European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 03, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Alike Johns flight from Gray by Randy Mcclain staff write Ranke Jahns first impression of West Germany was of a country bathed in Light. It was pouring rain when i came across the Border but despite that the country seemed brighter and sunnier than East  said the 26-year-old woman who drove West with a Friend three Days after Hungary opened its Borders sept. 1 0. In the East the atmosphere was Gray and  she said. Here even the food is More  in the four months since her mid september flight to Liberty Jahns has found work and a place to live near Frankfurt. West Germany. She has More personal Freedom yet All is nol quite right. Recently she has toyed with going Back Home to ecu Brandenburg in Northern East Germany to join the throngs demonstrating peacefully for change. Fear holds her Back. Jahns worries that economic conditions in her old society will get much worse before they get better. She thinks she deserves a belter life than that. She also wonders what Type of government will take Power after free elections in May. She in t sur opposition parties will be Able to transform their anger at inc communist Bosses of the past into a Clear strategy for the future. It is very easy to say what you arc  Jahn said. It is More complicated to say what you Are  Jahns Story is Only one of More than 300,000 individual sagas being shaped daily As fresh faced East German emigrants forge new lives on this Side of the tattered Iron curtain. They arc among millions of East bloc citizens from Poland Hungary Czechoslovakia Bulgaria Romania and East Germany casting off the shackles of totalitarianism to create something new perhaps something better. In Romania an 1 1-Day popular revolt toppled communist president Nicolae Caus Csc after 24years of repressive Rule. Ceausescu and his wife Elena. Were shot to death by a firing squad on Christmas Day. The upheaval in Romania was the most violent of All the Freedom campaigns in Eastern Europe. With opposition leaders and average romanians taking to the streets by the thousands in mid december to Call for human rights Security forces Loyal to the 7 1 year old Ceausescu opened fire in several cities. In some cases soldiers armed wit automatic weapons flew above crowds in helicopters to get a belter shot at those who fled. Men women and children were slaughtered. Some estimates were that tens of thousands were killed. The survivors fought Back and wrested control of the government from Caus Csc. As the new year approached somber citizens were shown on slate television digging up mass Graves in the wilderness in search of relatives and friends who had fallen victim to the president s last Days. Elsewhere in Eastern Europe change came about just As dramatically but with less bloodshed. In Poland a decade of struggle by the Solidarity Trade Union paid off in june with free elections that helped install Eastern Europe s first non communist government in More than 40 years. A Solidarity packed parliament named 62-Ycam old Catholic activist Tadusz Mazowiecki prime minister in september. Upon taking office the once imprisoned newspaper editor said his most difficult task would be to make people begin to feel it can get better to believe that their labor will not be wasted  in Hungary the parliament made its first dramatic reforms in january legalizing Public demonstrations and Independent political panics. In May hungarian officials began dismantling their barbed wire Border with Austria giving hundreds of East germans on vacation in Hungary the courage to Bolt illegally to the West. By late summer the trickle of humanity had turned into a torrent threatening to Wash away communism s very foundation. In Czechoslovakia. 2,000 demonstrators paraded into win Ceslas Square on aug. 21 to Mark the 21st anniversary of the failed Prague  soviet tanks had crushed czech Hopes two decades earlier but this time history was not to repeat itself. A corps of policemen wielding Batons broke up thermally. Within three months though angry crowds in that same Square had grown to 500.000. A two hour general strike by millions of czech workers on nov. 27 Page 6 ass  former East German Anke Jahns has found a new Home in Frankfurt and a career As a radio announcer. But still she feels the tug of her Homeland and fears its Fate. Helped bring the message Home. Within two Days the old leaders were out and parliament had agreed to let other political parties be formed. But the czechs demanded More. And they Gol it. On dec. 10, a majority non communist government was sworn into office for the first time since 1948. Some new Cabinet members had been in jail Only a few Days before being tabbed to Lead the new government. One of those dissidents Jan Carnogursky was picked to be state Security minister. After 20 years of timeless Ness we now have this fantastic Speed said Vaclav Havel the czech playwright and human rights activist who now Heads the government. In Bulgaria thousands took to the streets with a familiar rallying cry. They demanded democracy free elections and punishment of some Long time communist leaders. They too were heard. On nov. 9, Iron listed Todor Zsivkov 78, stepped Down after 34 years in Power. A week later Chr cd other members of his old guard were ousted. In Early december 50,000 protesters marched in Sofia Bulgaria prompting negotiations on when to hold that country s first multiparty elections in four decades. And finally there is East Germany the most visible Crucible of democratic change in the once rigid East bloc. In three months East germans forced out two communist party leaders and arc working on their third 41-year-old Grygor Gysi. Gysi who was named party Leader in december two months after 77-year-old Erich Hon Cockcr fell from Grace and Only a few Days after Egon Kronz resigned As head of stale is feverishly trying to paint a new face on socialism s shopworn image. His Hope is that the communists renamed As the party of democratic Unity will be Able to retain at least a share of the Power in upcoming free elections. In Leipzig labelled the City of heroes by its politically charged citizenry 100,000 people or More Lake to inc streets each monday night to Campaign for democracy cajole past and present leaders and in recent weeks. A stars and stripes special report scream for reunification with West Germany. Matthias Miiller a 27-year-old Engineer with a state run Power company is one of lire demonstrators. He is a Man with a split personality part of him leans West but his feet rest in the East. For now he stays i Leipzig although he said that could change if it becomes impossible to make a decent living there. A lot spins around the topic of Money. For now i Don t Sec any other goal for me and my people than to raise our Standard of living he said. Miiller thinks hat will happen Only if Western businesses arc allowed to invest in his country and to buy majority stakes in state owned firms. Socialism cannot be reformed quickly enough to save the Day. Unlike some people in East Germany Miiller does t worry about his country being raped by capitalists. He s not sure about political reunification with West Germany but he wants his neighbor s capital As soon As possible. I think there s no Way we can pull East Germany s Wagon out of the mud without foreign capital he said. I believe a Little pressure to perform must be there. In the West a businessman is interested that his company produces something. So if a machine Breaks Down he will do something to find replacement parts. Here that just does t happen. There is no  Miiller like ankh Jahns cannot predict where hell be living this Lime next year. Miiller. Who shares an apartment with his parents in Leipzig came within a split second of moving to Munich West Germany in late september. I had gone on vacation with just two travel bags and i spent a whole week in Hungary thinking Back and  i Glicr said. Eventually i went to the place where the buses to West Germany were standing and i stood one step away. But i did t get in. I just kept thinking to myself if you go. It will be like jumping from the frying pan into the fire " on oct. 1the Day that 6,800 East germans were allowed to emigrate to the West after spending several Days camped out at West German embassies i Prague Czechoslovakia and Warsaw Poland a Teller chose the frying pan. He drove Back to Leipzig. I thought that if i moved West i d Only be nobody a number Muller said. After All i was born in East Germany. I grew up there. It s where i  Jahns on the other hand almost returned to East Germany after the Berlin Wall was opened on nov. 9 in a bid to appease the restless population. But Jahns did t go Home. She chose to continue living in the fire in West Germany. I wanted to develop myself More freely Jahns said. I was tired of living in a place where other people told you what to think. It s schizophrenic. You lose your  said the rapid changes inside East Germany particularly in the last three months were More than she , people have become More courageous people who traditionally went along with the Stream she said. The first cheers in Leipzig were we re staying Here that United the people and seeing that gave courage to even More. People Are saying i have Only one life to live and i won t be cheated out of it. Fueling the Campaign for democracy is the hard won knowledge that without change East Germany could soon be emptied of its Young people its most skilled workers and it Best educated citizens. Most everyone has someone who has left the country friends colleagues or family. Everyone knows it can t go on like that she said. There s no slopping now. What s not Clear is the direction change  in last Germany Are frightened about what comes  s incredibly difficult in a socialistic society to suddenly decide for yourself to take the initiative Tobe creative Jahns said. My 55-year-old Mother a Leachjr in the fast is very afraid. She does understand these times. Nol All of her general Ion has the Power to Start  friends who have visited Jahns in Frankfurt in recent weeks Tell her the euphoria in the East thai accompanied the opening of inc Berlin Wall has faded. Now there s angst taking Over Jahns  Are coming up. Arc we really going to succeed can we really manage this can we find new economic concepts that work Jahns has struggled with those same questions. She january 1990