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
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bus tourist with his guide ex-iblue and yellow monoliths in
plaining and identifying the familiar "Moscow mod
places, the motorist or pedes- em" style. West Berlin friends
trian with his freedom to wan- told us that these apartments,
der. -like the Unter den Linden
We drove up the Unter den ! shops, are available only to
Linden to the Alexandcrplatz, j the party elite.
tasi Berlins busiest tutersec-1 Then down Frankfurter
tion, and enjoyed the absence i Allee (formerly Stalin Allee).
of traffic. 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
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