Early Polizei members bringing the Hitler Salute ( Hitlergrüß ) !!

[Dallasfan]

Hello

A few days ago on Ebay there where two great Photo Albums from the early DDR Polizei
I was interested in the Albums , but they went for a high price , so I let them go , because I have some other projects......
I was looking at the Albums and saw some very strange photos , where they bringing the Hitlergrüß , never saw that before in DDR Photo Albums .
I think when they where discovered , there would have been serious trouble for them .
The Albums where from the same Unit , sadly the winner from the expensive Album didn't bid enough to buy the second Album , so now they are going to be seperated .

The photos






Some other photos , including a strange one


The link for the first Album
http://www.ebay.de/itm/120857367232?...t_24915wt_1165

The link for the second Album
http://www.ebay.de/itm/120857367167?...t_23058wt_1165

Regards , Johan

[Gene T]

young men + alcohol - supervision = mischief and mayhem

What is more intriguing to me is that these photos had to be professionally developed back then. Whoever printed these can conceivably get himself into some trouble as well for failing to report such behaviors. Unless this was much less of an issue in reality than modern consensus believes it to be?

I remember a case here in California some years back, when a Fotomat employee alerted the police when she saw pictures of a young man posing with a bunch of his guns. He was arrested and paraded in front of the news media for his lapse of judgment! So even here in the "land of the free", you evidently forfeit your privacy when you send in your film to be developed.

Thank heavens for digital photography!

In one of these eBay albums, there was also a photo of some boot soles shot from an angle that we don't see often, which may be relevant to the recent discussions on early boots.

Very interesting stuff. Thanks for sharing!


Gene T

[Fritz]

young men + alcohol - supervision = mischief and mayhem

What is more intriguing to me is that these photos had to be professionally developed back then. Whoever printed these can conceivably get himself into some trouble as well for failing to report such behaviors.

It is possible that these men here play the role of the "facist/imperialist antagonist" during some staged thing. Some things happened with official approval (like in a movie etc.).

If that is not the case then that was strictly forbidden but such things happened. One guy once sang the Horst-Wessel-Lied which got him into trouble.

Many other things happened, I know from one guy that they were practicing something for hours using blank ammounition. In the end some of that ammounition was left and the "POWs" taken during that practice were ordered to be shot...that order "had been executed".

The major in charge got a 10 day arrest.

Cheers

[Paul Spain]

These are indeed very rare photos, The uniforms lead me to believe these guys may be the precursor to VolksPolizei, The Anti Fascistische Polizei. I'm thinking this may indeed be what Fritz said, If not and they are just goofing (and risking their lives doing so) there is a explanation. In the early days of the DDR during the period of AFP and up through the early years of VolksPolizei, most people was Wehrmacht officers who had converted to Communism so it makes since you'd have a few idiots in your groupings, In later years though there was dramatic purges and anyone with prior Wehrmacht or other Nazi associations was forbidden from joining the police and even the NVA (after it's founding) I think.

The fact that these escaped the Stasi is even more intresting, They was either very well hid or sent abroad by who ever took them to a safe place.

[Viktor]

Genossen,
I think their Political Officer was busy after these photos were developed ..

Even today you will find Soldiers of all nations including the Bw using the hateful Cancer of Gitlerism in their local fashionable symbolism, a variant of the DAK symbol keeps turns up from time to time " Down South" as the "Friends" called it

The small group of American Marine Snipers using the ( as British Waffen SS Reenactors call them), " Runes" on a flag goes to show what happens when the NCO's don't do their job.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-n...of-nazi-680124

Don't click on it if you will be offended.

[Fritz]

(and risking their lives doing so)

That wouldn't have happened but it would have been trouble none the less, arrest, demotion and what have you. As career soldiers they would have most likely lost their job.

[torstenbel]

OMG my eyes got bigger and bigger the more I looked at those photos ... unbelievable that these guys did what they did in uniform in the DDR, unbelievable that they photographed themselves doing it, unbelievable that they kept the photos in some photo album, unbelievable that they got away with it ... i have never heard of any games/role plays being staged at any time after the war where Nazi logos, greetings and or symbols were being used and displayed like this ... only possible option I can think of is that they were practicing to be 'actors' in some kind of anti Nazi movie ... still, very strange set of photos ... a shame really that the original owner of the photos did not write some notes into the album about where those photos were taken and what went on there exactly. Cheers, Torsten.

[vacollector]

These are indeed very rare photos, The uniforms lead me to believe these guys may be the precursor to VolksPolizei, The Anti Fascistische Polizei. I'm thinking this may indeed be what Fritz said, If not and they are just goofing (and risking their lives doing so) there is a explanation. In the early days of the DDR during the period of AFP and up through the early years of VolksPolizei, most people was Wehrmacht officers who had converted to Communism so it makes since you'd have a few idiots in your groupings, In later years though there was dramatic purges and anyone with prior Wehrmacht or other Nazi associations was forbidden from joining the police and even the NVA (after it's founding) I think.

The fact that these escaped the Stasi is even more intresting, They was either very well hid or sent abroad by who ever took them to a safe place.

Not everyone with Wehrmacht service was purged. Those that the SED declaired as "Victims Of Fascism" were allowed to remain. Even prior to the ending of the NVA many senior Generals and Admirals in the DDR has service with the Wehrmacht. The DDR could not ignore these men because of the experance that had for WWII would serve the NVA in the Cold War. The fact that the newly formed Bundeswehr actively recuited Wehrmacht veterans pressed the NVA harded.