Haywire Issue 4 Fall 2014

HAYWIRE Issue 4 Fall 2014
first, and she trusted he knew the nation better than
she did. Even before the Wall fell, she felt a sense
of disappointment in the political situation, with a
radically different view of the East from what I have
come to expect. “For us leftists in West Berlin,” she
explains, “the GDR was always like a haven of pretend
socialism. And we saw it crumbling apart. Our
whole reality! There was a shift in the paradigm, as
they say.” Uli calls attention to fighting in Hungary
and Poland at the same time, as well as a similar
phenomenon before in China, where demonstrations
against socialism were brutally crushed. People in
the GDR were scared of the possible consequences,
worried that their attempts to change the system, for
example in Leipzig, might suffer a similar fate. On
the other side of the border, the people of West Berlin
were taken completely by surprise, with no warning
to Schabowski’s uninformed opening of the Wall.
Joan was not only taken aback by the fall of the Wall,
but was dismayed by her illusion of the GDR dwindling
as the East Germans rushed to leave in favor
of the better life in the West. She thought, however,
that perhaps this would leave the true Socialists
the freedom to build a perfect GDR, free of these
deserters. It was disconcerting to see her idols, who
had seemed to embody socialism, desert everything
they had learned so willingly, accepting a brand new
ideology without criticism. Although the thought of
living there never crossed her mind, Joan befriended
several East Germans while smuggling an illegal
women’s health journal into the GDR, and found the
vanquishers of fascism and any alternative to mainline
capitalism appealing. She took pride in supporting
the “Arbeiterstaat”, where they had set the right
priorities and everyone’s needs would be provided
for, and enjoyed the rush of illegality.
Her illusion, of course, ignored the persecution
of the East Germans, with no understanding of
the impact of constant surveillance or political intolerance.
As she explains, Joan either was not aware
of the reality of life in the GDR, or simply had no
wish to think about it, discarding criticism of the system
with the thought, “oh, it’s probably just some old
fascist anyhow.” Joan freely admits her lack of empathy
for the victims of Communism and her heroizing
of its leaders, while Uli describes his disbelief in
the permanence or significance of the Wall falling.
The evidence was really only noticeable at the border
crossings, where the “Begrüßungsgeld” (“welcoming
money”) of 200 Marks was spent on the new symbol
of freedom: non-returnable beer cans. The GDR itself
remained uninteresting to Uli, his last visit having
been at least ten years prior to the Wall’s demise,
as he resented the time-consuming passport checks.
“Snowy Tree” by Olivia Albrecht, 12d
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