<P> From 1945 onwards , unauthorised crossers of the inner German border risked being shot by Soviet or East German border guards . The use of deadly force was termed the Schießbefehl ( `` order to fire '' or `` command to shoot '' ) . It was formally in force as early as 1948 , when regulations concerning the use of firearms on the border were promulgated . A regulation issued to East German police 27 May 1952 stipulated that `` failure to obey the orders of the Border Patrol will be met by the use of arms . '' From the 1960s through to the end of the 1980s , the border guards were given daily verbal orders ( Vergatterung ) to `` track down , arrest or annihilate border violators . '' The GDR formally codified its regulations on the use of deadly force in March 1982 , when the State Border Law mandated that firearms were to be used as the `` maximum measure in the use of force '' against individuals who `` publicly attempt to break through the state border '' . The GDR 's leadership explicitly endorsed the use of deadly force . General Heinz Hoffmann , the GDR Minister of Defence , declared in August 1966 that `` anyone who does not respect our border will feel the bullet . '' In 1974 , Erich Honecker , as Chairman of the National Defense Council of East Germany , ordered : `` Firearms are to be ruthlessly used in the event of attempts to break through the border , and the comrades who have successfully used their firearms are to be commended . '' </P>
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the Schießbefehl ( `` order to fire '' or `` command to shoot '' )