. EKs therefore avoided any references to “heat” or high temperature. In some places, objects of daily use or items of clothing in the private property of soldiers (e.g. flip-flops, pajamas, soap jars) had to have certain colors. This was strictly controlled by the discharge candidates. Discharge candidates were allowed to show blue colors (cool, set). For the soldiers in the second half of the year, the colors were yellow (already cooled down a bit). Soldiers in the first half of the year had to show red (hot, heated, nervous) colors. If there were deviations from the actual colors, For example, the word "red" can be written on the object in red.
In order to make the social rank of senior citizen visible externally, there was widespread practice to bend the shoulder boards (which consisted of cardboard covered with fabric) in a certain way. Members of the 1st DHJ were of course forbidden to do so. Their shoulder pieces had to be smooth (hence the term "smooth" mentioned above), which was controlled by senior citizens. With the ascent to the 2nd DHJ, a kink was allowed to be made that ran across the middle of the shoulder piece. In the 3rd DHJ, the shoulder pieces were allowed to bear two kinks. These kinks represented a semi-official identification mark, usually tolerated even by officers, which had a certain meaning even outside of one's own barracks (e.g. on the train, on the street, in restaurants, etc.) and between soldiers of different units.
tape measure
In the last 150 days, almost all EK had a so-called tape measure . Every day after the end of work, a centimeter (= day) was cut off from the tape measure so that its length always indicated the remaining military service time. It was a textile tailor's tape measure with centimeter graduation and 150 cm length, on which different days were marked in color. Sundays, for example - as they were mostly off-duty - were painted red, half of Saturdays were red, Mondays were blue, the years of life spent in the army were black, and the 133 (the former postal code of Schwedt / Oder , the seat of the Schwedt military prison ) had a black grid. The last 10 days were also sometimes painted black.
The discharge candidate carried the tape measure with him in a self-made container. The construction of an original tape measure container required manual skill and, like the painting of the tape and its cutting on the 150th day before the discharge, was heavily ritualized. Starting at centimeter 1, the tape was attached to an axle, for example to a cotter pin bent into a crank, wound up and inserted into the tape measure container. The outer end of the tape was fixed with a clip or safety pin, to which a bell was often attached. The gold tooth (semicircular brass part at the beginning of the measuring tape) was lifted after the cut and z. B. worn using a small key ring on the wristwatch. Sometimes the tape measure was also prepared by painting it with tensioning lacquer as an elastic spiral without a container; this shape could be snipped (rolled out briefly) and came back together by itself.
The tape measure was symbolically unrolled on various occasions, in particular when asked to do unpopular activities or in relation to the lower half of the service. From 50 days before the end of the working day, the tape was worn open without a container and the container was possibly transferred to a preferred "intermediate germ" for further use. A certain degree of caution was only required in front of officers, as this tape measure was also confiscated as an illegitimate symbol. This was the most embarrassing thing that could happen to an EK.
The EKs often had two measuring tapes: the service tape measure and the starting tape measure. The former was a little simpler and was carried with you in everyday life. The days cut off from him (snippets) were also carried with you; they were scattered as needed, e.g. B. thrown a splash at the feet. The starting tape measure was technically a little more demanding. It was worn on vacation and when going out. His days (snippets) were often sent home in letters and collected by friends or parents. The relatives sometimes stuck the days on a champagne bottle, which was "beheaded" after discharge and then drunk together with the "Heimi".
Only a few EKs did not have their own tape measure. One reason could be protest against the EK “movement”.
There were different customs related to the tape measure, their expression and implementation varied from unit to unit. Without claiming to be complete, the following are mentioned here:
- The gate on the 150th day was usually celebrated with a ceremony. For example, the cut was carried out by a lower half-year clad in long underwear with a burning candle on his steel helmet. Depending on the form of the EK movement, the person concerned perceived this as fun or chicane.
- “Control”: Each other made sure that the EK always carried the tape measure with them. It had to be shown when called "control". A tape measure that was not shown was punished with a penalty fee (paying into the EK cash register).
Harassment
The discharge candidates organized some sometimes harassing games, mostly with soldiers in the first half of their service. The character and extent varied from unit to unit. While in many places they were practiced as fun rituals, in other places they were sometimes inhuman and discriminatory.
Fatalities are also said to have occurred during this harassment, although they did not come close to, for example, the Dedovshchina in the Soviet army, which is still an important unofficial mechanism of repression within the troops in Russia today.
Complaints against this harassment of officers were mostly successful, especially from around the mid-1980s, which led to transfers or disciplinary measures against the EK involved.
- EK sphere (or E sphere)
This bad habit was not directed against the soldiers in the lower half of the service, but against the non-commissioned officer . A shot put was rolled along the tiles in the corridor between the crew quarters, causing a noise. The officers hurrying up had no chance of retracting the bullet, because someone else quickly pulled it into the next room and hid it. This little game was reserved for the discharge candidates. H. no soldier in the lower half of the service was allowed to dare. Sometimes the ball was heated up before it was rolled, so that the fingers of whoever tried to pull it in could be burned.
- home trip
The discharge candidates put a row of chairs in a row and sat on them. The soldiers in the lower half of the service had to run past the row of chairs on both sides with house plants in their hands or (in the case of rooms on the ground floor) carry trees and "station signs" past the window, others shake the chairs and imitate driving noises in order to make the discharge candidates feel as if they were driving To give, so that they could "get used to" the journey home.
- Jukebox
A soldier was locked in a locker and asked to sing a song. He was only let out if he obeyed the request. Sometimes it coins were thrown through the air vents of the locker, like a jukebox .
- turtle
Steel helmets were tied to the elbows, knees, head, stomach and back of a soldier, who was then pushed on all fours across the polished stone floor of the hallway. At the end of the corridor the soldier bumped helplessly against the wall.
- vacuum cleaner
A soldier had to put on the gas mask with a hose and without a filter drum. Then the hose was held shut until he was short of breath. A dustpan with dirt or an ashtray that had not been emptied was held directly underneath when the hose was opened. This harassment was considered an educational measure if soldiers had not cleaned properly (possibly because they did not want to represent an EK).
distribution
The spread of the cult can no longer be reliably reconstructed because no objective statistics have been made about it. In addition, numerous modern sagas circulated about the harassment among the soldiers , which had humorous or chilling content. In addition, some of the procedures described are also known to the Bundeswehr . Undoubtedly, the cult was practiced much more frequently and more pronounced in the land forces and also at sea, in other units such as the air force it was more symbolic. In the leadership of the NVA this was often attributed to the average level of education, which was higher in the air forces , because specialized workers were needed here and high school graduates and academics were preferred.
Another reason could be that in the land forces the hierarchy in the lower level was flatter, so many similarly high ranks (soldiers, private) served together. In the air force, a high level of specialization was required even at the lower level, which meant that the soldiers mostly had to work equally and constructively with NCOs and ensigns in their tasks (parachuting, air rescue, air surveillance, demanding technical tasks). They were more dependent on each other. The hierarchy was more acute; H. many ranks of different levels worked together on the lower level. In the case of highly specialized work in task groups, the length of service was irrelevant because the reputation of individuals was determined by their actual performance and reliability within their group, so that the e-cult found a poorer breeding ground overall than with the land or naval forces. Tape measures were often put on pro forma, but then not regularly cut or passed on in a half-finished state to someone who did not want to make their own on discharge.
The cult was also seldom represented in headquarters companies of larger units (divisions), in which the ranks were also widely spread and soldiers, non-commissioned officers, sergeants and ensigns were housed room to room. Depending on the unit, the social climate was much more relaxed there, because the higher ranks, who were not so strict about the rules themselves in the room and were not very closely controlled, not too much for the soldiers of their own company, who were their drivers or secretaries made strict regulations. One also had to rely on the prudence and flexibility of the soldiers, who were often called in spontaneously and at unusual times for many varied duties (driving tasks, running errands, spontaneous exchange of duties with others, special errands, etc.). Strict repression in the sense of the EK cult was not necessary there. Even in training institutions such as NCO schools, in which conscripts or NCOs only rarely stayed until the end of their military service, there was hardly any significant EK “movement”.
The cult was frequent and pronounced in companies or units with a flat hierarchy, where many soldiers were employed with the same or very similar, less specialized tasks. It was particularly widespread among infantry ( motorized riflemen ), guard companies and all forms of artillery . The main burden of orders lay on the NCOs, who tolerated the cult for their own relief, provided that it did not lead to visible or sensational actions. The pressure of the soldiers / corporations among themselves could take on severe forms.
The cult was also less developed among the border troops, since only two six months of service were deployed at the border ("edges") (the first was in training in special units away from the border). Regularly carrying firearms led to discipline. In addition, the officers made sure that the EK “movement” was minimized in order to prevent deserters from deserting.
The EK “movement” was rejected in some cases by private in the third half of the year. For example, they refused to participate in degrading harassment and in some cases were even able to prevent it. This was tolerated by other EKs to a certain extent in order not to endanger the “reputation” and uniformity of the EKs. Even in these cases, these EKs still took advantage of EK status, such as neglecting cleaning services and resting on the bed.
See also
literature
Non-fiction
- Udo Grashoff : "In an attack of depression ..." - suicides in the GDR . Ch. Links, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-86153-420-7 .
- Klaus-Peter Möller: The true E. A dictionary of the GDR soldiers' language. Lukas Verlag, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-931836-22-3 .
- Christian Thomas Müller: A thousand days with the 'ashes'. NCOs in the NVA. Ch. Links, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-86153-297-2 .
Literary processing
- Hans the Brenner: Lotterbett & Blauer Würger. Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2008, ISBN 978-3-8370-5896-3 .
- Christoph D. Brumme : A thousand days. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1997, ISBN 3-462-02631-3 .
- Kurt W. Fleming: A SCHWEJK in the NVA. edition unica Leipzig 2005, ISBN 3-933287-68-5 .
- Jürgen Fuchs : Style cut. Rowohlt, Reinbek 1984, ISBN 3-499-12480-7 .
- Peter Tannhoff: Sprutz - In the clutches of the NVA. Ludwig-Verlag, Kiel 2004, ISBN 3-933598-84-2 .
- Uwe Tellkamp : The tower . Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 2008, ISBN 978-3-518-42020-1 .
- Eckhard Ullrich: Culture shock NVA: Letters from a conscript 1971-1973 . Ch.links, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-86153-711-3 .
- Jörg Waehner: Single line, no line. NVA diary. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2006, ISBN 3-462-03674-2 .
- Stefan Wolter (ed.): Secret diary of a construction soldier in Prora (Uwe Rühle), Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2015, ISBN 978-3-73861-976-8 , pp. 105-109.
Individual evidence
- ↑ For the composition of the College, see Parallel History Project : Finding aid "College Protocols", available online (accessed on July 21, 2008)
- ↑ a b BA-MA Freiburg, DVW 1, 55608, p. 79, quoted from: Udo Grashoff: In an attack of depression… Ch. Links, Berlin 2006.
Web links
- The EK movement of the GDR border troops
- EK movement in the NVA - an apologetic description of the topic by a former professional officer of the NVA who, as a technical officer in the LSK / LV armed forces, had little contact with the EK “movement”.