Officers college for foreign military cadres "Otto Winzer"

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Officers' college "Otto Winzer"
- XX -
logo
activity 1981-1990
Sponsorship Emblem of the Ground Forces of NVA (East Germany) .svg NVA , LaSK command
place Prora on Rügen
country Germany Democratic Republic 1949GDR GDR
last commander GenLt Artur Seefeld
Otto winemaker Prora

The officers college for foreign military cadres "Otto Winzer" was an officers college of the National People's Army (OHS) for the training of officer students exclusively from countries of the " Third World " in Prora on Rügen . The school opened in September 1981 and ended in the summer of 1990. The school was named after the former Foreign Minister of the GDR Otto Winzer .

prehistory

The first training of the military from a third world country took place from 1964 in the Parow fleet school and other Volksmarine locations. Future Zanzibar naval cadres were trained here. The training was coupled with the delivery of patrol boats to the island nation.

From 1973 the NVA in Naumburg trained cadres for the Socialist Republic of Vietnam . Also in 1973, plans began for the training of cadres from the People's Republic of the Congo , but these were not implemented until much later, when the training in Prora had already started. From 1975 cadres for Mozambican border troops, from 1978 Libyan cadres for the air force were trained.

Training for members of the Sandinista People's Army ( Ejército Popular Sandinista = EPS) in Nicaragua was requested by the Nicaraguan side as early as January 1980, although - or just - the EPS had been founded only a few months earlier. The Nicaraguan Defense Minister , Comandante de la Revolución Humberto Ortega, was a key figure in the collaboration between the NVA and EPS . According to Storkmann, Nicaragua was the “focus of training aid” of the OHS “Otto Winzer” (Storkmann, p. 399).

Naming

Originally, three socialist personalities were available for naming the OHS:

  1. the former Lord Mayor of East Berlin , Friedrich Ebert (son of President Friedrich Ebert ),
  2. the writer Ludwig Renn , participant in the First World War and interbrigadist in the Spanish Civil War , and
  3. the former Foreign Minister of the GDR Otto Winzer

Why the OHS was finally named after the winemaker who died in 1975 is unclear.

Establishment and operation

The OHS was set up with staff from the officers' college of the land forces "Ernst Thälmann" and the military technical school of the land forces "Erich Habersaath" (MTS). The aim of the institution was to raise the GDR's reputation abroad, apparently regardless of the financial expenditure. The establishment of the OHS was ordered by the Minister of Defense in November 1980. 500 training positions were planned, including 100 for political officers and 50 for the training of officers at battalion level . The training was carried out in six companies . Despite procurement problems and a shortage economy, the OHS was set up in just one year. The start of training was set for September 1981. The decision for the Prora location was made because of the geographical remoteness, which ensured relative secrecy and good control options. The proximity of the MTS “Erich Habersaath” also played a role in terms of training personnel and training logistics.

First commander of the OHS was Major General Helmut Geisler , who was as (* 1925) lieutenant in the Wehrmacht had served and in 1945 Soviet prisoners of war had come. In November 1984, 158 officers, 31 ensigns , 55 professional non-commissioned officers , 24 temporary non-commissioned officers and 49 basic military service served in the OHS . There were also 98 civilian service employees. A personnel bottleneck arose in 1987 due to further unscheduled Nicaraguan training demands for 161 members of the Sandinista People's Army. Despite additional training costs of around 7.2 million marks , the GDR agreed. ( Heinz Keßler to Ortega of May 30, 1987, quoted from Storkmann, p. 431).

Apart from a few exceptions, the GDR paid the full training costs. Libya and Syria in particular were exceptions . The cost estimates were between four and five years, depending on the training period, from $ 58,000 (land forces) to $ 116,800 (air forces). The legal situation of the students was contractually regulated in government agreements. During the training period in the GDR, disciplinary power lay with the commanders of the teaching institutions. The accommodation and exit regulations were based on NVA regulations. The officer students received a monthly pocket money of 200 marks, the non-commissioned officers 150 marks.

education

The training took place exclusively according to the regulations of the NVA and their weapons and equipment. The language of instruction was German ; Language courses have been set up for the pupils at the OHS itself or at the NVA's language institute in Naumburg . During the service the NVA uniform was worn without an emblem, probably also without a rank badge. When not on duty, the students wore civilian clothes and on public holidays their national uniforms.

For the training fields

University programs were developed. Another field of training was that of the political officer . The social science component comprised around 18% of the training plan; the focus of training was therefore clearly on “classic military fields” (Storkmann, 436f.) In some cases the discontinuation of social science training was contractually regulated, for example with Syria, North Yemen, Libya and the Socialist Progressive Party (PSP) of Lebanon .

Because of the heterogeneous origins of the students, the training staff came across political views that contradicted their own political canon. The Congolese saw the Soviet Union simply as a second superpower and were generally oriented towards the former colonial power France . In contrast to pupils from the Arab region , the Ethiopians did not have a negative image of Israel and considered the Israeli occupation of Arab territories to be justified as a means of self-protection. (Storkmann, p. 448f).

Special courses

A first special course was held at the request of the Ministry of Defense of Nicaragua, i. H. Humberto Ortegas, who had completed his own military training in Cuba and North Korea in 1967/68. The special course with 100 participants took place from September 1985 to February 1986, of which 98 successfully completed. For this additional training, further trainers had to be made available by other NVA units, e.g. B. 15 members of the Paratrooper Battalion 40 .

Again at Nicaragua's request, a second special course took place from November 1987 to October 1988. It was completed by 99 graduates in the fields of motorized riflemen and reconnaissance platoon leaders. Parallel to the teaching in Prora, 180 “foreign” soldiers were trained under the strictest secrecy from August 1986 to April 1988 at the NCO School I “Rudolf Egelhofer” in Weißkeißel . The Nicaraguan origin of the "foreigners" was only revealed later from interviews with contemporary witnesses , as no corresponding documents have survived. (Storkmann, p. 440).

BLI en operación 01

The background to both courses was evidently the Contra War , which was at its height in the mid-1980s and consumed all the resources of the Sandinista People's Army.

Consideration for cultural differences

In the composition of the training companies, regional and cultural similarities were taken into account. For the students, who mostly come from tropical or subtropical regions, the field training was waived in winter . For Muslims a prayer room was set up at the slaughterhouse mountains especially sheep for Ramadan geschächtet, more informally in the kitchens of the barracks. Christian students such as B. the predominantly Catholic Nicaraguans were apparently dependent on churches in the area.

A specific problem arose with the military training of young people. Contrary to the agreement that only pupils from the age of 18 were allowed to be trained, Nicaragua had also sent a 15 and a 16 year old student as well as several 17 year olds. Despite concerns from the German side, however, these remained in training.

The intended secrecy of the facility or the training company did not succeed because the students frequented bars and restaurants in Binz or Bergen auf Rügen . Some students apparently also lived permanently in private quarters. The exit regulations were relatively permissive.

Countries of origin of the officer students

Inquiries about training opportunities also came from Benin , Mexico , Uganda , Panama , SWAPO and from communist parties in Guatemala and Costa Rica . However, the inquiries were apparently either rejected or the training did not take place for other reasons. (Storkmann, pp. 76f., 120f., 402).

completion

The changes in the political situation from October 1989 onwards at the OHS were felt at the latest when North Korean officer students took their annual leave in January 1990 and did not return. In March, a Cuban visitor commission examined whether the training of their cadres was still possible. The result appears to have been negative, as all Cuban students were withdrawn by the end of August.

On September 10, 1990, the commander ordered the training operations to be regulated until October 3, the day of German unity . On September 22nd, Major General Seefeldt handed over the official business to Colonel Schäfer. On October 3rd, the school was renamed "Officers College of the Bundeswehr Prora". It was disbanded in April 1991 and placed under the MTS subordinate command.

Commanders

chronology

  • December 2, 1980: Commander Major General Helmut Geisler takes up his duties.
  • June 1, 1981: Formal implementation of training programs.
  • September 1, 1981: Start of teaching, bestowal of the honorary name "Otto Winzer" by ministerial order.
  • December 9, 1981: The troop flag is awarded by Colonel General Horst Stechbarth . The guest of honor is Otto Winzer's sister, Ella Rumpf.
  • October 1983: Adoption of the first graduates from the People's Republic of the Congo.
  • September 1, 1984: The OHS Scientific Council is granted the right to award academic titles.
  • February 21, 1986: The Chairman of the State Council of the GDR Erich Honecker awards the OHS the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold.
  • March 18, 1986: First OHS teachers' conference.
  • November 1986: Handover of the OHS by Stechbarth von Geisler to Major General Seefeldt.
  • July 1987: A delegation from the OHS visits an OHS in Odessa / Ukrainian Soviet Republic .
  • September 1989: A delegation from the OHS visits the OHS "Wilhelm Pieck" in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) / Vietnam.
  • September 22, 1990: Transfer of command from Lieutenant General Seefeldt to Colonel Schäfer.
  • October 3, 1990: Renaming of the OHS "Otto Winzer" to OHS of the Bundeswehr Prora.
  • April 1991: Dissolution and subordinate command of the MTS.

literature

Web links