Ralf Forster group

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The Ralf Forster group (also called DKP military organization or DKP-MO or Gruppe Aktion ) was a secret military organization in the Federal Republic of Germany , which consisted of members of the DKP . In times of crisis (in "times of escalating class struggles"), they should carry out acts of sabotage and terrorist attacks and free prisoners. This group was supplied with money, weapons and explosives by the GDR. The execution was the state security department AGM / S . The theoretical training took place in East Berlin . At Springsee in Brandenburg, the fighters received practical training from NVA officers on the following topics: "Handling weapons and explosives, the tactics of small combat groups, camouflage, covering up tracks and the silent killing of people." The military organization existed from 1969 to spring 1989 The foundation went back to an agreement between Walter Ulbricht and Max Reimann .

history

The conspiratorial DKP military organization was founded in 1969 on the instructions of the SED party leadership and existed until the collapse of the GDR in 1989. At least since 1953 there had been service units in the Ministry for State Security that were supposed to prepare such partisan activity. The organization, run by the SED as the "Ralf Forster Group", was financed with six-figure sums. Until 1989 the group received a total of several million DM. Behind the pseudonym Ralf Forster hid Harry Schmitt , who was born in Halle in 1919 and who had been the group's leader for many years.

The task of the Ralf Forster group consisted in the strictest conspiracy to select reliable DKP comrades who were trained in the GDR for military tasks and actions in the Federal Republic of Germany. These DKP comrades formed the military organization of the DKP. A specially founded military council, consisting of high-ranking DKP functionaries and "Ralf Forster" alias Harry Schmitt, met regularly for deliberations in the GDR. The premises for these meetings were made available by the traffic department at the Central Committee of the SED . In a shielded training camp between Scharmützelsee and Springsee, there were six training courses per year with up to eleven fighters, during which DKP members smuggled into the GDR were instructed in shooting, blasting, camouflaging and deceiving. For example, the "destruction of a telecommunications facility near Solingen" or "setting an ambush with subsequent release of prisoners" were practiced. The targeted killing of people was also trained.

In the period from 1969 to 1989, around 200 DKP members in the GDR received secret paramilitary training. You should carry out acts of sabotage and terrorist attacks in the Federal Republic of Germany in the event of a conflict between the Warsaw Pact states and those of NATO . It is unclear whether attacks were actually carried out. Parts of the files were deliberately destroyed by the State Security.

Separate curricula were drawn up for the training of DKP members in the GDR. From them it can be seen that the handling of small arms, hand grenades and bazookas, the handling and use of incendiary devices and explosives as well as the silent elimination of opponents were practiced. High-ranking NVA officers acted as trainers . The training took place both in the Central Pioneer Training Base at Springsee and at the Streganz military training area . The Ministry of State Security provided the materials necessary for these exercises (weapons, ammunition, explosives and chemicals). However, the main responsibility for training lay with the Ministry of National Defense .

The existence of the military organization of the DKP only became known at the end of 1989 through the dropout Willi Herrmann and subsequent reports in the Spiegel . It is still vehemently denied by the leadership of the DKP. In 2004 the existence of this group was confirmed by the discovery of files by the authority of the Federal Commissioner for the Records of the State Security Service of the former German Democratic Republic and further details became known. A group is said to have existed in Kaiserslautern (not far from Ramstein Air Base ).

Work-up

Some members of the group were charged in German courts for membership after reunification . The proceedings against 14 members of the military organization for “preparing acts of sabotage” and “acting as agents for the purpose of sabotage” before the Frankfurt am Main regional court resulted in impunity for all of the accused and were also brought against the last four defendants in November 1995 against payment of fines between 1,500 and 5,000 Mark set.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The group "Ralf Forster" ( Memento from March 9, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ a b c Shots at the Scharmützelsee . In: Der Spiegel . No. 1 , 1990, p. 65-70 ( online - Jan. 1, 1990 ).
  3. ^ A b Udo Baron: "Group Ralf Forster". The secret military organization of the DKP and SED in the Federal Republic ( Memento of March 18, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), in: Deutschland Archiv 38 (2005), No. 6, pp. 1009-1016
  4. ↑ The secret combat force of the DKP ( Memento from August 1, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ a b GDR trained DKP combat groups
  6. ^ GDR trained the military arm of the DKP , Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung from May 19, 2004
  7. ↑ SED recruited DKP people for attacks in Tagesspiegel of May 19, 2004
  8. ↑ http://www.bstu.bund.de/DE/Wissen/Publikationen/Publikationen/E_fingerle-gieseke_partisanen.pdf?__blob=publicationFile
  9. ^ The partisans of the DKP
  10. ↑ Harald Stutte: When the GDR once trained partisans for the West. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, section "Life", September 29, 2019, p. 12
  11. ^ DKP paramilitaries trained by the Stasi , Sächsische Zeitung, April 18, 2004
  12. ↑ Something nice . In: Der Spiegel . No. 4 , 1990, pp. 89-90 ( Online - Jan. 22, 1990 ).
  13. ↑ Harsh blow . In: Der Spiegel . No. 11 , 1990, pp. 105-109 ( Online - Mar. 12, 1990 ).
  14. ↑ Sleepers of the Cold War , Süddeutsche Zeitung, October 28, 2009
  15. ^ Fictitious attack , Der Spiegel , November 13, 1995; other sources mistakenly speak of a "fine" or dismissal of the trial.