One evening, a group of us foreign students saw a film history of the city. In the back of the room sat a number of professors and German guests. Halfway through the action came a Chaplinesque scene of soldiers goose-stepping down Unter Den Linden to 3 rally. "Hah! Hah! Hah! Hah!" sounded from the rear and lasted until the scene was over. The laughter was neither pleasant nor bitter. It was something eerie to be turned on land off at a signal.
West Berliners feel the collective guilt for Germany's past deeply, but at the same time show a sincere desire to rectify this in the eyes of the world. Rarely does and find a person who denies association with the Nazi evil, even though he himself had no part in it. This is not the case in Western Germany, where many will disclaim any knowledge of the concentration camps. As one Berlin girl said to me: "Why don't you hate us all for what we have done." Her family had been wiped out, all good party members. She and others talk long and vehemently about building a changed country from the ashes.
ANTI-AMERICANISM
Anti-Americanism, does not raise its head in west Berlin. Our air-lift and reconstruction funds have done much for her, and we are her only protection against being swallowed up by the Kremlin. she is more than grateful. Perhaps through this utter dependence on America, the Berliners have absorbed much of our system, and have reached independence in their thinking. The magnificent glass-and -concrete Free University, put up by a Ford Foundation, is as much a monument to America's influence as is the Air Lift memorial.
It is difficult to se how gaiety can flourish under so much tension, but the West Berliner plays as hard as he works--almost with desperation. theatres, night-clubs, and smoky jazz joints are jammed. so are the great sport places and the beaches of Wansee. The shop windows and the passing women along Kurfustendam are among the most stylish in Europe. Even the ladies of leisure on Joachimstalerstrasse take great pains to make themselves intriguing and attractive.
A FAMILY IN THE EAST
My friend who had moved to the West still goes home once a month to visit his parents. He is always afraid something amiss will happen, but one day Erich took me with him. The Mullers did not know an American was coming, and they were frightened when I was introduced but very gracious. The table in their dingy living-room was soon filled with cakes and cookies, and we began to talk.
"Sadly Mouthing Phrases
How wonderful it is to have an American here." the father said. "We expect such great things from America." The conversation proceeded in generalities. Each time I tried to ask a question about living canditions or politics they ignored it and kept repeating "peace" and "friendship" and "great things from America." The Mullers would not let us leave. They wanted me to sit there and listen to them sadly mouthing phrases over and over again, evidently hoping that I understood what they wanted to say and could not.
Finally we broke away. In the street I looked up to see the whole family crowding the window and waving, leaning out and waving until we were out of sight.
On the way back we tried to get a look at the East German parliament's office building in Pankow but couldn't get with in a hundred yards of the place. The road was barricaded, and a squad of Russian-uniformed Volkspolisel stood there armed with sub-machine guns.
To Weed out Spies
Tension between the sectors is mounting. while the west is back to 80% of its pre-war industrial production, the East is floundering miserably even after reforms brought about by the revolt of June 17, 1958.
The refugee problem is one of the biggest the Allied sector has to handle. No one is turned back, but all are carefully screened to week out spies. Lucky ones can find work in the Bundesrepublik but most are fated to exist on dole and live in camps. Two hundred thousand West Berliners, mostly refugees, are unemployed--one-fifth of the labor force.
Berlin is a social and political aberration. When it will be restored to normality is anyone's guess, and the chances are growing slimmer as the two powers which occupy it draw father spart.