Evening star., 1949-11-08

OtlleIWlSe your story was SWELL
HENRY j. LEINBACH, Jr.,
President. Washington Division. Electric
Railroaders Association.
Concerning Police Control
In East and West Germany.
10 the Editor of The Star:
Recent reports in The Evening Star in
olcate numerous changes occurring among
the pollce OF the Eastern Zone of Ger
many Ihey have varied from reports in
olcatlng that the police have been placed
under the control Of one head, that they
were oelng given military training. that
tney may be used against Tito in Yugo
slaVla; to the more recent report of the
imprisonment of Paul Markgraf, police chief
OF tne Soviet sector Of Berlin.
IL may be recalled that, when the strength
OF tne German army was limited under the
Terms OF the Treaty Of Versailles following
the nrst World War, Hitler used the German
police to build up military force. Nv
centralizing police control in Berlin under
tne sinister Heinrich Himmler, Hitler was
aoie 10 1ntegrate the functions of the MIL
nlclpai' nre, water and border police. AS
tne SITUATION progressed, all state police. or
Landespol1zei, were ordered into military
barracks to be given full-scale unilitary
training.
FonoW1ng Germany's defeat in World War
H. the basic policy Of the American. British
and French occupying forces has been the
oecentrallzatlon, demilitarization and de-
nazlncatlon OF all police forces. The chain
OF command OF the state police Of Trizonia
Gas the three Western zones are informallv
Known) was completely separated from that
OF the local or municipal police. This is In
accordance with modern police practice in
ooth the United States and Great Britain
by these means the formerly abusive power
OF the German police and the ministers of
the interior of the individual German states
has been curtailed
AT the present time the ministers of the
interior are extremely sensitive" to this
curtallment OF their power They resent this
lack OF centralized control from a political
VleWpoint. for it would put them In tre-
mendously advantageous bargaininp posi-
ton SO far as the political parties Of Ger
many are concerned. The possibility exists
that they could individually seize control
over vital governmental Offices As soon as
the Western powers granted complete au-
tonomy to Germany.
The present political significance of con-
troll over the police force can be appreciated
by review Of the past performance Of the
Communists in Germany.
The Allies entered Berlin on July 4. 1945.
only after the Soviets had kept them wait
ing OH the outskirts Of that city for several
weeks while they proceeded to reorganize
the police In their own fashion. All police
records had been seized by this time and
carried through the Brandenberg Tor into
police headquarters for Berlin, which Is
situated in the Soviet sector. This is also
Markgraf's headquarters.
The MVD (Soviet secret police, analogous
to the Gestapo) quickly went to work with
these police records and began the chain OF
abductions so familiar to all Berliners The
Communists needed German tool for the
execution Of their plans so that the abduc-
tions would not appear to be made by the
SovietS themselves. Paul Markgraf was that
tool; he performed his job well. As The
Evening Star reported short time ago, 1t
has been estimated that over 5,4l3 Berliners
had been abducted or had disappeared from
their homes between the time Markgraf
took over his job in 1945 as chief of police
of Berlin and 1947.
The recent news that Markgraf has been
removed from his post, following his ad-
mission that he intended fleeing to the
Western Zone Of Germany. should be taken
with grain of caution. Moscow may now
feel that, with the creation Of the new East
German Republic, the installation Of q new
police chief with no previous unsavory rec
ord would be more in line with their idea
OF eventually winning over the Western
Berliners to the banner Of the hammer and
sickle.
It will, however, be surprising indeed II
Markgraf does not spring up once more in
the vanguard of the Soviet push to the
West. q. O.