European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 3, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Germany then. And no uneasy questions Joe Fleming arrived in Berlin in August 1945 As a correspondent for the stars and stripes. He joined up in 1948, at the beginning of the soviet blockade of the City s Western sector. He later moved to Bonn after several postings in other european and Middle Eastern bureaus and for Many years was one of pts most familiar bylines from the West German capital. He still lives in Bonn and writes from there. By Joseph b. Fleming United press International now that i look Back on my Early Days in Germany soon after the nazi surrender two jokes circulating in Berlin at the time pop into mind. Those jokes by berliners who have the reputation in Germany of having Quot big Mouths a not Only Tell something of the mood there in August 1945, but might even help predict future attitudes. One joke was that a americans Are russians with creases in their  the other said that it would take diverse language skills to survive in the Post War world. People would speak English in the drawing room French in the Kitchen German on the Drill Field. And in the prisoner of War Camps russian would be spoken. Today 45 years later in the View of prosperous West germans the pants of both russians and americans Are pretty baggy. The soviet Union is in such bad shape that it agreed to German unification on terms considered inconceivable Only a Short time ago a membership of a unified Germany in nato. West German foreign minister Hans Dietrich Genscher at the beginning of unification talks in May said a his Tongue must have been in his Cheek a that he knew he could not Quot buy Quot soviet assent to Western terms. But West Germany did just that with a Down payment of billions of Marks and pledges of Aid economic cooperation technological advice and managerial know How to try to get the soviet pants pressed. American soldiers now Are poor cousins to germans. But before the Marshall plan and the German currency Reform in 1948 led to the Quot economic Miracle Quot american soldiers were virtual millionaires in ruined Germany. In what is now West Germany 41 percent of the housing was destroyed or so badly damaged it could not be restored. Americans could sell a Carton of cigarettes for 1,000 Marks and a chocolate bar for 100 Marks on the Black Market. The Dollar today is in danger of becoming stage Money in Germany. When the Deutsche Mark was introduced a Hammer and Compass National Emblem of the dissolved German democratic Republic Heads for the museum of German history in Berlin. It once decorated the government Cabinet building in East Berlin. In 1948 the Exchange rate was set at 4.20 Marks to the Dollar. On the Black Market the Greenback sold for six Marks. The Dollar now is hovering around 1.55 Marks and economists say it could sink lower. The joke about speaking russian in pow Camps certainly showed awareness of the misery nazi policy had brought to Germany. Twelve million German servicemen were in Captivity a 3.15 million in russian Camps 3.8 million in american 3.7 million in British and 1 million in French Camps. The russians kept Many of their prisoners for 10 years. West germans at Home and abroad in the years since the two German states were founded in 1949 have displayed Model behaviour politically. But the uneasy question is being asked will a unified Germany by far the richest Industrial Power in Europe be a danger again those experienced German watchers the French seem wary. The question is being asked despite the clean record of the Western Federal Republic of Germany because of the realization that unification Means a new Ball game. To use another cliche there is a new deck of cards. I am always amazed when i hear people talk of Quot Germany Quot when they mean West Germany. A few years ago when West Germany and France decided to form a West German French military brigade some newspapers carried reports that Quot France and Germany which have fought x wars in x years now have buried the  this was nonsense. An agreement had been reached Between France and a Rump German state. Those who Are a bit wary about the future feel that a unified Germany will be a different country from West Germany. Perhaps better More democratic and peaceful but it will be different. It certainly will be More Eastern. A Germany with Berlin the vibrant dynamic old prussian Metropolis As its capital will have a different Center of Gravity than a country with the capital in Bonn a pleasant Little City on the Rhine which used to be known derogatory by As the Quot Federal  legislators of the German democratic Republic a the Quot Der Quot a and the Federal Republic of Germany agreed to again make Berlin the country a capital. But a rearguard action is being fought by those who want to keep the seat of government and parliament in Bonn. The most intemperate of the Bonn supporters contend Bonn is the Symbol of Germany a new Freedom of democracy federalism european integration and the Western Alliance while Berlin is Quot Kaiser Wilhelm a  Walter Wallmann the Christian democratic prime minister of the state of Hesse said Quot Many people at Home and abroad shudder at the symbols they associate with the old German  Winston Churchill in one of his anti German moods said Quot the Hun is either at your Throat or at your  germans from 1939 to 1945 when at the Throat of Europe were not a pretty sight. They fought to the last minute. They surrendered Only after Adolf hitlers suicide in the chancellery air raid Bunker in Berlin and the occupation of almost every mile of their territory by the americans British French and russians. The russians had conquered almost every Inch of Berlin. Then True to Churchill s saying they Lay Down to be kicked. The Defeated germans were not a pretty sight then either. I had the feeling in 1945 that if Gen. Dwight d. Eisenhower then the military governor of the american zone of Germany had ordered every third German to kill himself Many would have obeyed. Johannes fest the author of what some scholars consider to be the Best biography of Hitler has said West germans after the War bewailed nazi crimes with about the same fanaticism the crimes were committed. They stopped asking to be kicked Long ago. But they still Are reluctant to assume their full posture. As they themselves say they Are economic giants and political dwarfs. One can expect the unified Germany to stand up again As straight As it possibly can. Whether its neighbors will have to worry about their throats again is the question some Are asking. Wednesday october 3, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 13