As December is the month for the Holidays, I'm curious if our NVA members can shed any light on the NVA's official attitude and position on its member's celebration of Christmas. While I assume that Christmas was not officially celebrated, perhaps unofficially a blind eye was turned?
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Ohh yes, Christams was officially celebrated. It was not easy for these guys, who was on duty or "only" not allowed to be on vacation during the holidays. The "Spiess" had to organise a party with good food, and somthing to drink (yes, beer was allowed, three bottles, if I recall correctly). The table got white clothes and the room was festively decorated - even with a christmas tree-. All commanders till up to our battery-comdr. were with our men that evening. Some guys showed a small enterainment programm, very emotional.Originally posted by jkeegen View Post
And after that we was allowed to went home to celebrate christmas eve with our own families.... after 21.00... So my memories are for two Christmasses as officer in AR-11...
Merry Christmas to all you guys...
AR-11, Dirk -
Thank you Genosse AR-11, and the Seasonal Best Wishes to yours and all our Forumgenossen Rezidencies..
The Light that guides our Progressive Collecting/ Recovery of State Property..
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Christmas Eve at the 6th Battery, Sektion 04, OHS Zittau on 24th December 2009. I was the UvD that day (I am the grinning one in the foreground). Cheers, Torsten.Originally posted by jkeegen View PostComment
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24th December 2009? That means you are still there?Originally posted by torstenbel View Post
A little joke, I could not resist...
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Great photo Torsten! I love photos that capture the unofficial moments of NVA life.
Merry Christmas Eve!Comment
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Dirk and Torsten,
Merry ChristmasMichael D. GALLAGHER
M60-A2 Tank Commander Cold War proverb: “You can accomplish more with a kind word and a ‘Shillelagh’ than you can with just a kind word.”Comment
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Originally posted by Sergeant 08 View Post24th December 2009? That means you are still there?
A little joke, I could not resist...
Genosse, If you were there, you will always will be....
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It is possible....Originally posted by Viktor View PostGenosse, If you were there, you will always will be....
The memories will stay forever.
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oh dear .. almost feels like I am still there ... anyhow, the photo was taken in 1988 ...Originally posted by Sergeant 08 View Post24th December 2009? That means you are still there?
A little joke, I could not resist...
Cheers, Torsten. 
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I'm reminded of an incident where the celebration of traditional Christian holidays within the erstwhile atheist DDR government led to something of a failure... the Horst Hesse incident.Originally posted by AR-11 View Post
In 1956, Hesse was working for US Intelligence in West Germany, as a recruiter for agents within the East German railroad industry to get early indications of any troop movements near the Fulda Gap (this before advanced electronic surveillance rendered such agents obsolete). On Pentecost weekend, when he knew West Germans would have Monday off and give him an extra day of cover (so he thought) he went to the US Intelligence services in the middle of the night, let himself in, walked past a sleeping guard, and loaded two strongboxes (that should have been, but were not, chained to the wall) full of secret documents into his car. He drove toward East Germany, was briefly stopped by a Bunesgrenzschütz patrol who checked his credentials, recognized them as intelligence service papers, and let him pass. He surrendered himself to East German Border Guards and...
That's where the problems started. The Border guards refused to mess with the safes, but phoned the Stasi number he asked them to... there was no answer. The Stasi office he was supposed to contact had taken the Pentecost weekend off too! He was basically held until Tuesday before the safes were opened and the documents examined.
That delay saved the hides of numerous Western agents in the DDR-- something like 25 agents were compromised by the security breach, and had the Stasi been in the office, ALL of them would have been arrested. As it was, something like nine or ten of the 25 were contacted and withdrawn, I think some even brought their families with them.
And all because the Sword and Shield of the Party (or at least key members thereof) was enjoying a long Pentecost weekend.Comment
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