On the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall, I'd like to share my memories of this place. As a young man of twenty three, I journeyed here as part of a three month holiday to celebrate my impending separation from the US Coast Guard and see some of the world before starting a career in civilian life. I had been all over West Germany, Austria and Switzerland at the time and wanted to see Berlin, the cradle of German civilization. West Berlin at the time was a cosmopolitan western city that was miles behind the Iron Curtain. On the train ride from western Germany I was struck by the desolation on the eastern side of the border. Miles of empty landscape as far as the eye could see. Upon arriving at the border, our train pulled into a checkpoint that looked like something out of Stalag 17. Dozens of East German soldiers (some holding the leashes of very large German Shepards!) surrounded our train and asked "papieren, bitte!" (papers, please! they did NOT have a pleasant manner about them at all). Eventually our train proceeded to West Berlin.
West Berlin was an island of freedom and prosperity amid a sea of totalitarianism. I snapped several pictures of the Wall and took a tour to East Berlin. My pictures there were extremely limited by our official "minder" that accompanied the tour bus.
These graves were near Checkpoint Charlie, the American sector entrance into East Berlin.
This small stone is engraved with "For Freedom" in German...
This sign is explaining to you that "you are not in Kansas anymore"
Checkpoint Charlie
Using a piece of broken glass, I etched my name into the Wall. It was totally approachable on the western side. On the eastern side it was separated from the public by barbed wire and a deadly "no man's land" patrolled by soldiers with dogs and machine gun towers...
Me, pointing to a portion of the wall. This photo gives you an idea of the scale of the wall...
This was taken from the third floor of a building on the western side. You get a clear idea of what a person wanting to cross from the east would be up against...
Peeking "over the top" at a guard tower"...
Seeing these photos, it's hard to get my head around the idea that this structure has been removed...
This is the Soviet war Memorial at Treptower Park . It is an impressive installation, constructed by the East Germans to thank their Soviet overlords for freeing them from "Militarism and Fascism". Although Nazi Germany was an evil empire I doubt the East Germans felt "liberated"...
This is the Monument to the Liberating Soviet Army. Guarded by two Red Army soldiers.The trip into East Germany was surreal. It was as if upon waking, you realized that you were in an alternate reality where everything had been changed the night before. No billboards that say "Drink Coke" but ones that said "Support your leaders!", "Honecker and Chernyenko- two for peace!", "Increase industrial production together!"
No happy faces on the street. Everyone looking at the sidewalk and avoiding eye contact with the AK-47 toting, jackbooted police/soldiers that seemed to be on every street corner. I asked one of these soldiers if I could take his picture and he looked at me like I was insane and yelled "Nien! Raus!" (No, Leave!).
As our bus left to go back to the west, I could see some East Germans looking longingly, probably thinking "I wish I was on that bus".
These are my recollections of that time and place. Hope you enjoyed reading them.
5 comments:
What an awesome experience, Tim. You are lucky to have something of such historical importance under your tour belt.
O'Tim- It puts things in perspective to see how the other side does things. I'm very patriotic and love America very much. Seeing these things solidified that affection. When I hear the Right comparing Obama to what I saw over there I have to laugh. Those fools have no idea what Communism is all about.
The graffiti artist who equated the Communists with the Nazis definitely had an idea of what he was talking (or spraying) about. There aren't a whole lot of differences between these two extreme branches of socialism.
Those who equate Obama with Hitler or Stalin have no idea what they were saying (they are as bad as the common "Bush is Hitler" kooks from the previous administration).
I've not been there, but I know someone who did go to the wall, and bring back a piece of it.
That wall chunk resides now inside a wooden nesting Gorby doll (Gorby dall must be pronounced in a way so no one thinks you are saying Gore Vidal.)
Yes, DMarks, Bush was not Hitler. I am interested in your opinion. Do you think Hitler or Stalin was the most evil ruler of the 20th Century? Hitler I think was worse in the short run, but Stalin made up for that with staying power.
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