European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 21, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 columns the stars and stripes Flora Lewis even stoic czechs enthusiastic about new Start Prague Czechoslovakia it s a pity Eva Tycho a did t live to see it though i can imagine the cracks she would make accompanied by her knowing smile. She lived through the worst in Czechoslovakia. I doubt she and most of her compatriots expected things would Ever get much better. The last time i saw her was on my last visit to Prague in 1980. By then she had been allowed to travel abroad. But she always came Back. Her apartment obtained through channels at the rail ways where her Nephew worked was modest but Bright. I have All 1 need she said. The Hairdresser is so cheap 1 can go twice a week which i could never afford in Vienna. And i be been through enough upheavals. I Don t want to Start All she was one of those people who had Learned to accept what came without approving of it or liking it. She was t a typical czechoslovak but her Atti tude was typical withdrawn into the immediacy is of daily life. They called it internal a ars before when the regime had achieved normalization after the 1968 invasion by importing Western consumer goods to cajole the sullen nation Back to work we had passed a shop boasting Chic italian shoes. They Cost a month s pay. I wondered Why anyone would be so extravagant when there were plenty of solid but less attractive Domestic shoes at a Small fraction of the Price. We know How we work she said with a Hearty laugh. We Don t Trust things produced Eva had come to us As an interpreter in i9s6, Cour Tesy of the police. There was no other Way. Foreigners weren t allowed to hire people directly or rent housing or offices from them. We were constantly watched. But she was Good Humoured and competent in a grim period. All she asked was for me to bring chocolates or a sweater when i took the shopping trips necessary to feed my family. Still it was t easy to find a sweater that fit. She was grossly obese. I had seen the sinister Blue numbers Tatoo cd on her Arm i think her Camp was Treblinka but i lost patience one Day and asked Why she never stopped eating. When i was in Camp she said quietly "1 decided that if i survived i would never deny myself anything i wanted and it s mostly we moved away the following year but i always looked her up when i visited Prague. This Lime a Mutual Friend told me she died four years ago. Due to diabetes. She was a Slob she had no manners but she was great the Friend said. Like Eva this woman had finally been Able to travel and always came Back. It s my country she said. Unless your life is in Barry Schweid uprising and in tube tank. 1999 czechor Coan a prong Schmeis Send in th6ir thanks. Danger you Don t abandon your exhilarated and Happy As she is at the Prospect of democracy she is already starting to worry about eco nomic dislocations Likely to come with Reform. The communists Are using the threat of degenerating into polish conditions against those who would go too far in transforming the country. They Haven t Given up Hope of regaining the upper hand and Many Here Haven t yet gained Confidence that they won t. The gentle revolution that erupted a month ago took everybody by Surprise. Czechoslovak have a history of Well earned scepticism and caution. It All happened because the people came together in the right place at the right time exulted pct Pospichal a spokesman for civic forum which has broken open the regime. We Don t ask for courage. We Don t want people to risk their life or their Job just raise their voice at the right naturally the result is confusion. There in t much organization yet. The overwhelming demand is for free the leaders who have emerged show a surprising concern that they won t be Able to surmount communist machinery and tricks peasant resistance to change. Their favorite word about How to proceed is that it s All the surface Czechoslovakia is doing Well com pared with other communist much has been brought to Light yet about the dreadful dilapidation of the economic infrastructure. Not everybody realizes things could Only get much worse without the Strain of deep the country has a Reservoir of skills and the capacity to work. The memory of democracy is cherished As its natural Eva and Many of her contemporaries Young people Don t see acceptance of what is As the Only think Eva would agree now and roaring with laughter say that in fact she d Only been waiting in order to Start All Over. C Baker s european trip a Success on All fronts the drive across the Bridge past impassive East German Border guards and into Potsdam was both without precedent in american history and a bold but risky venture. The quiet motorcade to Potsdam car ried Secretary of state James a. Baker i where no Secretary of state had gone before and committed the Bush administration to a Rescue operation for East Germany As Winter approaches. In his 65-minute meeting with Han Modrow the reformist prime minister and a second session in a 19th Century Church with lutheran ministers who helped bring Down the old discredited rulers Baker heard a tale of a tenuous regime struggling to make it to multiparty elections in May and fearful of a Vio Lent revolution from the streets. Baker the highest level . Official Ever to venture into East Germany has plunged a once cautious Bush administration into the maelstrom of German politics the reunification debate and a uniquely dangerous display of what he Calls people last tuesday s foray after break fast with West German Chancellor Hel Mut Kohl and a symbolic visit to the disintegrating Berlin Wall topped a Busy five Day trip to Europe in which Bak Eralso advanced a new architecture for the North Atlantic treaty organization and strengthened . Ties to the 12-na Tion european Community. The accelerating sweep of economic and political change in Eastern and Cen trial Europe Calls for policy adjustments in the West especially from the United slates from a cold War posture of confrontation. When Poland and Hungary first broke away from orthodox communism the Bush administration responded wit what leading congressional democrats and Many analysts considered to be undue caution. Congress forced increases in Aid pro Grams and pushed the White House to respond to soviet president Mikhail s bold arms control programs and need for Western technology and economic advice. One of the decisions taken while Baker attended a two Day meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Brussels was a Call for a logical system of separating sensitive technology from other material that can safely be exported to the East. This time around As Czechoslovakia Bulgaria and especially East Ger Many shed hard line leaders and marxist economics the Bush administration is out front with the Promise of the same kind of Aid Given Poland and Hungary if they keep it up. The ministers Baker saw told him the next stage in the East German revolution could be retribution against officials and the military. The trip to Potsdam where the Allied leaders in world War ii made preparations for dealing with a Defeated Ger Many and a partitioned Berlin was not on Baker s schedule when he set out for Europe. . Ambassador Richard Barkley is credited with persuading Baker to go to Potsdam the next Day to show support for the East German government. Baker sent a Cable to Moscow reassuring the Kremlin the visit was not in tended to be provocative. Baker urged Modrow to press ahead with political re form. He soft peddled the explosive Issue of reunification with West Germany which has jangled nerves in Poland the soviet Union and France. In Brussels Baker urged the nato allies at the annual Winter foreign ministers meeting to consider the new architecture for Europe he had outline Din a speech tuesday to the Berlin press club. The plan is designed to transform the 40-year-old military Alliance As East West tensions ease into a mixture of political economic and military elements. Stopping next at the european com Mission Baker won support for stronger . Ties to the european Community As it moves toward economic integration of Western Europe in 1992. On a third front. Baker participated in decisions by a group of 24 nations to commit $6 billion in economic assist Ance to Poland and Hungary Over the next several years. Baker who had told his partners that pledges of Aid Are not enough was pleased with the Overall Western response. But in the final analysis he said it is going to be up to the people of these countries the people Power that has generated these peaceful revolutions. It is going to be up to them to determine whether or not it Schmul m an aug Cut pm a hmm Cam upon wet cowing on suit
