Word: vopos
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...Sovietniks." Former Nazi officers drill them, Red partisan veterans (some with as many as 15 different "cover" names) fire Communism into their minds. For two hours each evening, Vopo graduates of a special Politkultur school in Berlin indoctrinate the men in the history of the Russian Communist Party, the German workers' movement, the current "peace" campaign. Woe to the Vopo who does not learn his lesson-he may draw up to six weeks' confinement to barracks...
Supervising these activities is a Russian "advisory" staff. Each of the 24 regional Vopo units has its six-man contingent of Red army field-grade officers who dress like Vopos, live in the barracks, and keep a cold eye on training. The other Vopos call them "Sovietniks" and try to stay out of their...
...conceal their true functions, officers and enlisted men have been given police ranks, but each parallels an army rating. The 24 Vopo commands will eventually become 24 full divisions...
...Bosses. Boss of the whole show is Security Minister Wilhelm Zaisser, whose profession is revolution. Communist Zaisser led the Rhineland Red uprisings of 1923, later turned up in Spain as "General Gomez," commander of the 13th International Brigade. Heinz Hoffman, Inspector General of the Vopo, is a graduate of the Red army's war college...
Weak spot of the Vopo is morale. The men are recruited from East Germany's tattered, disillusioned youth, enticed by promises of the best wages, food and clothing. When recruiting lags, state factories discharge young workers and state employment agencies offer these unemployed a choice: join the Vopo or work in the uranium mines. Leaves are hard to get and liberty uniforms are kept under lock. Each month an average of 90 to 100 Vopos get fed up, desert to the west. Probably no more than 30% of the whole force are ideologically certified Reds. In fact, the Russians...