Kampfappell / Battle Rally (25th Anniversary of the Construction of the Berlin Wall) DVD

On Aug. 13, 1986, the DDR---the People’s Republic of (Communist) East Germany---celebrated the 25th anniversary of the 1961 Berlin Wall separating east from west with a massive military parade including its goose-stepping Army, Border Guards, Stasi secret police, and Barracked Police Units. Now this cinematic spectacle is available on DVD entitled Kampf Appell/Battle Roll Call, a fascinating glimpse of the DDR in its waning years, just before the Communism’s fall in 1989. The East German regime viewed the Wall---hated in the West---as “25 years protecting the achievements of socialism,” and referred to it officially as, “The Anti-Fascist Protection Barrier,” built not to keep its own citizens in, but, rather, to keep unwelcome intruders out. This tightly sealed military barrier was built by civilian construction workers, and temporarily patrolled by men of the Kampfgruppen der Arbeiterklasse or KdA---the so-called Combat Groups of the Working Class. Also known as the Factory Guards, the KdA was an armed forces reserve unit of fully 200,000 dedicated men from the East German Communist Party that ruled its state during under Red First Secretary (later General Secretary) Erich Honecker. The KdA was broken down into 100-man units that were based in State-owned enterprises, government offices, cooperative farms, and other institutions, including colleges and universities. Officially a volunteer organization, the KdA was but one of several of the regime’s armed and/or paramilitary units, under direct control of the Party. The NVA was comprised of four branches: the Ground Forces, Air Forces/Air Defense, the People’s Navy, and (operationally although not formally) the Border Troops. Also under the Ministry for National Defense was the Civil Defense. The People’s Police and Transportation Police were under the command of the Ministry of the Interior. The “Barracked Police” did not exist after 1956, when most units became part of the newly organized NVA. The KdA’s troops received training in light infantry warfare and related weaponry: AK-47 assault rifle, grenades, mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, light anti- tank weapons, light field artillery, and even anti-aircraft guns! It also boasted the SPW-153W1 armored car and the two-ton LKW 1801A infantry truck. When the 1989 riots broke out in many East German cities, the KdA was called out for action, but only infuriated the rioters more by their presence. Never ordered to fire, the KdA was disbanded after the fall of the Wall. The People’s Police Readiness Units under the MdI served as an internal security force. The Customs Administration was under the Ministry for Foreign Trade. The Kampfgruppen were formally under the direct control of the Party. The People’s Police were responsible for their training and armament. Local units were subject to the National Defense Council’s district operational leadership led by the district Party secretary and including the local military and police commanders. The Kampfgruppen were not part of the NVA. DDR, 1986, Color, 72 minutes, German Language

NTSC Region 0 encoding (Entire World)