Quote:
Originally Posted by vacollector
Was SED membership required for all NVA Wach members??
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We do not know these details. It cannot have been a FORMAL requirement but a SUBSTANTIAL one yes for practically all professionals. In the NVA 90% and above of the officers were SED members. It is difficult to believe that it was any different in the Wachregiment. As for the troops, we simply do not know... There were obvious physical criteria for selection and -as always- political reliability must have been a feature but whether it was a pre-condition it is unknown. There once was a member here (Paul_Germany) who had served in the Engels around 1981-82 (and whose current absence I much lament
). He told us something about his being classified as politically unreliable which might have been a factor in his serving only 12 months (instead of the usual 18) in the Wachregiment, and then a further 6 months or so -if I remember rightly- in an ordinary Mot. Schützen regiment. But much as his political unreliability MIGHT have been a reason for sending him off, he had however been selected for the Wachregiment to start off with...
And given that we have mentioned his name... here he is in full glory:
Early NVA Wachregiment
Linear Mode
