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Document No. 26: Czechoslovak Drafts of Orders and Appeals to be Issued in Occupied Western European Territories, June 29, 1964 ——————————————————————————————————————————— Part of the planning for war entailed what to do after the immediate fighting had subsided . These annexes to Czechoslovak planning materials include drafts of orders and public appeals that would be issued in parts of Western Europe after their occupation by Warsaw Pact forces. For example, the order of the commander of victorious forces in Germany called for treating citizens and prisoners humanely. Leaflets in the form of safeconduct passes were to be dropped over NATO-held territories to encourage enemy soldiers to desert. A specific appeal to French soldiers, included here, provides an example. ____________________ a) Order of the Commander of the Western Front Political Directorate of the Western Front Special Propaganda Department July 2, 1964 Re: Draft of Order of the Commander of the Western Front On Soldiers’ Conduct towards Population of the Liberated Territories and on Principles of Treatment of POWs Order of the Commander of the Western Front Every Czechoslovak soldier must be aware of the fact that he is a soldier of a socialist army, which wages a just war for the defense of his socialist country. Our aim is not to subdue other nations, to seed fear and panic among the population, but to annihilate imperialism and to bring real freedom to the nations, which imperialism has brought into this hopeless war against us. I order (therefore) all members of the Czechoslovak People’s Army fighting on enemy territory: To maintain the basic principles of socialist humanism, as well as the internationally valid practices stipulated by the Geneva Convention, to maintain humanitarian treatment of those who do not take a direct part in combat actions and of those who lay down their arms or have been neutralized in the fight by illness or injuries, as well as to comply with the demands of human dignity. 1. To maintain extraordinary vigilance and alertness, to intervene severely against those soldiers who would trespass it. To impede the activities of revanchist18 elem18 A derogatory communist term, imputing West German intent to regain by force the territories lost in Eastern Europe after World War II, much as the French, who had originally coined the term, had intended to regain the territories of Alsace and Loraine, which they had lost to Germany in the war of 1870–71. 157 ents and their attempts to destroy objects of military significance and to wage espionage activities. Not to accept anything from the population, in particular food, drink, etc. To detain, disarm and hand over to the nearest commander anybody who has been caught committing hostile acts. To intervene immediately and in a radical way against elements caught conducting hostile acts who do not cease their resistance. To treat citizens who do not directly participate in hostile actions in the spirit of the basic principles of human morality, disregarding their statehood, political convictions and property. Commanding officers shall take measures to avoid incorrect emotional and other reactions towards their subordinates. They will intervene as severely as possible against those who have denigrated the personal dignity of people , who willfully steal or damage their property or threaten the health and life of the people. Every soldier taking enemy soldiers captive must be aware of the fact that fears have been raised over how they would be treated. Every Czechoslovak People’s Army soldier crushes, by means of his humane attitude towards captured soldiers, the enemy’s official propaganda. On the other hand, every soldier must be well aware of the fact that fear of captivity may lead captured soldiers to desperate and sophisticated flight attempts. Particular vigilance must be therefore be devoted to captives detained against their will. In many cases, members of enemy armed forces who fall into captivity produce a surrender pass issued previously. […] The pass is valid for individuals as well as for entire groups. The soldier who places these enemy forces in captivity must not confiscate this pass. He shall disarm them and hand them over to the nearest command point. Enemy armed forces who have laid down their arms or were captured as a result of illness or injury, etc. shall be treated according to the Geneva Convention on Treatment of Prisoners of War of August 12, 1949, that is: “Every soldier who detains and makes captive members of enemy armed forces must treat them humanely, protect them against insults and...

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