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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (July 24, 1962)
MEDFORO MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD. OREGON TUESDAY. JULY 24. 1962 Reporter and Wife Tour East Berlin: View Life Behind Wall A 3 Editor's Note - Many Americans who have read about the Communist-built wall that divides East and Weil Berlin will be seeing it ior themselves this sum mer - and East Berlin, too. All the tourist needs to pass through "The Wall" is a proper passport. All he needs to do to get back out again is behave himselt. In this dispatch a young Amer ican newsman describes a visit with his wife to East Berlin.) By RICHARD C. LONGWORTH United Press International Berlin -ilW A brief pass port check in a cheerful wait ing room, a smile from a Com munist policeman and we were on our own in East Ber lin, on the wrong side of "The Wall." Driving the 110 miles through Communist East Ger many into West Berlin had been no problem - other than the tedious checks of docu ments and the warnings against taking pictures. But how much freedom would a pair of American tourists have on an unchaperoned drive through East Berlin? My wife and I wondered . . . It was 10 a.m. when we drove up to the Friedrich strasse crossing - the famous "Checkpoint Charlie," the on ly crossing point open to non Berliners. Our camera was loaded with film. The car's glove compartment was filled with cookies and candy bars - for two reasons. We had been warned of a dysentery epidemic in East Berlin and our West Berlin marks were useless to buy food - or any thing else - in East Germany unless we changed them to eastmarks in a lengthy and complicated procedure. Regulations On the western side of "Checkpoint Charlie," a U.S. military policeman took our names and noted the time we expected to return. He ex plained there are no telephone connections between east and west and if we got into any trouble or were arrested, we couldn't phone West Berlin for help. The M.P. also gave us a list of instructions on how to be have, the ground rules for keeping clear of the "spy" sus picion on which several Amer icans have been arrested in East Berlin. These included: - Drive anywhere you want - under the four-power agree ments, all Americans have this right - but don't stray from the city into Ea?t Ger many itself. - Photography is permitted, but don't take pictures of the wall, the Vopos ("Volkspoli zei," - East German police men) or of possible military objectives, such as bridges or railway stations. - Above all, don't try to smuggle any East German ref ugees back to west. Then the M.P. stepped back and we crossed the white painted line marking the ac tual border. A Vopo raised the peppermint-striped gate. We drove through a narrow gap in the gray stone wall, zig-zagged slowly around ob stacles set up to stop motoriz ed flight to the west and pulled up to a white ranch style building. This was the East German customs post, a m o s t unex pected first impression. It's brand new, built since the wall went up Aug. 13 and it must be one of the world's most pleasant customs posts, outwardly. While our pass ports and money were quick ly and efficiently checked, we lounged on comfortable fofas in a gray-and-y e 1 1 o w room and listened to no o d music from a Vopo's transistor ra dio. From time to time young soldiers walked past, their new leather boots squeaking loudly. There was nothing the least menacing about them. The Communists were busy building an impression that all is well and peaceful and pleasant. Then a puiiceman gave us a a smiling nod and we were on our way. We strolled out past the ubiquitous pans of disin fectant - a precaution against dysentery got a cheerful "Auf Wiedersehn" from an other policeman outside, and drove off. We drove a block up the Outlying Areas Have Methodist Strength Nashville, Tenn. -HIPD- The hard core of Methodist strength in this country lies outside the big metropolitan areas. The Rev. Dr. Rockwell C. Smith, professor ot rural church administration and so ciology at Garrett Theological seminary in Evanston. Ill told a national Methodist meeting here that 84 per cent of all Methodist congrega tions are in town and country areas of under 10,000 population. WIDELY USED New York -IUPP- A stripe 70 feet wide could be painted around the circumference of the earth with the asphalt and tarred roofing products used last year, according to build ing specialists at Allied Chemical's Barrett division. Friedrichstrasse, then stopped and looked back. For the first time, we saw the wall from "inside." It is frightening -the thick, ugly gray stones, backed by barbed wire, have a sheer physical look of cold cruelty. We realized fully for the first time that we were aliens on unfriendly soil, in a prison we could leave only if the Communists willed it. We drove up Friedrich strasse to the Unter der Lin den which once, we knew, had been one of Europe's finest booulevards. It is now a Com munist "show street." At one end stood the Brandenburg igate, girdled by the wall. At the other end was an open square or parade ground. The white stone Soviet embassy, next to the gate, was the finest building on the street. We found a parking place (no problem in East Berlin) and got out to walk. What remnants of the good life exist in East Berlin are to be found here - a handful of shops, the library, the Humboldt univer sity. As I locked the car, my wife went window-shopping. In stead of the gay spring clothes of West Berlin, she saw stout, low-heeled shoes, heavy carry all purses, black and gray fab rics. All very serviceable look ing and sensible but m style or bright colors. No ViiiMig At the univer.-y the guard wb( checks all passes as stu dents enter cali. d an rnglih speaking professor to chat with us. No. he said, foreign ers couldn't sit in on a class. The dysentery, he explained. In the streets behind the Unter den Linden, the facade of fine buildings gave way to still-shattered war ruins. As we walked, we saw boarded up churches, apartment houses carrying the scars of the battle of Berlin, and empty lots. It looked very shabby and dreary. A boy of about 14 stopped me to ask for a cigarette, but I had none. (Along the Auto bahn from West Germany to West Berlin, coveys of East German boys line the road, begging for smokes with the sign of two fingers to the lips. We saw no one stop to give them any.) We strolled back to Bran denburg gate, the symbol of this divided city. As we re turned to our car, we saw East Berliners staring at it. It was a Volkswagen, made in West Germany. They are not sold in East Germany. ' Also, we had been told that few western tourists drive into East Berlin. Most take guided bus tours of the wall and the Communist city. Both means have advantages - the PATIO PRICES EVEN LOWER PRICES ON MANY ITEMS LIMITED QUANTITIES-NOTHING HELD BACK ; I I DOWN DOWN AGAIN! r. 34.95 Innerspring Chaise Was 29.95 NOW 26.95 R9. 39.95 Foam Pad Chaise Was 34.95 NOW 29.95 29.95 Innerspring Chaise Was 23.95 NOW 19.99 39.95 Vinyl Cord Chaise Was 29.95 NOW 27.99 89.95 Large Folding Round Only Redwood Set 709 29 95 7 Fl. Vinyl Umbrellas Now Only 19.99 22.95 Alum. 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The Soviet sector abounds in traffic lights, but almost none are in use. Cars are few and the broad streets arc seldom crowded. 'Moscow Mociern' From Alexpndornlatz and i two off the main streets. The its huge :. '.ale-owned depart I grimness and drabness of the I housewives lined up for a half ment store, we veered off ! war-damaged buildings struck ! block outside a tiny grocery down Lenin Allee. lined with I us. The tenants seemed to be I to buy huge red cabbages, the new apartment buildings, all living in extreme poverty. 'only vegetable we could see. another show street, with post-war buildings and shops already beginning to show ! their age. We drove from the avenue I into neighborhoods a block or Finally, we drove far from the city center to Bernauer strassa, in the northern part of East Berlin. Bcmauer strasse is visited mostly from the west. It is the famous "Ghost Street" split by the east-west border where the windows of East Berlin houses were bricked up to keep refugees from jumping into West Berlin. Again, our western clothes and western car were objects of curiosity - no more - to the Behind them loomed the wall, and West Berlin. We got out to walk through the. neighborhood - a chilling experience. It was an obvious slum. The people looked hun gry and threadbare. As we walked, we looked into dark, barren basement flats and could feel the cold damp air rushing out from open doors or broken windows. By then we had had enough. There was more we could have seen, but East Berlin is grim stuff-hardly a tourist's paradise. We knew this was a city of more than a million persons -but where were they? There is little traffic, fewer pedes trians than in a small Ameri can county seat, no sign of the bustle and life of West Berlin. Most of all we noticed the quiet. Despite the people, de spite occasional workmen in the streets, the city has an eerie silence, completely un r.aturi"! Back at checko irt Charlie, .he Vopos cVcked oui pass port and money - to make sure we hadn't spent any -and searched our ctr. Then they waved us on our way, the peppermint barrier swung up and we were hack in the west. ICE PATHOL Washington - WPD - TIROS weather - watching satellites have suggested the feasibility of a global ice patrol which would b"! worth millions to shlppinf interests in all sea faring nations. Ship It LASME for Fait, I. Efficient Scrvic "sT to or front Jl. Oakland. 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