Mom asked if anyone remembered the Berlin Wall - Amazing how your mind remembers things, doesnt remember things and even distorts things. Things seemed so much bigger as a child. I can remember flashes of Grandma talking about the war, I remember the cobblestone torn up by tanks. The wall I think was raised on the edge of when we lived there. I do remember leaving you and Wendy with your brother Alrich in Munich, while I went into East Berlin. The signs all around the guard post at Check Point seemed to carry a voice of their own. The main signage was to Beware and Warnings about crossing. I did have a visa and a Passport. One had my moms birthplace and my fathers rank as a US Soldier. I opted not to use that documentation and heeded the warnings to the military, partially. As I crossed I remember the guards just had me sit and sit in this barren building for around an hour while they just sat with their guns staring at me. I wondered if Id ever get out of this one. Finally they let me through. You had to have a certain amount of money on you, to cross the boarder.They made you buy their money and yet there really wasnt anything they would let you buy or worth buying. The wall was like sand in your eyes as you walked through and the razor sharp barbed wire, too real. Two days before i crossed a young man had lost his life trying to escape. He was caught between Check Point Charlie, the spot of Freedom and the Wall. Lines of barbed fences covered distances between walls. The Wall was actually two concrete barriers with a 160-yard death strip in between that included watchtowers, trenches, runs for guard dogs, flood lights and trip-wire machine guns. He lay there wounded I think from tripping one of the wires. The guards would not let the US soldiers help him and they wouldnt help, they just let him die. I climbed the stairs of the famous Opera House in East Berlin, destroyed in World War II, was rebuilt in 1951; What beautiful architect and still in tact. I walked in and was chased out by guards. i kept walking and on my left was the Eternal Flame burning, supporting its own guards. No one smiled, no one laughed the whole trip. Forgot to mention just past the wall and rows of barbed wire, were blocks of war torn buildings, bombed out shells of buildings It was like a walk of death, so somber. The oppression was heavy like a thick London Fog. Once I crossed the boarder by train, you knew your freedom was taken. Each train stop was greeted by armed guards and with each stop our passport were checked and we were just starred at. I had heard that especially on the Czech boarder they were practicing mind reading. Our train was not draped as in the past where black out curtains were pulled down so you couldnt see out. I did see huge motor pools of tanks and military vehicles through one part of the country. I am so glad I had a chance to experience the Wall before it came down. To understand how disengaged you are to war and suffering when it isnt down the street or your neighbor. How easy it is to ignore and carry on as if nothing is going on. 10 Great Escapes Across The Berlin Wall a.msn/01/en-gb/AA71fg7
Posted on: Sat, 08 Nov 2014 13:33:46 +0000
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