Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-08-07
By MARGARITA DoBERr

While West Germany's first mill
tary laws are being pushed in the
Bundestag, intensive recruiting Is
under way in East Germany for
service in the Barracked Peoples
Police (Kasernierte VolkspolizeD /.
American authorities talking Of
German Identification and the i'm
proved prospects for world peace,
still have their eye on this KvP,
as it is called.
Is the KVP full-fledged army.
ready to pounce upon the West in a
war Of aggression? Is 1t militia
trained to quell internal disorders?
Or is it, as the name implies, Just
an ordinary police force?
Actually. none Of these descrip-
tons fit.
The Russians. past masters at
the game of camoufiage. have Gre
ated a small armed force, which,
chameleonlike, can be presented
any way 1t seems expedient While
they dangle the hope Of a unified
neutral country In front Of Ger
man noses, they can play down the
military significance of the KVP
and yet bargain from position Of
strength around an international
conference table.
General Heinz Hoffman, COM
mander of the KVP. stated public
" before the Korean war: I'VE are
not policemen. we are soldiers.
When we have to fight. we shall
fight side by side with the Red
Army"
Publications for the KVP never
refer to police questions. They deal
only with military and political
matters. Posters. urge lighting"
for peace" until the very words
lose their meaning.
Estimates put the strength of
the KvP at about l00. 900, the ordi-
nary police at 10000 and the quasi
military frontier guards and trans
port police at 10000. These add up
to one East German armed out of
every hundred.
The KVP is organized into two
army groups. North" and South"
Each has three divisions, one of
them armored In addition, there
Ii the Potsdam mechanical division,
an embryo airforce and a small
naval arm. The land forces have
light and heavy tanks, including
the Stain I and II and armored
vehicles of no operational value.
The Navy has about so small craft,
including minelayers.
Forgotten inspectors
For essential arms, the KVP is
entirely dependent on the Soviet
Union. An almost forgotten allied
commission is still touring the
Eastern Zone-as does its Russian
counterpart in the Western Zone
to see that German factories pro-
duce no weapons.
Soldiers wear olive green uni
forms resembling Russian models
and parade a la Moscow. with tom
my guns under their arms and fixed
bayonets pointing forward.
Hitler's officers, properly recon-
ditioned. have turned UP in KVP
uniform. Other officers like Gen.
Hoffman, who was political COM
missar of the second international
brigade and later adopted Soviet
citizenship. are veterans Of the
Spanish civil war. Top-level posts
of command are in the hands Of
Russian liaison officers.
Field Marshal Friedrich Won Pau
lus. Of Stalingrad notoriety. has no
command. He is used only for prop
uganda purposes. He talks over
the radio, urging West Germans to
forsake the United States in favor
of an alliance with Russia and
France.
Officers are trained in Soviet
military schools. Lately a military
college opened at Dresden.
New Reichswehr
The KvP can best be compared
to the old Reichswehr. It also num-
bered 100000, was low on weapons
and high on military skill. It also
trained far more officers than was
necessary for its size. Observers
claim that the KVP's tactical units
can be speedily built up into cadres
for at least Is ground divisions.
But there is notable difference.
There is no tradition and there is
no trust Spying is at q premium.
Desertion is high during the first
year of service. Later on, Commu-
mist indoctrination, which goes
hand in hand with military instruc-
ton, seems to be successful. Few
fee after longer service.
It 10 unlikely that the Russians
would use East Germans to fight
West Germans. Nevertheless, IN