Organization
The KdA were organized into units based on their workplace. General units were closely tied to their local based nationalized enterprises, state and local administration offices and other workplaces, and their organizations and their employment did not extend beyond the district level. The mobile or motorized units, designated Battalions of the Regional Reserve, could be employed outside their local and district areas.
The organization was similar to the United States National Guard or British Territorial Army; however, unlike a national guard or territorial army, the KdA was strictly controlled by the governing SED.
Each large factory, along with many neighbourhoods, had their own Kampfgruppe, each made up of about 100 workers who sought to "defend the property of the people". The KdA were organised like infantry, and were to supplement the military and police serving as security in rear areas during wartime or in political emergencies, such as protests against the government.
Read more about this topic: Combat Groups Of The Working Class
Famous quotes containing the word organization:
“In any great organization it is far, far safer to be wrong with the majority than to be right alone.”
—John Kenneth Galbraith (b. 1908)
“The Red Cross in its nature, it aims and purposes, and consequently, its methods, is unlike any other organization in the country. It is an organization of physical action, of instantaneous action, at the spur of the moment; it cannot await the ordinary deliberation of organized bodies if it would be of use to suffering humanity, ... [ellipsis in original] it has by its nature a field of its own.”
—Clara Barton (1821–1912)
“I will never accept that I got a free ride. It wasn’t free at all. My ancestors were brought here against their will. They were made to work and help build the country. I worked in the cotton fields from the age of seven. I worked in the laundry for twenty- three years. I worked for the national organization for nine years. I just retired from city government after twelve-and-a- half years.”
—Johnnie Tillmon (b. 1926)