Witness to the Wall

9 Nov 2009, 9:41 am   -   Source: Bryony Jones, SBS
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Barbel Simon (inset) grew up alongside the Berlin Wall at Lichtenrade, on the border with East Germany (SBS)

Barbel Simon (inset) grew up alongside the Berlin Wall at Lichtenrade, on the border with East Germany (SBS)

Baerbel Simon grew up in the American sector of West Berlin, and lived alongside the wall and its 'Death Strip' for decades.

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Baerbel Simon grew up in the American sector of West Berlin, and lived alongside the wall and its 'Death Strip' for decades.

"Even before the wall went up, we knew that things were bad: in East Germany the people had no free press, no chance to talk to each other about their own opinions, the money was of lower value and the economy was collapsed because they hadn't joined the Marshall Plan.

"We didn't spend time in East Berlin, because we didn't have family or friends living there, but it was easy to go there then- you could take the subway or drive a car, or take the S-bahn train.
 
"When the wall went up, I woke up in the morning and switched the radio on and heard the news, and I was shocked because I thought at first it could be like a new blockade of West Berlin.

"Later I went to the border - I was shocked. We were helpless and hopeless - we had to rely on the three Western Allies to help us overcome the situation.

West Berlin 'an island in a "Red" sea'

"We had problems because we were surrounded by Soviets - West Berlin was an island in a 'Red' Sea.

"But we were free, we could go outside of the city and we were not arrested in our own city - we felt free.

"This was important for us - we could go to the wall and look around; West Berliners were free but East Germans were arrested in their own country.

"We had no idea how long it could last. We thought a dictatorship could not survive forever, but when we wanted to visit friends in the East we still had to apply for permission.

"East Germany was much darker, the people didn't have the same lifestyle, the same economy, the same prosperity as the West.

"They were arrested, they weren't free to leave the country - just to go to Poland and Hungary, though even that was closed later.

Mine fields, dog runs, death strip

"We had no escape attempts nearby as Lichtenrade was on the border to East Germany, where there was a 5km Death Strip.

"It was impossible for people to enter the border districts - it was all mine fields and dog runs - it was impossible to escape across the border at Lichtenrade.

"My family were living the whole time in West Berlin, and when the people in Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and East Berlin tried to open the Iron Curtain it was amazing

"We hoped for a better future, and for more free transit, but we worried it might change into a bloody revolution.

"We saw on TV all the demonstrations, we were amazed to see it but we worried because in May or June there was the big bloody revolution in China, and we worried the same could happen in East Germany - we hoped that things would turn out well.
 
"On November 9, 1989, I was a nurse and I had late duty, so I went home at 10pm, and I asked my husband what was going on in East Germany, in East Berlin, and he told me they were going to open all the borders.

Trabant cars everywhere

"Then we went to bed and slept, and the next morning, I had to be up early for work - I started at 6am, and I suddenly realised there were Trabis [East German Trabant cars] everywhere.

"It was a big big happiness and we were very glad about the peaceful opening of the border, it gave me goosebumps a little bit.

"It was a wonderful feeling - like a big carnival. It was in November, and that is a dark time in Germany, wintery and dark, but it was like a summer carnival.

"We talked with East Berliners as they came through the wall - it was great, because we were talking in the same language.

"It was wonderful to ask them where are you from? And they told us they were from here and there, and I had to ask where is it? I had no idea, because for us, before it had been a forbidden country.

Two Germanies 'growing into one'

"We had the same culture and language, but we were so distant. It was easier to go to America and Australia than it was to go to East Germany.

"Now we are growing into one, but we need time, because we were educated in different world views, and now we have a great challenge to present both.

"We have to listen to each other with respect and tolerance, then we can learn from each other and then I think it will be much easier to grow together.

"It is our responsibility to teach the younger generation and it is very important to inform them about the time when the world was divided in two parts.

"I think nowadays we are one, but sometimes we have different opinions and a different lifestyle because in the former East Germany the economy is not so good, and unemployment is high, and the people are frustrated.

"We hope for a better time, and we can handle our differences together - I am hopeful for the next 20 years."

 

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