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A REMARKABLE REUNIONA REMARKABLE REUNIONBy Rick Church and Tony Richardson

It is an unfortunate reality that the mementos from an individual’s military career – uniforms, photos, documents, medal and awards – are often separated and sold to different buyers. The complete story is

lost, which is a loss for the collecting community as well as diminishing the memory of the individual. Some-times, however, the reverse occurs: scattered mementos from one person are found from different sources and brought back together. Coincidence and dumb luck probably play a larger role in this than persistence.

The authors of this article have had the extraordinarily good fortune to acquire, without collaboration, sepa-rate pieces of one man’s career history from his service as an officer in the border troops of East Germany, the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR). In two events that occurred over a year apart, each of the authors separately acquired documents, identity booklets, photographs and a presentation dagger awarded in com-memoration of the officer’s service. While each author retains possession of his own portion of the grouping, both wish to present them together here, re-united at least in these pages.

The East German Military and Internal Security Organizations

The East German armed forces fell under the jurisdiction of the Ministerium für Nationale Verteidigung or MfNV (Ministry of National Defense). The branches of the military were known collectively as the Natio-nale Volksarmee or NVA (National Peoples’ Army) and consisted of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Air De-fense. The NVA was formed in 1956 by absorbing and expanding the various “police” forces that had served as the DDR’s de-facto military since 1952, as well as with the induction of new recruits.

The Grenztruppen der DDR (Border Troops of the German Democratic Republic or simply GT) secured all land borders between the DDR and West Germany as well as the DDR’s territorial waters. The DDR’s Border Police units (Deutsche Grenzpolizei), which had existed since 1946, were transferred to the NVA in late 1961 and were re-named “Grenztruppen der NVA.” They were essentially another branch of the Army until 1974, at which time they were “spun off” as an independent entity from the Army, re-named as the Grenztruppen der DDR and subordinated directly to the MfNV. This was done to prevent the GT from being included in the force reduction treaty talks then ongoing between NATO and the Soviet bloc.

The agency responsible for both foreign and internal security was the Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (Ministry for State Security – MfS/STASI). The STASI organization also maintained their own armed per-sonnel who were known as the Wachregiment Feliks Dzierzynski. The Wachregiment was based in East Berlin and had become an approximately division-sized unit by the end of the Cold War. Further, the STASI also had other, de-centralized internal security units stationed throughout the various administrative districts within the DDR. The STASI worked closely with the GT along the frontier of the East German border and at border checkpoints monitoring the movements of individuals entering and leaving the DDR.

An Officer’s Career

The officer was Sigfried Kemter, who was born on March 12, 1933 in the small town of Drebach in the county of Saxony, near the border with Czechoslovakia. He began his military career in 1949 or 1950, likely as a member of one of the armed police organizations such as the Grenzpolizei (Border Police) or the Kaser-nierte Volkspolizei (Barracked People’s Police). The Wehrdienstausweis (abbreviated “WDA)” that is part of the current Kemter grouping was issued to him in 1980 when he held the rank of Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant-Colonel, abbreviated “OSL”), so it is lacking in some details of his early career.

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Left, Fig. 1: Oberstleutnant Kemter’s mili-tary ID booklet (Wehrdienstausweis), dog tag, and authorization card (Berechtigungskarte), granting him access to the Alternate Command Post and Technical Training Center

Every soldier of the NVA and GT was issued a WDA, and it was always to be carried with them. The WDA contained all important details of an individual’s military service and included a photograph, as well as sec-tions for personal information and family status, duty stations, promotions, state issued medals, weapons and equipment issue and turn in, medical information and vaccinations, and pages for other pertinent information to be recorded. They were often carried in a clear, plastic slip-on cover for protection, as is OSL Kemter's. This cover has an additional compartment in which the dog tag is contained, as well as any additional identity cards.

OSL Kemters WDA also includes an additional document not commonly encountered, a Sprenggenehmi-gung, or explosives permit (see Figure 2). This was issued to then Oberleutnant (senior Lieutenant) Kemter in November 1963 by the Ministry of National Defense and authorizes him to "blast unexploded ordnance and obsolete ammunition” but specifically states that it isn't valid for use in the civilian sector. Also included with OSL Kemter's WDA and dog tag is his Berechtigungskarte, or authorization card (shown in Figure 1). This card authorized him access to the “WGS/TAZ”, or Wechselgefechtsstand (Alternate Command Post) and Technisches Ausbildungszentrum (Technical Training Center). Kemter was promoted to the rank of Oberst-leutnant on March 1, 1973, a rank he held until his discharge upon the dissolution of the GT in 1990.

Right, Fig. 2: Then Oberleutnant Kemter’s permit for explosives use (Sprenggenehmi-gung) issued by the Ministry for National De-fense in 1963. It states, “Oberleutnant Kemter is hereby authorized to use explosives to de-stroy unexploded ordnance and obsolete am-munition. This permit is not valid for use in the civilian sector.” This permit has been per-manently attached in the back of OSL Kem-ter’s Wehrdienstausweis.

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During his time of service Kemter received the following awards: Medal for Loyal Service in the Police in bronze (5 years -1955) and silver (10 years - 1960)1, Medal for Loyal Service in the NVA in gold (15 years - 1964), and 20 Years Loyal Service in the NVA in gold (1969); Medal for Exemplary Border Service (1966), the Meritorious Service Medal of the NVA in bronze (1969), silver (1972) and gold (1976), the Meritorious Service Medal of the GT in gold (1979) and the NVA Battle Order for Service to the People and Fatherland in bronze (1984). He was also authorized to wear an academy badge, as he graduated from a civilian university, although what university and when is unknown. In 1966, he also earned a classification badge 1st class for the Raketen und Waffentechnischer Dienst (abbreviated RWD), or Rockets & Technical Weapons Service (see Figure 3). Classification badges were awarded in three “levels”, I, II and III, with Level I signifying the highest level of proficiency.

At this point, we would do well to touch on the Raketen und Waffentechnischer Dienst, as that was the career specialty of OSL Kemter. This service was often known as the Waffentechnischer Dienst in the GT, as rockets and missiles were not something that the GT needed to fulfill their mission of securing the border between East and West Germany. The RWD was primarily responsible for the procurement of small arms and armament, ammunition, optical devices and other technology. They were also responsible for the storage, maintenance and repair of said equipment. Another function was to test the effectiveness of existing weapons systems and technology, as well as new items being considered for introduction into the service. Some of the weapons systems for which the RWD were responsible in the GT include variants of the Makarov pistol, AK-47/AKM series of rifles, Kalashnikov RPK type light machine guns, vehicle mounted medium machine guns and 73mm SPG-9 recoilless rifles, RPG-7 40mm grenade launchers and AGS-17 30mm automatic grenade launchers, hand grenades, mines, and signaling flares & devices.

During the last decade of OSL Kemter's career, he served at the national headquarters of the GT located in the small village of Pätz, about 28 miles and less than an hour’s drive southeast of Berlin. Because Pätz was such a small village, those assigned there used the address of the larger town of Königs-Wusterhausen, just to the north, which is the location noted on most documents and WDA’s. Since Pätz was the national headquarters for the GT, all the top staff of the GT were there, as well as the various departments that were responsible for their respective range of subordinate units stationed along East Germany’s borders. While at Pätz, OSL Kemter was the head of the RWD for the Königs-Wusterhausen sector, and reported to Oberst (Colonel) Popp, whose signature appears in OSL Kemter's WDA on multiple occasions. (See Figure 4.) Dur-ing this time, OSL Kemter lived in Pätz with his wife, eventually moving to Frieden Street, across from the Headquarters complex.

Above, Fig. 3: The entry on page 32 of OSL Kemter’s Wehrdienstausweis showing that he was award-ed the Classification Badge 1st Class for the Weapons Technical Service in 1966.

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With the opening of the Berlin Wall on the night of November 9, 1989, the end of the GT, and OSL Kem-ter’s career, was near. Throughout the early part of 1990, many soldiers of the GT were released from service as the GT was downsized significantly. Probably as a result of this downsizing, and without a driver to ferry him around, OSL Kemter received authorization to drive a LADA, a type of automobile manufactured in the Soviet Union, to be used as a government issued “company” car, and this was recorded in his WDA as shown in Figure 4. On July 1st, economic, monetary and social union between East and West Germany took place, and all border security and identity checks ceased. From then on, the border was no longer secured, only monitored. On September 21st, the Minister for Disarmament and Defense, Rainer Eppelmann, issued Order No. 49/90, which officially disbanded the Grenztruppen, effective September 30th. On September 26th, OSL Kemter turned in his Makarov pistol and twelve rounds of ammunition (see Figure 5). Finally, on September 30th, OSL Kemter received his 2,500 DM Übergangsgebühren, which was a onetime payment given upon retirement from the service to help the recipient get by until finding a job in the civilian sector. This 2,500 DM payment was equivalent to approximately three months of base pay for an Oberstleutnant in the GT.

Left, Fig. 4: Page 55 in OSL Kemter’s Wehr-dienstausweis showing that he was the head of the Grenztruppen Weapons Technical Service for the Königs-Wusterhausen area. It also shows his authorization beginning June 11, 1990 to drive a LADA automobile.

Right, Fig. 5: The entry on page 30 of OSL Kemter’s Wehrdienstaus-weis showing that he was issued Ma-karov “Pistole M”, serial number N4696, and 12 rounds of ammuni-tion on January 3rd 1980, and that he turned the pistol and ammunition back in on September 26th 1990.

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Right, Fig. 6: From the Kem-ter document collection. Obverse of a handmade card stating: “To commemorate the special profes-sional continuing education of the training group of the head of the Technical Weapons Service of the Border Troops of the DDR on the 25th and 26th of May 1988 in the Border Command North.”

Above, Fig. 7: Reverse of the handmade card with a photo and signatures of all the members of the training group of the head of the Border Troops Technical Weapons Service that took part in the special training conducted on the 25th and 26th of May 1988. OSL Kemter is in the front row, second from the right. Oberst Popp is in the center of the front row wearing glasses.

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East German Dress Daggers

The dress dagger for wear by NVA and STASI personnel was introduced in 1962. In contrast to the Third Reich, where the many military, police and government organizations each had their own unique dagger or other edged weapon, the East Germans utilized only one basic dagger design and there was only one manu-facturer. No other government or civilian agency used dress edged weapons. There were also no dress edged weapons (such as the bayonets used by the Wehrmacht) worn by enlisted and NCO ranks.

Officers and Generals/Admirals wore dress daggers for parade, formal occasions and “walking out.” Daggers for officers of land-based forces (including those of the STASI) and air forces had silver colored, chrome/nickel plated brass fittings while Navy officer daggers had gold colored, gilt brass fittings (see Figure 8). General/Admiral daggers (see Figure 9) also had gold colored fittings but the top of pommel displayed the Staatswappen (national emblem) of the DDR, whereas all officer daggers had a hammered finish on the top of their pommels as shown in Figure 10.

Above, Fig. 8: From top down, the reverse and obverse views of an East German Navy officer dagger with gold colored fittings and a Land/Air forces officer dagger with silver colored fittings. The panel on the upper reverse scabbard fitting was used for engraved dedications on presentation daggers.

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Above, Fig. 9: A 1980’s vintage General’s dagger in red vinyl covered case with hangers and belt loop. The branch of service is indicated by the color of the backing of the hanger straps. In this case, red indicates Army.

Above and right, Fig. 10: Pommels of a Land/Air forces dagger (top), a Navy dagger (top right) and a General/Admiral dagger (right). Note the national emblem (Staats-wappen) of the DDR on the pommel of the General/Ad-miral dagger. This is the only significant difference in the design of the dagger between officer and General/Admiral version.

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Above, Fig. 11: Presentation dagger awarded to graduating officer cadets with outstanding academic performance, Land/Air forces version. Note the modified blade with flattened midsection to accommo-date the dedication, “Für ausgezeichnete Leistungen” (For Outstanding Achievements).

The Ministry of National defense awarded presentation daggers to graduating officer cadets with outstand-ing academic performance and to officers and generals/admirals with superior accomplishments. Cadets were awarded daggers that had a blade modified with a flat section in the middle, which was engraved with the dedication, “Für ausgezeichnete Leistungen” (“For Outstanding Achievements”) as shown in Figure 11. Of-ficers and generals/admirals received daggers engraved, in most cases, on the reverse scabbard fitting or sometimes on the body of the scabbard itself as shown in Figure 12. There are two known versions of this dedication. One read, “Überreicht vom Minister für Nationale Verteidigung der DDR” (“Presented by the Minister of National Defense of the DDR”). The other was slightly shorter, reading “Überreicht vom Minister für Nationale Verteidigung”.

The presentation daggers mentioned above were generic, that is, the recipient was not named in the dedica-tion. Named presentation daggers were also awarded, apparently commissioned at the local/unit level rather than at the behest of the Ministry of Defense. Personalized dedications mentioning birthday greetings, recog-nition for service or the completion of training courses have been observed, typically engraved on the scab-bard body and/or the reverse scabbard panel. Personalized presentation daggers are very rare; only a handful of examples have surfaced since German re-unification.

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Above, Fig. 12 : Two types of generic dedications used on officer and General/Admiral daggers. Top: A general’s presentation dagger is engraved on the reverse scabbard fitting with the dedication,

“Überreicht vom Minister für Nationale Verteidigung” (Presented by the Minister of National Defense). Bottom: A Land/Air forces officer presentation dagger engraved on the obverse scabbard body be-

tween the fittings. The dedication reads, “Überreicht vom Minister für Nationale Verteidigung der DDR” (Presented by the Minister of National Defense of the German Democratic Republic).

Oberstleutnant Kemter’s Presentation Dagger

The presentation dagger awarded to Oberstleutnant Kemter was crafted from a standard, late vintage Land/Air officer dagger (see Figure 13). The dagger is cased in a cardboard box typical for mid 1980s to late 1990 production and is accompanied by a set of hangers, belt loop and numbered quality certificate dated June 2, 1990, just a few months before the end of the DDR.

The dagger’s serial number is printed on the quality certificate and it matches the number on the box top label and the number stamped on the ricasso of the blade as shown in Figure 14. The label on the box top reads Dolch LA/LU (“Dagger Land/Luft” or “Land/Air”).

While the blade is the standard style, the dagger has been customized with extensive engraving on the scabbard, more so than usually seen on personalized daggers. Most known personalized daggers have the dedication engraved either on the obverse scabbard body or the panel on the reverse side of the scabbard fit-ting. The Kemter dagger is engraved on both the obverse and reverse scabbard body as well as the reverse panel of the scabbard fitting.

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Figure 15 shows the engraving on the scabbard body. The obverse scabbard body has the dedication, “Dem Oberstleutnant Sigfried Kemter, Dank und Anerkennung, Dezember 1990 “(To Lt-Col. Sigfried Kem-ter, Thanks and Recognition, December 1990). The reverse scabbard body has the dedication “Raketen-und Waffentechnischen Dienst der Nationalen Volksarmee” (Rockets and Weapons Technical Service of the Na-tional Peoples’ Army) as well as a depiction of the official “logo” of the RWD, a horizontal rocket before a pair of crossed cannon barrels. Such a pictorial depiction is highly unusual, in fact, it is the only one thus far seen by the authors. Finally, the reverse scabbard fitting panel is engraved with “Überreicht vom Chef Rake-ten – und Waffentechnischer Dienst der NVA” (Presented by the Head of the Rockets and Weapons Technical Service of the NVA) as shown in Figure 16.

Above, Fig. 13 : OSL Kemter’s dagger in cardboard case with hangers, belt loop and quality certifi-cate. The dagger and box are typical mid-1980s to 1990 production examples.

Right, Fig. 14: The dagger’s se-rial number is printed on the box top label and on the quality certifi-cate and is stamped on the ricasso of the blade. “Dolch LA/LU” indi-cates that this is a Land/Air forces dagger. Note the name “Kemter” hand written on the box top label.

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Of particular interest is the date of the dedication: December, 1990, which is after the re-unification of Germany in October, 1990. OSL Kemter had retired in September of that year so how could he have received a presentation dagger in December? The NVA and the DDR had ceased to exist by then. A small number of NVA officers continued to serve for a limited time in reunified Germany’s Bundeswehr, but for the vast ma-jority of NVA personnel reunification marked the end of their careers.

Above, Fig. 15: Engraved dedications on OSL Kemter’s dagger. Top: Dedication on the obverse scabbard body: “Dem Oberstleutnant Sigfried Kemter, Dank und

Anerkennung, Dezember 1990” (To Lieutenant– Colonel Sigfried Kemter, Thanks and Recognition, December 1990).

Bottom: Dedication on the reverse scabbard body: “Raketen – und Waffentechniscsher Dienst der Nationalen Volksarmee” (Rocket and Weapons Technical Service of the National Peoples’ Army). Also depicted is the official logo of the Rockets and Technical Weapons Service, a rocket before two crossed cannon barrels

Right, Fig. 16: Dedication engraved on the reverse scabbard fitting of Ke-mter’s dagger: “Überreicht vom Chef Raketen – und Waffentechnischer Di-enst der NVA” (Presented by the Head of the Rockets and Weapons Techni-cal Service of the National Peoples’ Army).

The circumstances under which the dagger was awarded are unknown, but it seems apparent that it was intended to be presented as a gift at some kind of ceremony. Note that the name “Kemter” is hand-written on the box top label as if this dagger could have been one of several presented to a group of officers, probably members of the RWD staff.

It is quite possible that the dagger was commissioned earlier in 1990. Although it was widely known by the spring of 1990 that re-unification was imminent, through at least mid-July the NVA remained hopeful that it would retain its independent existence in the re-unified Germany.2 Under those conditions it would have been reasonable to assume that the NVA and OSL Kemter’s career would continue into December, 1990.

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The significance of this date for OSL Kemter is unknown. It could be that it was a significant career mile-stone, such as an anniversary of service with the RWD. (From Kemter’s documents it is known that he had begun his service with the RWD no later than 1966.) It is also possible that OSL Kemter originally chose to retire in December, 1990.

The existence of personalized daggers in general, and the Kemter dagger in particular, demonstrates that NVA personnel produced customized pieces. Units or perhaps even individuals must have had some latitude to acquire customized daggers or to customize the daggers themselves. This is, as of yet, a chapter in East German dagger collecting that is just coming to light.

Serendipity

The authors each acquired their own portions of the Kemter career grouping unbeknownst to each other. The dagger was obtained in late 2017 by one of the authors from a seller on German eBay. The author did not observe any other Kemter career items for sale at the time and it was presumed that the dagger was the only surviving item. But in early 2019 the second author acquired the documents and photos from a seller on German eBay. During personal correspondence between the two authors (i.e., some “show & tell” of the documents and photos), the name Kemter rang a bell. A quick look at the dagger revealed that it was indeed Kemter’s! The name, rank and duty assignment with the RWD were all consistent with the documents.

Above: Photo from the Kemter collection showing an awards presentation ceremony taking place sometime between 1984 and 1989. OSL Kemter is on the right. The officer on the left with the striped pants presenting the awards is Generalleutnant Klaus-Dieter Baumgarten, the head of the Border Troops from 1979 – 1989.

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It was an unlikely but fortunate chain of events that brought these items into the possession of two collec-tors who know each other. The documents and photos provide a fairly thorough account of Kemter’s career in the Grenztruppen, which is very unusual for a former member of the East German military. While Wehrdien-stausweise are available on the collector’s market, supplemental documents such as the explosives permit are quite rare. Service records of NVA and Grenztruppen personnel are not maintained as they are for the Weh-rmacht so it can be quite challenging to find detailed career information. The combination of Oberstleutnant Kemter’s documents, photos and named presentation dagger is truly extraordinary.

Footnotes1. Note that OSL Kemter’s bronze (5 years) and silver (10 years) medals for loyal service were for time served in the Police,

which would be consistent with Kemter having an early career as a member of the Deutsche Grenzpolizei (DGP). Members of the DGP were awarded the same medals as members of other Police organizations such as the Volkspolizei (People’s Police), Trans-portpolizei (Transport Police), or Feuerwehr (professional fire fighters).

2. Dale R. Herspring, Requiem for an Army, Rowan & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 1998, pp. 128 - 134

AcknowledgmentsThe authors would like to thank Ralph Pickard for his valuable suggestions and comments during the preparation of this article

and Christian Heine for assistance with translating the Kemter documents and sharing his subject knowledge, especially regarding the geographical area of Pätz/Königs-Wusterhausen.

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