Munitions recovery service of the GDR

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The munitions recovery service of the GDR was in the GDR for the task of ordnance disposal charge in the civilian sector. Unlike in most other countries in the world, the military was not responsible for this.

prehistory

The necessity to render unused ordnance harmless increased due to the globalization of wars (the combat operations were still relatively limited in space up to the First World War ), especially during the Second World War .

Strategic bombing of the armaments industry and military facilities, but also the targeted attacks against residential areas in large cities, brought not only direct effects but also the danger of unused weapons, so-called duds . The task of removing these duds was incumbent on the various organizations of the army , air force and navy for military facilities. Often these were also used to support the experts of civil air protection organizations such as B. the SHD ( security and emergency services ) or the air raid police and technical emergency aid .

In addition to these bomb duds, munitions were used in large quantities towards the end of the war with the complete military conquest of Germany, and corresponding duds were "produced". Likewise, equipment and ammunition were left behind in immense quantities by the retreating German troops or made unusable by blasting, but this was often only "blown up" and distributed over a large area. Flak ammunition was lying next to abandoned positions in the cities . Weapons and ammunition from the Volkssturm lay next to the roadblocks. In the stations were z. T. whole freight trains full of ammunition.

Minefields were bypassed in the course of the military occupation by the Allied troops or only made accessible in the form of narrow streets.

Situation in 1945

After the unconditional surrender of the Third Reich, when the need to dispose of all these weapons was greatest, the organizations previously entrusted with this task were no longer available.

In the area of ​​the Soviet Occupation Zone (SBZ) , Order No. 3 of the Supreme Chief of the Soviet Military Administration (SMAD) issued on June 15, 1945:

"1. All or each of the following weapons, ammunition or objects in the possession of the local administrative bodies, companies and individuals, ... must be preserved intact and handed over to the military commanders in good condition from June 17 to 23, 1945:
a) Weapons, ammunition, explosives, ...
...
3. In order to prevent the theft and concealment of weapons, the local administrative bodies have to carry out careful inspections of buildings, forests, fields and operating facilities. The weapons, ammunition, explosives and equipment found must be delivered to the responsible military commander.
... "

(It is evident that the allotted time until June 23, 1945 was a little over-optimistic.)

Until the end of 1946, ordnance was initially only searched for as part of the clean-up work and removed by blasting it or sinking it into water. This task was carried out by special units of the Red Army, but also by specialists from the local security forces set up from May 1945. Furthermore, private companies were used to demilitarize and dispose of the existing amounts of scrap . However, weapons were also recovered and dismantled in order to regain raw materials such as steel , copper, etc. These companies were commissioned by the responsible state governments , but this work was strictly monitored by the SMAD control group.

Government operations disarmament

In 1950, on instructions from the Ministry of the Interior (MdI), the entire disposal of ordnance was transferred to the state authorities of the German People's Police (DVP) . For this purpose, corresponding economic enterprises were founded, which were given the name Regiebetrieb Disarme :

  • for the state authority of Mecklenburg based in Schwerin
  • for the state authority of Brandenburg based in Potsdam
  • for the state authority of Saxony / Anhalt based in Magdeburg
  • for the state authority of Thuringia based in Weimar (later Erfurt)
  • for the state authority of Saxony based in Dresden
  • the DVP Presidium is responsible for the eastern sector of Berlin

Note: In Saxony, a department "Destruction of war technology" was set up as early as 1949 by order of the then state administration at the main workshop of the state police authority.

On November 14, 1950, the Training Headquarters published "Instructions on Searching Terrain Contaminated with Mines, Duds, and Other Ammunition." A day later, the Central Training Administration issued Order No. 442/50 on "The Treatment and Disposal of Duds, Mines, Explosives and Other Ammunition Found". Thus in the GDR - in contrast to the federal system of the Federal Republic with the disposal of ordnance in the sovereign states - the organization of the disposal of munitions took place centrally for the entire GDR.

Ammunition recovery companies

With the "Law on the further democratization of the structure and functioning of the state organs in the states in the German Democratic Republic" of July 23, 1952, in the course of the dissolution of the states and the establishment of the districts, the areas of responsibility for the government operations were reallocated, which, however, predominantly comprised the old country areas:

In 1957 the government operations (with around 400 employees at the time) were renamed "Munitions Recovery Operation of the German People's Police" . On June 1, 1963, the Interior Minister of the GDR issued "... to ensure the protection of life and health and the maintenance of the workforce of the members of the ammunition recovery operations of the DVP in their dangerous work ..." central " operating instructions for the ammunition recovery operations of the DVP ".

Ammunition recovery service of the German People's Police

In 1975 it was renamed again and the designation “Munitions Recovery Service of the German People's Police” was introduced. The heads of the ammunition recovery services were specialists who, although they had the appropriate rank of the People's Police (major or captain), performed their daily duty mostly in civilian clothes. Further specialist staff were the brigade leaders who had passed the brigade leader examination after appropriate internal training. Additional qualifications for carrying out explosions (" explosive certificate ") as well as the qualification for disarming dropping ammunition were added for selected personnel. An additional task for the specialists at the MBD was the treatment of objects suspected of being explosive (SVG), now known as USBV .

Note: In the 1980s there was an all-women brigade in the MBD Magdeburg under the leadership of Waltraud Teichert.

The MBD after the fall of the Wall

After the reunification of Germany and the re-establishment of the new federal states, the responsibilities for the disposal of ordnance were reorganized. While in GDR times only the state MBD was allowed to deal with "found ammunition", from 1990 civilian specialist companies were also commissioned in eastern Germany.

In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern the MBD was removed from the field of police and following the example of Schleswig-Holstein in disaster settled. When it was integrated into the State Office for Disaster Protection on July 1, 1990 as the Munitions Recovery Service Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (MBD MV), a total of 77 employees (4 employees and 73 workers) were taken on. Due to the reorganization of the offices, the MBD MV is now back in the police force, as a department of the state office for central tasks and technology of the police, fire and disaster control. This service is the only one that still bears the name “Munitions Recovery Service” today.

In Brandenburg , the MBD was initially continued as an independent authority under the name “State Munitions Recovery Service (St. MBD)”. In the meantime it has been established as the "Ordnance Disposal Service (KMBD)" in the central service of the Brandenburg police .

In Saxony-Anhalt , the former MBD is anchored in the Technical Police Office as the "Ordnance Disposal Service (KBD)", and in Saxony in the State Police Directorate Central Services as the "Ordnance Disposal Service".

In the state of Berlin , the task of disposing of ordnance was taken over by the ordnance disposers of the former West Berlin police.

In Thuringia , the MBD continued to run as a state service, but was privatized in the mid-1990s . Today a private ordnance clearance company takes over the defusing, transport, storage and destruction of ordnance, with the administrative regulation on responsibilities of authorities and institutions in the business area of ​​the Thuringian Ministry of the Interior of November 23, 2005 is the state administration office for "security ..., including supervision over the commissioned company ... “responsible.

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