Sentence:  The common theme of the different pieces of Müller's "Wolokolamsk Highway" is a certain form of heroic stoicism which enables the protagonists to overcome their inhibition against hurting their own men in the name of socialism: The Russian commanders sentence and <WSD>derank</WSD> their comrades despite the fact that they are members of their party, and the East German functionaries respectively criticize and denounce their protege and adoptive son. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To strip of rank; demote.