European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 1, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Worrying about the future 1 Oving luxury West i or liners like these t to women it a pensive leather i before reunification. 54% fear they could lose their jobs in the next six months for Many East germans the Joy about the fall of the Berlin Wall has turned into fears about their future. Here Are the findings of a poll conducted aug. 9-17. 66% 57% situation in 1 troubled by Germany is 1 increase in cause for worry 1 prices for Basic foodstuffs like bread and milk 42% concerned about expected rental increases ? conducted by inst Tut or demos Kople Allensbach a or my i a amps Susan Harris own a this really has happened the Way they thought it would a he said referring to East germans political expectations last year. He said the chief obstacles to East Germany a smooth transition to a free Enterprise democracy Are that the Industrial plants Are still in the hands of former communists and East germans done to have the proper training. To solve the latter problem he said West Germany should provide incentives for thousands of experienced administrators to work a the East. M he a Money alone just does no to help. Those people have got 40 years of communism in their Heads a said. Michael Frode 41, who identified himself As an East German political prisoner for 16 years until his release in March said East germans done to appreciate yet the West germans habit of saving Money because the East German currency was voices Quot there is no alternative to unification a says Klaus Praelow Bockwoldt who lives in East Berlin. Quot if we did no to reunify All the Young people would have gone West and we would have been left with a Republic full of old people Quot we determined the Speed in which things happened because we were impatient and fed up with the old system. And we re fortunate ?au.s� we have the Rich relatives in the West. Just took at the troubles the poles czechs and romanians Are having in getting their Post communist systems straightened out above All we must remember we Are All in some Rorm or other guilty for creating and perpetuating this oppressive Praelow Bockwoldt a amps Ken George Worth Little. West German Thrift Ness is especially surprising considering the comfortable Standard of living he said. George Bernard shawls caustic observation that the United states and great Britain Are two nations separated by a common language might apply to East and West Germany As Well for speech is another Barrier Between the two. In 1980, the German language Institute in Mannheim published a dictionary of 2,000 German words used Only in East Germany or used there with a meaning unique to the East. Michael Kinne a linguist at the Institute said he and his colleagues culled the words Only from East German news Media so the total inventory of expressions unique to East German speech is probably much larger. Many words in the Media such As a a brigade work group plan fulfilment and a a collective term for toiletries and cosmetics were government creations. Some Are vanishing quickly with the arrival of democracy. Other regional words like a a Grillette instead of the West German a hamburger a probably will survive Kinne said. East germans also had a private vocabulary that reflected their political and economic limitations. For example if a store clerk hid scarce items under the counter for favored customers such items were called a Bend Over goods. The deepest rift of All May prove to be germans attitudes toward each other. A i fear the problems will become the most acute at the moment when the Cost of unification is on the table a said Gerald syring a teacher at the adult oriented political education Institute in Luchenbach near Freiburg. Syring a native of East Germany a Thi Ringen Region who immigrated to the West in 1957, said that during recent visits to East Germany he has observed confusion in the Economy. Consumers suddenly face comparison shopping decisions after years of uniform prices and Laia off workers Are despondent after 30 or 40 years of steady risk free employment. A the people have totally relinquished a certain share of their self sufficiency a he said. In the end the East West mental Gap should prove less important than germans efforts to overcome it. Frode the sex prisoner said West germans have a amps Effi Bathen making do East germans on the other hand picked through no nonsense clothing they found on the Racks. Been receptive to him and other East germans during his sue months of living in Stuttgart. A i still Haven to met anybody who was hostile a he said adding later a the majority of the people Arentt caught up in a Clannish Exner the Wiesbaden lord mayor said his City has established a partner City relationship with Gorlitz an East German City of 65,000 people on the polish Border. Wiesbaden is helping Gorlitz establish an efficient City administration to replace the old communist bureaucracy. Other Large East German cities Are deriving similar benefits from partnership arrangements. Pichel said West germans generally have to accept the fact that most of their Eastern countrymen Are adrift psychologically and need help until they learn to fend for themselves. A a it a frustrating but we have the task of showing them just what Freedom is a he Quot Why is reunification of Germany so important for Europe and the world Quot asks Walter Wallmann minister president of the West German state of Hessen. Quot first of All with unification a dream has become reality from now on All germans can live in peace and Freedom in a country dedicated to human rights and to stamping out anything that detracts from them Quot along with this unification has come the end of the East West confrontation in Europe. Chancellor Helmut Kohl and president Mikhail s. Gorbachev have reached agreement on the removal of the soviet military and of the right of Germany to remain a member of the nato. With this comes the Chance that peace and Freedom will become a reality for the whole Northern half of the Wallmann the stars and stripes special report Page 7
