Talk:Conscientious objection in East Germany

Comments

It is proven that the NVA (east german army) was on alert mode while prague spring. But they never leave german soil for this reason or invaded. -- 12.218.50.224 5 May 2007 (added)

This is correct, see de:Prager Frühling#Beteiligung der DDR. The was on NVA on alert, and some units were mobilized close to the border – but did no enter the ČSSR. (It is still controversial, whether some special forces or military intelligence units took part under soviet command.) -- 89.61.101.142 22:30, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

The name "Baueinheiten" (construction units) not commonly used in German, although it is the official name for the units. In public the phrase "Bausoldaten" (construction soldiers) is used – Bausoldat was in fact the official name for these "soldiers"! -- 89.61.101.142 22:30, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

I've made a number of small changes to improve poor syntax in the first several paragraphs. I've also corrected one factual error: The "Lutheran Church" was not the name of the Protestant majority church in the GDR, which I've simply referred to as "Protestant Church." The historic churches in the GDR were divided into two traditions -- the "Evangelical (or Protestant) Church of the Union" in about half of the country and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the other half. Both traditions were united in a single "Federation of Evangelical Churches in the GDR." "Evangelisch" in German is most accurately translated as "Protestant" in English to avoid confusion with the common American usage of "Evangelical"--which means a particular conservative expression of Protestant Christianity. Point: "Lutheran Church" describes about half of the majority Protestant churches in the GDR who protested against persecution of conscientious objectors.

The remaining sections of the article have been disputed, and I agree they should be reviewed. In particular, I question whether the majority of those who chose service in the Construction Units were would-be emigrants. It may be true, but I'd like to see a source. Certainly, some were, but there were also Christian pacifists who had no intention of leaving the country but wished to remain true to their beliefs. --langohio (talk) 18:14, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

NPOV removed

I've removed the NPOV template, please use {{POV-section}} or better yet {{POV-statement}} for sentences, then detail issues here. This will help address them in a timely manner. - RoyBoy 16:57, 1 January 2012 (UTC)