Manfred Döring
Manfred Döring (born 18 November 1932) is a former Major general (Generalmajor) with the East German Ministry for State Security (Stasi).[1] He also served, between 1987 and 1990, as commander of the elite motorised rifles regiment, the Felix Dzerzhinsky Guards.[1]
Life
Döring was born in Oberfrohna, a small town a short distance to the west of Chemnitz (known before 1990 as Karl-Marx-Stadt) that had grown up as a centre for textiles based industries. His father was a tailor.[1]
Manfred Döring passed his School final exam (Abitur) and in 1952 moved on to attend the Commando Academy of the Kasernierte Volkspolizei (KVP / literally People's Police in Barracks).[2] Döring's region of Germany was by now part of the German Democratic Republic, a Soviet sponsored state created in 1949 out of what had previously been known as the Soviet occupation zone of Germany. Following military defeat in 1945 there had been agreement between the winning powers that there should be no more German armies, and the quasi-military KVP was, for East Germany, the closest thing to an national army permitted by the Soviets. In 1953 Döring was accepted as a junior KVP officer.[1] Between 1953 and 1956 he attended the Officers' Academy of the KVP, emerging as a platoon commander.[2] During this period, in 1956, the KVP had itself been re-invented as the National People's Army (NVA / Nationale Volksarmee).
In 1958 he became an instructor with the Guards Regiment of the Berlin MfS (Stasi), later becoming a battery commander with the regiment and, in 1959, Chief of Staff in the Artillery Division.[2] Rapid promotions continued. In 1961 he was appointed Operational Officer of the Regimental Staff. In 1962 Döring took over as Commander of the Artillery Division.[1] Between 1965 and 1968 he attended the Friedrich Engels Military Academy in Dresden where he obtained a degree in Military Sciences.[2]
On 21 August 1968 he became the Commander of the Second Commandos of the Felix Dzerzhinsky Guards Regiment, a unit so prestigious that none of its members were conscripts.[3] Despite its military character the Felix Dzerzhinsky Guards Regiment operated not as part of the National People's Army, but under the direction of the Ministry for State Security. Outside times of crisis, it was mandated to protect public buildings and the homes of party leaders. The regiment was a politically reliable internal security force that could also be deployed to suppress rebellion and unrest.[4] In Summer 1971 Döring was promoted at short notice, becoming principal Deputy to the regimental commander, Heinz Gronau.[3]
References
- ^ a b c d e Jens Gieseke. "Döring, Manfred * 18.11.1932: Kommandeur des MfS-Wachregiments". "Wer war wer in der DDR? Ein Lexikon ostdeutscher Biographien". Ch. Links Verlag & Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
- ^ a b c d "Döring, Manfred 18.11.1932 Kommandeur des Wachregiments". Karrieren im MfS .... Es ist schon erstaunlich, was beim Ministerium für Staatssicherheit möglich war. Matthias Katze iA STASI-OPFER (online). Retrieved 6 November 2015.
- ^ a b Robert Allertz; Manfred Döring (s interviewee) (7 November 2009). "»Für ein halbes Jahrhundert Frieden hat es sich gelohnt« Gespräch mit Manfred Döring. Über das Wachregiment »Feliks Dzierzynski« des Ministeriums für Staatssicherheit, über Gewißheiten, Zweifel und das Ende der DDR". Junge Welt. Wolfgang Schmidt iA Insiderkomitee zur Förderung der kritischen Aneignung der Geschichte des MfS. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
- ^ Forester, Thomas M., The East German Army; Second in the Warsaw Pact, George Allen & Unwin Ltd, London, 1980