The story of the berlin wall

1961, was the start of a new page in history.  In 1961 the Berlin wall was erected. Who knew it would spark a whole new meaning in the word freedom. In 1945 after WW2 Germany was divided between the Allies (France, Great Britain, United States,) to the west and the Soviet Union to the east. It separated east and west Germany for nearly 30 years. In 1989 the Berlin Wall fell with great joy and relief for most.  Fortunately, I had an opportunity to interview a teacher at ZIS middle school, Bianca Thiele (Frau Thiele), who grew up in eastern Germany.  In my interview, we talked about life on the Eastern side, leaving the east side, and how things changed after the wall came down.

Life on the Eastern side:

Frau Thiele was born on 1974, 9th July on the east side of Germany in Thüringen. Thüringen bordered West Germany and was separated by a wall with barbed wire protected by the military with guns ready to shoot anyone who dared to attempt escape. What was it like living on the east side of Germany in a small town? An example being it is Christmas morning. It's time to wake up. What did you get? A small stuffed dog! In Thüringen (On the east side of Germany) a stuffed animal was a gift to remember. As a child Frau Thiele recalls a stuffed animal as a gift to remember. Now stuffed animals are everywhere, even in grocery stores. But growing up in East Germany this would be an extremely rare commodity. In the interview when talking about Christmas day she said she could remember every gift she got cause they were so rare.  Frau Thiele shared some of her prized gifts she got as a kid, Coloring book and a  Stuffed animal. She mentioned that Nutella is now a very normal thing to have at home but when she was a young girl it was a very rare and special treat.

Leaving the East side:

Frau Thiele shared a frightening story about her mother.  People were forbidden to travel outside the east side of Germany. Thiele’s mother however had a “Golden ticket”, because she married a swiss man this means she was allowed to travel outside of Thüringen to the west. When traveling Eastern authorities would stop the train in the middle of nowhere and close all the curtains. It was extremely dark. Then everyone had to strip naked, only allowed to keep their slippers on. Then police officers with flashlights would search everywhere to make sure no one was sneaking anything out or into Thüringen. This made Thiele’s mother feel very uncomfortable and felt like she was being stripped of her dignity. She was terrified because she felt the police officers could make up a rule or accuse her of anything with no proof and then she would have to go to jail. It was an oppressive existence.

How things changed after the wall came down:

When the wall was torn down freedom spread through the air, but not all were excited about this new adventure. When the wall was up people did not have that much money on the east side of Germany. They did not need it, there was little to buy. The west was wealthy and the transition of unification was rough for many people. Here is an example from Frau Thiele. 1000 CHF in savings was enough because there was nothing to buy in the east, but when the wall came down this was a modest amount. If you wanted to buy a car before the wall came down it would take 7 years, but when the wall came down, people went to buy a car but it was not nearly enough, so people began to be jealous because their neighbors were able to afford these nice cars. The difference in life after was very different.

Conclusion: 

     In conclusion, the east side of Germany was not all . Frau Thiele says that being born in east Germany taught her that you give not receive. If you can relate or not, it still shows that the word freedom gained a whole new meaning on the 9th of November in 1989.