Heinz Keßler
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Heinz Keßler
Heinz Keßler (26 January 1920 – 2 May 2017) was a German communist politician and military officer in East Germany. His career in the military started when he was conscripted into the Wehrmacht, the armed forces of Nazi Germany, in WWII. Due to his communist convictions, he deserted the Wehrmacht and fought for the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front. Upon his return to East Germany, he was given the rank of ''Armeegeneral'' in the National People's Army (''Nationale Volksarmee''). Later, he was Minister of Defense of the GDR, a member of the '' Politbüro'' of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), and a deputy of the GDR's ''Volkskammer'' (parliament). Convicted for his role in the deaths of defectors along the Berlin wall, he was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison after German reunification, and served his sentence in Hakenfelde Prison. He was released from prison in 1998 after serving only two years. Biography Early life Kessl ...
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Army General (East Germany)
''Army general'' (german: Armeegeneral), was the highest peacetime general officer rank in the so-called ''armed organs of the GDR'' (), that is, the Ministry of National Defence, the Stasi, and the Ministry of the Interior. It is comparable to the four-star rank in many NATO armed forces. It was aligned with Soviet military doctrine and other armed forces of the Warsaw Pact. The rank was reserved to minister level exclusively. Consequently, in the National People's Army service branches, Landstreitkräfte, Luftstreitkräfte/ Luftverteidigung, Border troops, and Volksmarine there was no equivalent. However, if a Navy flag officer was designated or appointed Minister of National Defence he would be promoted to Flottenadmiral. When the armed organs of the GDR were disbanded in October 1990, the rank was abolished. Rankholders East German officers who achieved the rank were: Insignia Army general in other countries The four-star rank OF-9 was widely used in other arm ...
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Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its 16 constituent states have a total population of over 84 million in an area of . It borders Denmark to the north, Poland and Czechia to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, and France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands to the west. The nation's capital and most populous city is Berlin and its main financial centre is Frankfurt; the largest urban area is the Ruhr. Settlement in what is now Germany began in the Lower Paleolithic, with various tribes inhabiting it from the Neolithic onward, chiefly the Celts. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity. A region named Germania was documented before AD 100. In 962, the Kingdom of Germany formed the ...
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Kommando LSK/LV
The Kommando Luftstreitkräfte/Luftverteidigung (Kdo LSK/LV) was the Air Force Staff - and simultaneously the Air Force Command of the National People's Army (NPA), the Air Force of the former German Democratic Republic. The main task of the Kdo LSK/LV was to provide Command, Control and Communications (C3) to the military branch as the whole, as well as to the subordinated division-sized specified commands, groups, organizations, and units of the NVA's Air Force. Under deployment conditions, and in line with the situation awareness C3 had to be executed from the Main Air Force Operations Center, the so-called Zentraler Gefechtsstand 14 (ZGS-14) in Fürstenwalde, the Rear Operations Center (Rückwärtige Führungsstaffel - RFS) in Beeskow (Ranzig), or the Interim Operations Center (Hilfsführungsstelle - HFS) in Strausberg (Eggersdorf). The Kdo LSK/LV was established in 1950, and was disbanded together with the NVA in 1990. Its legal successor was the 5. Luftwaffendivision of ...
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National People's Army
The National People's Army (german: Nationale Volksarmee, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1956 to 1990. The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) and the (Border Troops). The NVA belonged to the Ministry of National Defence and commanded by the National Defense Council of East Germany, headquartered in Strausberg east of East Berlin. From 1962, conscription was mandatory for all GDR males aged between 18 and 60 requiring an 18-month service, and it was the only Warsaw Pact military to offer non-combat roles to conscientious objectors, known as " construction soldiers" (). The NVA reached 175,300 personnel at its peak in 1987. The NVA was formed on 1 March 1956 to succeed the (Barracked People's Police) and under the influence of the Soviet Army became one of the Warsaw Pact militaries opposing NATO during the Cold War. The majority of NATO officers rated the NVA the best mili ...
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Flag Of NVA (East Germany)
A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and flags have evolved into a general tool for rudimentary signalling and identification, especially in environments where communication is challenging (such as the maritime environment, where semaphore is used). Many flags fall into groups of similar designs called flag families. The study of flags is known as " vexillology" from the Latin , meaning "flag" or " banner". National flags are patriotic symbols with widely varied interpretations that often include strong military associations because of their original and ongoing use for that purpose. Flags are also used in messaging, advertising, or for decorative purposes. Some military units are called "flags" after their use of flags. A ''flag'' (Arabic: ) is equivalent to ...
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Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after 1922, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The army was established in January 1918. The Bolsheviks raised an army to oppose the military confederations (especially the various groups collectively known as the White Army) of their adversaries during the Russian Civil War. Starting in February 1946, the Red Army, along with the Soviet Navy, embodied the main component of the Soviet Armed Forces; taking the official name of "Soviet Army", until its dissolution in 1991. The Red Army provided the largest land warfare, land force in the Allied victory in the European theatre of World War II, and its Soviet invasion of Manchuria, invasion of Manchuria assisted the unconditional surrender of Empire of Japan, Imperial Japan. ...
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Red Army Flag
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondary color (made from magenta and yellow) in the CMYK color model, and is the complementary color of cyan. Reds range from the brilliant yellow-tinged scarlet and vermillion to bluish-red crimson, and vary in shade from the pale red pink to the dark red burgundy. Red pigment made from ochre was one of the first colors used in prehistoric art. The Ancient Egyptians and Mayans colored their faces red in ceremonies; Roman generals had their bodies colored red to celebrate victories. It was also an important color in China, where it was used to color early pottery and later the gates and walls of palaces. In the Renaissance, the brilliant red costumes for the nobility and wealthy were dyed with kermes and cochineal. The 19th century brought the ...
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