 The following year he was selected and sent for special training in the Soviet Union.After returning to East Germany he joined the Volkspolizei-Bereitschaft (literally "Standby Police") in Prenzlau.Immediately following the Second World War there had been agreement among the occupying powers that there was no place for an army in Germany, but in East Germany the Volkspolizei (people's police) nevertheless retained some of the quasi-military characteristics associated with the police services under the Hitler regime