Combat Groups of the Working Class
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Image:Kampfgruppen der Arbeiterklasse emblem.png The Combat Groups of the Working Class (German: Kampfgruppen der Arbeiterklasse) was a paramilitary organisation in East Germany, founded in 1953 and abolished in 1990. It numbered about 400,000 volunteers for much of its existence.
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History
The Kampfgruppen were formed after the Workers Uprising in June 1953. It was intended to be the East German equivalent to the Factory Units of the Worker's Militia of Czechoslovakia which played a very important part in the communist putsch in Czechoslovakia in 1948.
Command and Control
The Kampfgruppen fell under the authority of the Central Committee of the SED. The Politbüro of the SED Central Committee also supervised the rest of the armed forces through its "Security Commission" (Sicherheitskommission).
Organization
Units and units based on their working place. The general units are closely tied to their local basis, nationalized enterprises, state and local administration offices and other working places, and their organizations and their employment does not extend beyond their district level. The mobile or motorized units, designated Battalions of the Regional Reserve, can be employed outside their local and district areas.
The KdA was similar to the United States National Guard; however, unlike a National Guard, it was strictly controlled by the governing Socialist Unity Party of Germany.
Each large factory, along with many neighbourhoods, had their own Kampfgruppe, each made up of about 100 workers who sought to "defend the property of the people". Membership was voluntary; many chose to enlist in the KdA so as to avoid being drafted into the army. A KdA member trained with his group after work and on weekends for a total of 136 hours annually.
The KdA were organised like infantry, and were to join the military and police during political emergencies, such as protests against the government. The largest use of the KdA for this purpose was during the construction of the Berlin Wall: KdA members stood in a line in front of the Wall, with orders to shoot anyone who tried to pass through.
As they were sanctioned by the Volkspolizei, the KdA had at their disposal many of the weapons that the police would use in riot situations, such as SK-1 armoured personnel carriers, mortars, anti-aircraft guns and anti-tank guns. Very politically reliable KdA groups could be sent overseas to help train local militias, especially in countries in Africa that received military aid from East Germany. Large numbers of KdA members were sent to Brazzaville particularly.
For a certain number of years service, a KdA member could be given a medal. KdA camps were held annually, usually in the wilderness, for training purposes.
By 1989, the KdA's membership exceeded half a million, meaning that one in 36 East Germans was a member.