East German Advisors Overseas

[NKOMO]

Someone had mentioned earlier that the Stasi helped train the Mozambique SNASP. Was the Presidential Guard part of the SNASP? I am trying to found out whether the presidential guard was actually part of the SNASP or something else. Any help would be appreciated!
Arch

[corsa]

Someone had mentioned earlier that the Stasi helped train the Mozambique SNASP. Was the Presidential Guard part of the SNASP? I am trying to found out whether the presidential guard was actually part of the SNASP or something else. Any help would be appreciated!
Arch

As far as I know, the Presidential Guard as a part of the SNASP was advised by officers of the MfS Wachregiment Feliks Dzierzynski Berlin.

[NKOMO]

Corsa,
Thanks for the reply. I contacted the Stasi Museum and asked them about their involvement in Mozambique, I got an email saying there wasn't much information about that area. They said they'd get back with me at the beginning of the year, but I haven't heard anything.

[corsa]

Forget museums, the best adress for any kind of questions is the BSTU (the governments office for the documents of the MfS). Look here http://www.bstu.de.

[corsa]

For those are interested in the theme: a book (unfortunately only in German):
Martin Bols: Ende der Schweigepflicht ISBN: 3-360-01037-7
Martin Bols was the resident of the MfS in Tanzania/Zanzibar.

[K.Kocjancic]

Hi Shawn -

You might be interested in a similar topic: Several years ago, a German government study group published an outstanding monograph regarding the top secret East German sabotage unit that was supposed to cross into the West and work together with West German communists if war seemed likely. Here's the title:

Fingerle, Stefan. Partisanen des Kalten Krieges: die Untergrundtruppe der Nationalen Volksarmee 1957 bis 1962 und ihre Übernahme durch die Staatssicherheit. Berlin: Der Bundesbeauftragte für die Unterlagen des Staatssicherheitsdienstes der ehemaligen Deutschen Demokratischen Republik, 1996.

Several members of this organization were put on trial after the re-unification and convicted. I believe they were sentenced to 1-4 years in prison. A good writer could take the archival documents, the trial transcripts, and do some interviews with the former members and come up with quite an outstanding piece of history!

Does anyone have any info on this organization/unit?

Regards,
Klemen

[George Lepre]

Hi Klemen -

Outside of the above-cited work, there is another book that covers the sabotage units after they were turned over to the MfS in 1963. Here's the title:

Einsatzkommandos an der unsichtbaren Front: Terror- und Sabotagevorbereitungen des MfS gegen die Bundesrepublik Deutschland by Thomas Auerbach.

You can order both volumes from the BStU website.

I hope all's been well on your end.

Best,

George

[DerPanzerkommandant]

All this make you wonder just how much the Eastern Block States had the tentecles graspeing the world eh!

[George Lepre]

Hi Everyone -

It looks like we'll finally receive a definitive answer to this query, courtesy of Links Verlag and Major Storkmann:

http://www.christoph-links-verlag.de/in ... tel_id=676

According to the synopsis offered by the publisher, it appears that the story of East German military advisors in Africa is a Cold War myth.

Best regards,

George

[K.Kocjancic]

Is there any info that former DDR instructors in Africa came back to Africa after the fall of the Wall/DDR?

[George Lepre]

Hi Klemen -

Major Strokmann found that there had been no DDR military advisors in Africa. However, there were DDR civilians there assisting in countries that possessed friendly governments.

Here is an example. This is a book written by former DDR citizens who worked in various capacities in Mozambique. Note that there are no military advisors:

http://www.amazon.de/hinterlassen-Erleb ... 3825883213

Best regards,

George

[K.Kocjancic]

Thanks for the link!

Klemen

[Edward L. Hsiao]

I wonder if East German NVA pilots ever participated in air wars over the Middle Eastern Front like Iraq? I thought there were some East German military appearance in Afghanistan during the war in 1979 to 1989 but I didn't think the East German military were directly involved in the conflict.

Edward L. Hsiao

[Edward L. Hsiao]

I wonder if the East German sabotage units ever to perform missions overseas at all?

Edward L. Hsiao

[KLange]

Hi Klemen -

Major Strokmann found that there had been no DDR military advisors in Africa. However, there were DDR civilians there assisting in countries that possessed friendly governments.

Here is an example. This is a book written by former DDR citizens who worked in various capacities in Mozambique. Note that there are no military advisors:

http://www.amazon.de/hinterlassen-Erleb ... 3825883213

Best regards,

George

Maybe those were just civilians in that book, who wouldn't be knowledgeable about covert military matters. East Berlin would no doubt have kept any military advisor matters secret.