Pohraniční stráž (PS)

Border Guard - PS



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1. Introduction
2. Protecting the state border before the formation of the PA
     2.1. Organisation of state border protection in the Czech lands
     2.2. Organisation of state border protection in Slovakia
     2.3. Changes after February 1948
     2.4. Organisation and deployment of SNB border units as of 2 September 1948
3. Formation of the Border Guard
3.1 Changes from 1 January 1949
     3.2. Developments between 1949 and 1950
4. Reorganisation at the turn of 1950/1951




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Úvod


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Protecting the state border before the formation of the PA




Organization of the state border protection in the Czech lands
In the first post-war days, the borderlands were occupied by occupation armies, alongside which various paramilitary formations of the Revolutionary Guards type operated with low standards and highly problematic behaviour. Units composed of mobilised reservists were soon sent to the borderlands, with the status of detached battalions. At the turn of May and June, units of the Czechoslovak army were moved to the borderlands. This was followed by the arrival of Emergency Regiment 1 of the National Security, whose deployment in Prague was becoming too politically problematic for the communists.


In mid-1946, PP 1 NB was abolished and replaced by three emergency regiments, whose headquarters were located in Brno, Pilsen and Liberec. Each regiment consisted of a headquarters, three battalions and an auxiliary squad. In September 1946, the standby regiments were renamed SNB Border Regiments.


Due to the increasing tensions on the Slovak-Polish border, the SNB Slovakia Border Regiment was formed in June 1947 and engaged in fighting with units of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. Their danger was exaggerated by the communists. The strengthening of the security forces in Slovakia in the second half of 1947 was largely related to the ongoing political crisis there. In October of the same year, the regiment's units switched to regular border security.


In March 1948, the SNB border regiments in Bohemia were abolished, which proved to be an unnecessary step. Instead, three more SNB border battalions were created. In April 1948, the SNB Slovakia Border Regiment was also abolished and replaced by a smaller unit - SNB Tygr Battalion. Surplus members reinforced the battalions on the western border. The Tygr battalion was disbanded in August 1948 and the guarding of the Slovak-Polish border was taken over by SNB stations in cooperation with the Financial Guard.
...


Prior to the establishment of the Polish Armed Forces, the border protection was provided by the SNB border units, Financial Guard, military assistance units and later by the People's Militia settlement units. In the second sequence, the permanent SNB units also participated in guarding the border.


The smallest territorial organizational element was the platoon of the SNB border unit. The platoon commander coordinated the activities of the SNB border unit platoon, the FS detachment and the permanent SNB stations. The military assistance units were directed by their own command, but based on the requirements of the section's garrison. An SNB border unit platoon consisted of a commander, deputy commander, driver, liaison officer and three squads, with each squad consisting of a commander and nine men. The platoon therefore consisted of 34 men.


The higher level was the SNB border company, which consisted of a commander, deputy commander, driver, liaison and three to five platoons. Its strength was therefore between 106 and 174 men. The company commander cooperated with the SNB district headquarters, the inspectorate of the Financial Guard and the headquarters of the designated military assistance detachment.


The next tier was the SNB Border Battalion, which consisted of a commander, deputy commander, adjutant, auxiliary squad, two to seven subordinate companies, and an SNB border cavalry platoon. The latter consisted of a commander, a handler, a driver, a liaison, an auxiliary team of horse handlers, and two to four cavalry squads. Battalion headquarters were located in Litoměřice, Liberec, Hradec Králové, České Budějovice, Plzeň, Karlovy Vary, Olomouc, Frýdek-Místek and Znojmo.


The level superior to the battalions was the SNB Border Regiment. There were three of them and they were based in Liberec, Pilsen and Brno. The Liberec regiment was subordinated to the Litoměřice, Liberec and Hradec Králové battalions, the Pilsen regiment was subordinated to the České Budějovice, Pilsen and Karlovy Vary battalions, and the Brno regiment was subordinated to the Olomouc, Frýdek-Místek and Znojmo battalions.


The highest command and staff level of the border units was SNB unit 9600.



Organization of the state border protection in Slovakia
In Slovakia, the situation was a bit different. There were three border companies, whose headquarters were located in Humenné, Prešov and Dolný Kubín. The higher level was the emergency battalion of the SNB with headquarters in Prešov. The battalion fell under the SNB Provincial Headquarters in Bratislava.



Changes after February 1948
The first change in the organisation of the state border protection occurred in March 1948, when the headquarters of the SNB border regiments were abolished. The SNB border battalions were directly subordinated to the SNB unit 9600. In August 1948, new SNB border battalions were established in Bratislava, Písek and Brno. On 14 July 1948, military assistance units were withdrawn from the border zone. More extensive changes in the protection of the state border took place in January of the following year.



Organisation and deployment of SNB border units as of 2 September 1948
See Organisation and deployment of SNB border units on 2 September 1948
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Establishment of the Border Guard



Changes from 1 January 1949
Law 275/1948 abolished the Financial Guard. With the exception of auxiliary duty at the customs offices, its powers were transferred to the border units of the SNB. This law was followed by MoI Decree No. 231/00-9/BP/6 of 14 November 1949, which reorganized the BC Department (Department of National Security). It thus continued to consist of the Public Security Command of the Ministry of the Interior, the Security Air Command of the Ministry of the Interior and the Border Guard Command of the Ministry of the Interior. This headquarters was formed from the former SNB 9600 Headquarters and the PS Division of the BC Department. The Commander of the SNB Unit 9600, Colonel Jiří Kovář, became the Commander of the PS. After the establishment of the Ministry of National Security, Gen. Josef Pavel, who was eventually replaced by Col. Ludvík Hlavačka.


The Czechoslovak border was divided into two zones. Zone I covered the border with Saxony, Bavaria, Austria and part of Hungary, while Zone II covered the border with Poland, the Soviet Union and the rest of Hungary. In Zone I the PA consisted of 8 battalions, the latter of 40 companies and the former of 143 platoons. The units here were linked to the SNB border units. Each platoon was in charge of a section not exceeding 10 kilometres. In Zone II, on the other hand, the organisation of the units followed the previous Financial Guard units. The PS here consisted of 6 battalions, 31 companies and 279 stations.


A PS platoon consisted of a commander, a deputy commander, an outreach assistant, a handler, and three squads of ten members each. The PS stations were a continuation of the previous FS detachments. A commander and a given number of members served at a station - depending on the particular conditions. If more than ten men served at a station, a deputy commander was also established.


The PS company in Zone I consisted of a commander, a deputy commander, an education officer, and an auxiliary squad consisting of a rigger, two drivers, and four radiotelegraph operators. Two to four PS platoons were subordinate to it. The sections provided by the PS companies here corresponded to the deployment of the military units with which they were to cooperate when necessary. In Zone II, a PS company consisted of a commander, an outreach deputy, a handler, a driver, and four radiotelegraph operators. A varying number of stations were subordinate to it, depending on local conditions. The sections of the companies here corresponded to the territorial division of the state into districts.


The PS battalion in Zone I consisted of a commander, a deputy commander, an outreach officer, an adjutant, a ZPU officer, and an auxiliary squad consisting of an autoreferent, a signal officer, an assistant outreach officer, an armorer, a signalman, four drivers, six handlers, four radiotelegraph operators, and two telephonists. In Zone II, the PS battalion consisted of a commander, an adjutant, an education officer, a materiel officer, and an auxiliary squad consisting of two drivers, three handlers, and four radiotelegraph operators. In both zones the battalion had two to seven PS companies under its command.


The situation on the western border was becoming more acute. A number of border crossings were closed, and the PS was on guard duty at the customs posts (the customs agenda was handled by customs officials of the locally competent district national committees). The commanders of the PS units acted harshly against any resistance to the new border arrangements.



Developments in 1949-1950
In July 1949, another organizational change took place, which only served to tear apart the different character of the two belts. The units in the eastern section were included in the structure of the regional SNB headquarters. Their members had often served in the FS or other security forces with a First Republic tradition. On the other hand, units on the borders with Bavaria and Austria continued to be subordinated to the Border Guard Command. The commander of the PS fell under the authority of the Deputy Minister of the Interior. The western border was secured by 6 PS battalions.


At the beginning of 1949 the Border Guard consisted of 6272 men. Of these, 3165 were transferred from the abolished Financial Guard. On the eastern section (2,620 km) 3,323 men were deployed, on the western section (930 km) 2,949 men, i.e. almost two and a half times more per kilometre. However, this was not enough to close the border completely. The situation was resolved in October 1949. On the one hand, 1,910 guardsmen joined the PA and their basic military service was shortened, and on the other hand, 4,700 soldiers began to be trained for service with the PA in eight training battalions. 700 of them were to be transferred from the army to the PS after the training, the remaining 4000 were to at least complete their basic military service with the PS. The men from the training battalions began serving in the PA in April 1950. On the other hand, a certain number of PS members were transferred to serve in the StB or special SNB units. The movement of persons across the border could not be stopped even after this reinforcement of the PS. At the end of 1950, a further reorganisation took place.
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Reorganization at the turn of 1950/1951



Formation of the PS brigades and detachments
On 23 October 1950, units of the Army's 13th Division were incorporated into the PS structure. They were deployed to Cheb, Plana, Poběžovice, Sušice and Volary. Here they were reorganised into training centres where their members continued their standard training, which was supplemented by elements of border training. At the same time, commanders and constables were trained at the training centre in Bystřice.


On the border with Bavaria, the PS was reorganised into brigades with headquarters on the sites of the aforementioned training centres of former army units. The commanders took over their sections on 10 December 1950. On 1 January 1951, the existing PS units and the former units of the 13th Division were merged to form the 5th (Cheb), 12th (Planá), 9th (Poběžovice), 7th (Sušice) and 10th (Volary) PS Brigades.


A similar process took place on the borders with Austria and the Soviet occupation zone in Germany. The PS units were reorganised into PS detachments. This change was made on 26 January 1951, when the 3rd (Karlovy Vary), 15th (České Budějovice), 4th (Znojmo) and 11th (Bratislava) PS detachments were formed. The numbers of the PS were increased on 1 February 1951 by soldiers of the basic service.


These changes in the structure and numbers were connected with the PA's efforts to abolish the linear protection of the state border and to move to the protection of several zones. On the western border, so-called military border protection was introduced on the Soviet model. Patrols and waits were replaced by various forms of patrols (covert, observation, technical, screening, alarm). There was also landscaping in the border area, e.g., to the passes in which the country's control belts were established.



Structure of brigades, detachments, battalions and companies
The PS Brigade was a separate PS unit. It consisted of a headquarters, a staff, units directly subordinate to the brigade headquarters, a political and rear sector and a reserve battalion. The detachment differed from the brigade by the absence of this reserve battalion and by its lower numbers.


The PS battalion was composed of a commander, a deputy commander for political affairs, a deputy commander for the rear, a staff, a political apparatus and a rear detachment. The staff was headed by a chief, to whom were subordinated the deputy chief of staff for intelligence, the deputy chief of staff for service, the deputy chief of staff for training, the head of the office, the reserve platoon and the liaison platoon.


The PS Company consisted of a commander, a deputy commander for duty, a deputy commander for political affairs, a company elder, a command squad, an economic squad, three infantry squads of thirteen men each, a five-man machine gun squad, and a four-man service dog squad. The company was thus to have a total of 61 men, 3 defensive and 1 attack dog. These were, however, table numbers which could not be met at first.



The State Border Protection Act
It is characteristic of the communist regime that the existing border conditions were enacted after the fact. This was done by Act No. 69/1951 Coll., on the Protection of State Borders, of 11 July 1951. The law declared that the protection of the State border was the duty of every citizen, but at the same time stated that its implementation fell within the competence of the Ministry of National Security, which carried it out by its bodies, in particular the Border Guard. Its members were granted the same rights and duties as members of the military, and in the exercise of their powers they also had the legal status of members of the SNB. The Minister of National Security, in agreement with the Minister of National Defence, decided on the interaction of the PS with the armed forces. Service in the PS was counted as service in the military, and ranks attained in the PS were military ranks. The regulations on the pay of members of the armed forces applied to members of the PS. PS members were subject to military jurisdiction and to the provisions on military offences. The law granted the Minister of National Security the power to establish a special regime in parts of the State territory. The Act came into force on 31 December 1951, the date of its promulgation.



Border Territories
In 1951, the border districts of ... enumeration... were declared border areas. It was further divided into three zones. These were the restricted, border and frontier zones. The existence of the border zone did not have much effect on the population living there, the area was just designated as the operational area of the Border Guard. However, the situation was different in the two remaining zones.


The forbidden zone was immediately adjacent to the state border and was approximately two kilometres wide. The exact border of the prohibited zone was determined by the commander of the Border Guard and announced by the locally competent district national committee. The entire population was displaced and entry into this area was possible only with the permission of the commander of the local PS unit, and only when accompanied by a PS officer. A border zone of approximately ten kilometres was adjacent to the restricted zone. This was again determined by the PS commander and announced by the ONV. Here, too, entry was possible only with a special permit. However, people could live here temporarily or permanently. However, they had to have permission from the StB and respect a number of restrictions.
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Organizace a dislokace pohraničních útvarů SNB k 2. 9. 1948



- Velitelství pohraničních útvarů SNB (SNB útvar 9600, Praha)
---- I. pohraniční prapor SNB (České Budějovice)
---- II. pohraniční prapor SNB (Písek)
---- III. pohraniční prapor SNB (Plzeň)
---- IV. pohraniční prapor SNB (Karlovy Vary)
---- V. pohraniční prapor SNB (Litoměřice)
---- VI. pohraniční prapor SNB (Liberec)
---- VII. pohraniční prapor SNB (Hradec Králové)
---- VIII. pohraniční prapor SNB (Brno)
---- IX. pohraniční prapor SNB (Znojmo)
---- X. pohraniční prapor SNB (Olomouc)
---- XI. pohraniční prapor SNB (Frýdek-Místek)
---- XII. pohraniční prapor SNB (Bratislava)
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Engineering measures




Explosive illuminators
Among one of the first devices can be classified as booby traps. Border guards began placing them in the field as early as the spring of 1951. Patrols placed them in the busiest places. When the wire roadblock was built, booby traps were initially placed in it as well, or in disturbed areas. The most common method was to use a sweep pipe into which the signal charge was placed. The lure was activated by striking the trip wire. Later, a version with a bulb and a flat battery appeared. The lures were sometimes eliminated by getting wet, freezing or being knocked over by wind gusts. The maintenance of the lures was time consuming and the installation posed a risk to the operator, which was reflected in numerous injuries.



Observables
Observation towers, ground observation posts, high observation posts or observation posts on buildings were established. Observation posts were telephoned. After the construction of the wire roadblock, observation posts located on the outside of the roadblock were moved to the inside of the roadblock. This made it more difficult to take action against intruders and made it more difficult for PS members to escape across the border.



Forest passes
Along the state border, forest clearings were cut in forest sections to provide patrols with visibility and also as a prerequisite for the construction of other RUO elements. The passes were originally built 10 m wide. However, the width was gradually increased to 18 m. The PS command also considered further expansion, but Deputy Minister of National Security Jeleň pointed out that this would cause further significant economic losses. These had already occurred during the construction of the passes themselves. In addition, the forest habitat was also damaged, as the cut was an intrusion into the integrity of the forest mass, which was exposed to the weather at the exposed ends. Other problems were caused by the lack of mechanisation, which prevented the timely removal of felled trees, which provided a suitable breeding ground for pests.



Barriers on road and rail routes
Even before 1951, border guards had already taken measures on unused roads leading across the state border. Almost all of them had barriers installed or were dug up. When border escapes occurred in the second half of 1951, using truck and train, heavy barriers, ditches, and other devices were installed.



Wire barrier and its electrification
A single- or triple-wall wire barrier (WB) was constructed from 1951 to 1952. It consisted of wooden posts on which a barbed wire warp was suspended. Beginning in 1952, many sections of the DZ were electrified, creating the electrified wire barrier (EWG). The complex of all components associated with electrification was then often referred to as the electric state border protection facility (ESBP).


The stakes of the end walls of the triple-wall barrier were between 2.2 and 2.7 m high and were driven 20 cm into the ground. On the poles hung the warp in various forms - several horizontal wires, horizontal wires supplemented by vertical wires or wires twisted in the form of so-called pen wires. The intertwined wires were connected to each other by a binding wire. The posts of the middle wall were 2.8 to 2.9 m high and were inserted into the ground in pre-prepared pits. The wires were suspended horizontally, and vertically in the riskiest sections. They were supplemented by several wires (4-7) of smooth or barbed wire strung on insulators. The bottom wire was 30 cm from the ground, the last one was stretched on top of the middle wall. The wires were placed on the middle wall on the side facing inland. Sometimes a so-called deceptive conductor was also placed on the outermost wall. In locations where it was not possible to embed the poles in the ground, a so-called cross or double-cross barrier solution was chosen. The stakes were joined in crosses and densely woven with barbed wire in these locations. This barrier could also be electrified.


The wires were fed from company transformers that converted the supplied voltage to 2000 to 6000 V. The company transformer station was still equipped with a switchboard with a main switch for the entire company section, switches for individual sub-sections, control lamps and signal flaps. From the transformer station, a pole-mounted, high-voltage line led to the EDZ. According to the regulations, this line should have been at least 7 metres above the ground. High voltage cable was to be used at the end points (transformer station-first pole, last pole-EDZ). The circuit was not to have a high consumption when the current was connected. The transformation losses were to be around 10 percent of the transformed power. The annual electricity consumption of the EZOH was around 500,000 kWh, which was 18 percent of the total annual consumption of the Border Guard. However, even so, this was putting such a strain on the MNB budget that the Deputy Secretary felt it necessary to draw the attention of the HS PVS to the need to think of the economic aspect as well.


When the short circuit occurred, the supply to the entire company section was interrupted, the signal bulb at the company supervisor's office lit up, the bulb went out in the transformer station and the signal flap fell. Information was relayed to the field patrol and an alarm or engineering patrol went to the scene. The alarm patrol was to support the field patrol in taking action against the possible intruder(s), and the technical patrol was to put the EZOH back into service. The wires were not live all the time. The decision to turn on the EZOH was made by the appropriate company commander or higher command levels. The switching on of the EZOH was regulated by a directive. It was to take into account, for example, visibility conditions or the operational situation at the time. The EDZ was equipped with many underpasses for the intervening patrols. A number of gates were also built. Between 1953 and 1956, the lines of the DZ were optimised, with a number of obstructions removed, many sections straightened (and thus shortened) and in some places electrification with high voltage extended.


In the first half of the 1960s, the DZ was again re-striped and rebuilt as a double-walled seven-conductor line, with signal equipment and an eight-metre wide control strip. The base of the walls now consisted of concrete columns. It was also stipulated that engineer border protection assets could occupy a maximum width of 20 m. Where a wider strip of land was blocked, it was to be handed over for economic use.


In December 1965, the EZOH was abolished by decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. It was replaced by the U-60 signal wall with a control zone. The existing DZ was thus replaced by a non-electrified single-wall barrier, equipped with low-current signalling equipment on wooden, and later concrete, posts. These signalling walls had already served on some sections in the period before the EZOH was switched off, either as the first EZOH wall or as a so-called company rear wall placed in front of the main wire barrier. The U-60 signal wall was located between 150 and 200 meters from the state border. In the following years it was replaced by the U-70 and U-80 types.



Mine
In the most exposed places, the wire barrier was supplemented in 1952-1957 with mines, which were placed between the individual walls of the three-wall barrier. Anti-personnel mines were placed underground, on the ground, and above ground, often in combination. These industrially produced mines were sometimes enhanced with chopped or sheared iron. However, the mines were not very successful. Their spontaneous detonation, which occurred, for example, as a result of the snow freezing on the tripwires, endangered PS personnel and damaged the wire barrier. The mines used were of the PP-Mi-Gr, PP-Mi-D, PP-Mi-B and DO-Mi-N types.



Control strip
This was a several metre wide strip of ploughed and then packed strip of land. Where it could not be established, e.g. control banks were used. In winter, a snow control strip and ski tracks (so-called ski tracks) were used.
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Zdroje:


- PULEC, Martin: Organizace a činnost ozbrojených pohraničních složek. Seznamy osob usmrcených na státních hranicích 1945-1989, Úřad dokumentace a vyšetřování zločinů komunismu, Praha 2006.
- PULEC, Martin: Nástin organizace a činnosti ozbrojených pohraničních složek v letech 1948-1951. In: Securitas imperii 7/2001
- VANĚK, Pavel: Pohraniční stráž a pokusy o přechod státní hranice v letech 1951-1955, ÚSTR, Praha 2008.
- www.vojenstvi.cz
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Border guards again in the competence of the Ministry of the Interior



The Border Guard was transferred to the Federal Ministry of the Interior by a resolution of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia on 1 January 1972. In June 1973, the Border Guard Headquarters was reorganised within the FMV into the Main Administration of Border Guard and State Border Protection, which was in charge of guarding the entire state border of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. Within the structure of the PS units, PS battalions were re-established. The passport control departments at the border were transferred to the subordination of the PS brigades in 1975. Ruzyně OPK under HSPSOSH.
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Ústřední řídící orgány:


...
1950-1952 - Velitelství Pohraniční stráže MNB
1952-1953 - Hlavní správa Pohraniční a Vnitřní stráže MNB
1953-1954 - Hlavní správa Pohraniční a Vnitřní stráže MV
1954-xxxx - Hlavní správa Pohraniční stráže
...
1973-1989 - Hlavní správa Pohraniční stráže a ochrany státních hranic
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