A friend's moving story - law enforcement, said "no" to violence, despite repercussions

[SurfingScientist]

This is a personal account from a friend of mine who was a student and commanded an army unit at the time when the GDR fell, following months of courageous, peaceful actions by their civil rights movement. He now lives and works in the US, and the Occupy movement made him post his personal account on his facebook page. He defied orders to make sure his unit would not inflict violence upon the peaceful civil rights protesters, knowing this would damage his career and personal life.

I asked him for permission to share this here. It is an example of a conscientious, upright decision, and I found it a deeply moving example of how we should act as humans.

Here goes:




Occupation wont work if you have to play by "their" rules, you'll need allies, and mostly the ones that will beat you up in the first place by "following orders". So here is a little History lesson for those who are willing to listen.

In mid 1989 I was still in the SF Paratroopers temporary stationed about 20 miles north of Leipzig, the epicenter of all demonstrations in former Eastern Germany. We received orders to back up the Police and prepare for policing activities in or around Leipzig to control the crowd and if necessary using the means on hand, meaning we were fully equipped and loaded.
And as a soldier, you don't question Orders, you obey them, or else........because is was in charge of 4 NCO's and 21 Soldiers, I had to make a decision and maybe risk everything I worked so hard for.

For crying out loud, I studied in Leipzig, played music in clubs, was part of the Student scene and had many friends there, so what is the System asking me to do?
To go after my unarmed friends or relatives if things get out of hand by simply using "following orders" as an excuse?

No, not on my watch; so I asked a clear question to everyone on my unit: are you willing to inflict perhaps physical damage to the public? To the people that could be your brother or sister?
If your answer is "Yes" then I'll order you to remain at the barracks as a "reserve unit", if the answer is "No" then be prepared that in case of physical confrontation I WILL order you to stand down and back off. Do not engage in physical confrontation unless you are being attacked in other ways than with bare hands.

Since you can't really keep these kind of orders I've given hidden under a blanket, the consequences were significant, it very much contributed to the end of my military career, among other little challenges I had with the Stasi.
Needless to say, "the system" pulled me off the assignment and "asked" to resign my commission in October 1989. And thankfully my guys didn't have to deploy because in November or 1989 it was all over, peacefully I might add.

Yes, these were different times and different causes but in the end it comes down to one single point: Germans were supposed to fight Germans.

So essentially, that is the kind of choice which the people in uniform have to make, so put down your pepper spray and rubber bullets and start to listen, make up your own mind.
This is not Good versus Evil, it is an insecure and corrupt system trying to use your skills against the very people who will perhaps one day run this country and define our future, be it good, bad or indifferent.......and that's precisely the point that should be discussed.
T.W.B.

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Realize they are happening as I type this

the officer at Davis was NOT a rank and file officer. It was the LT. It was the second in command in that action. This means he was told by his sergeants and rank and file officers SIR, NO SIR.

Most of these defections happen the way your friend described them.. in the dark... and hard to notice unless you know what you are looking for.

And yes, like your friend I actually was there done that as well, though not in Germany.

[SurfingScientist]

4. Hats off to you too...

... and thank you, wherever you did that.

[JoeyT]

7. He may have just wanted to do it himself

because he thought he might enjoy spraying defenseless protesters.

I have no idea which was the case. Did someone near them hear the rank and file refuse to spray?

[JDPriestly]

2. K&R

I knew people from other parts of Eastern Europe, especially Poland, who faced similar, difficult decisions. Those who refused to cooperate with the repressive regimes are heroes to me. Real heroes.

[SurfingScientist]

3. Many heroes made peaceful change possible.

Everyone who went to the protests was at risk, they knew they would be photographed, identified, observed by undercover agents, their careers affected, they would be on the lists to be observed and eavesdropped at their jobs and in their private lives, intimidated, their families would be scrutinized too.

Together, all the brave people who took the the streets, and those among the police and armed forces who had the courage to say "no", brought the end to a totalitarian system - peacefully.

[dtexdem]

5. And that point that should be discussed is where good versus evil comes from.

And it emerges, or should, after much thought and discussion on such issues.

[SurfingScientist]

6. Do you mean to say...

... that large-scale 'good' and 'evil' are made possible by many being brave vs fearful?