European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 3, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Wednesday october 3, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 3day of Joy sobered by Stasi legacy by de Reavis staff writer Berlin a Hannelore Kohler did no to plan to celebrate German reunification with the million or so people who were expected to crowd the City a streets tuesday night. A i doubt if anyone is happier about unification than i am but i think its not the time to drink oneself into a stupor but to be thankful and contemplate the problems we re bringing with us into this new Germany a she said. Kohler understands one of those problems Well it involves the legacy created by the the notorious state Security Agency commonly known As the Stasi and the thousands of dossiers it maintained on East German citizens. She belongs to the Small group of East germans who first stormed the Stasi Headquarters in january and later worked on citizen committees that worked to dissolve the secret police. She now works for the special committee to control the dismantling of the state Security. Despite the committees work the German Media has been questioning whether the Stasi has stopped working on both sides of the former Iron curtain. A my work on the committee has Given me fairly High contacts with the Stasi a Kohler said. A several even visit me at Home. They claim there is no Stasi activity going on. But who knows they claim Stasi members Are Busy getting into Industry and business. They Are not interested in any lucrative offers from the soviets or the Western secret services. That a what i hear but in a not holding my breath about Kohler said relatively few people in East Germany Are worried about what happens to the Stasi dossiers. A people have other worries a jobs and the future in general a she said. A but our past will definitely came Back to haunt us if we done to Deal with it now.�?�. She said there were three categories of persons interested in seeing their Stasi dossiers a those who were imprisoned and forced to leave the country or those whose Freedom was purchased by the West German government. A those who still live in the area that was East Germany and want to be rehabilitated. A those whose careers suffered serious setbacks and want to know whether the Stasi had anything to do with it. As Kohler knows the Stasi had an extremely Long reach. A a in la never forget the Shock of having a close Friend Tell me he wrote reports on me for the Stasi a she said. A it put me out of commission for several Days. A i done to believe people who discover who betrayed them would cause a civil War As some officials in our government claimed. Its a saddening experience Bur one must know what happened in their lives. They done to want revenge but they done to want these crimes the Stasi touched Kohler a life in other ways too. A i was one of the Young talents earmarked for a career in the secret police a she said. A friends found my dossier and saw the Stasi had their eyes on me when i was still in High school. Because i have Many relatives in West Germany they had already decided behind my Back that i would be a spy Over there for them. I had a Quick Tongue and the world was mine until i began questioning the looking at the future Kohler said the change from communism to democracy will not be As painful an experience As the change from nazism to communism was after world War ii. A nazism was at the soul of the germans. It had deep roots. Marxist leninism was forced upon us. Even children Learned to speak with forked tongues. We Are All Only very Happy to be rid of a system that we All knew to be totally revolting. A we had to be taught what was revolting about the a amps Dave Dudlo Hannelore Kohler shows a manuscript written by a former Stasi pupils get new lesson in divisions amps Jim de Helm Jessie Cortez 9, joins hundreds of other jubilant Mannheim elementary students after their cardboard Symbol of the Berlin Wall came tumbling Down tuesday. By Jimi Jones education writer Mannheim Germany a on Cue from Pink Floyd so the Wall a fourth graders Diane English and Shamael Williams punched kicked and stomped away at a 5-foot cardboard device that separated them from their schoolmates. The thuds from the two girls and their schoolmates sounded like fireworks. And when it had fallen Diane and Shamael walked away waving Germany a red yellow and Black flags and carrying Small pieces of cardboard. And people mingled. The cardboard was a memento to be added to a collection they started last weekend they said. A we went to East Germany saturday. We got a lot of souvenirs and when we get to High school we can prove that we went to Eisenach East Germany. And this is part of it too a Diane said raising her cardboard a piece of the the scene symbolized Berlin on nov. 9, 1989. More than 2,000 students and teachers at Mannheim elementary school recreated the fall of the Wall and the division of Germany on tuesday to celebrate the two Germany so coming together wednesday. A this Way the children would get the feeling of what an advantaged group has and what a disadvantaged group has a principal Joan Wilcox said explaining How the school was divided into groups of East and West germans. A when the Wall comes Down and they reunite the children will understand the whole concept of reunification. Its so abstract now its Host nation teacher Christa Rhou earlier had Given one class a feel for what happens when people Divide. A i had All the Blue eyed kids on one Side and the Brown and Black eyed kids on the other Side divided by a Box. They speak to each other for 15 minutes and they did no to like it a Rhou said. A they wanted to see one for 9-year-old Michele Quintin a fourth grader whose class played East germans reunification a Means that East Germany and West Germany will become one again. Its very important for All of reunification goes deeper for Michele. It reaches right into her heart her family. A some of us have some East German relatives a she said. She said they visited each other several times Over the summer something that would not have been possible before the Wall fell. A i did no to even know i had them before she found that they a we rent to very much different from us a except a they did have a Little boy who gets into Wilcox said the activity will help Mold the idea of reunification for the children. A the exercise today is going to take on More and More meaning As they mature and learn their history a she said tuesday. A when they read about German reunification it will have an awful lot of meaning for glue Down spot in German history by Peggy Davidson Kaiserslautern Bureau Kaiserslautern Germany a students at Kaiserslautern High school were Busy gluing themselves into German history on the eve of German Unity Day. German teacher Ursel Kennedy wanted to make sure that Kaiserslautern students got More than a Day off from school. She wanted a to do something where each student was involved in some project that remember with that idea in mind Kennedy approached Art teacher Stephania Crowder who came up with the idea of a mosaic of the German Flag with the signatures of everyone in the school a students teachers and staff. On tuesday morning yellow and red squares of construction paper bearing the signatures of each person in the school poured into Crowders Art room and her students began the tedious process of gluing the squares onto Flag shaped backings. Crowder said the two mosaic flags which consist of about 1,000 squares each were completed about 2 30 . Tuesday. One Flag will hang in the schools hallway As a record of who was at the school on unification Day. The second Flag will be presented to the mayor of Kaiserslautern As a Symbol of Friendship and congratulations Kennedy said. The students were also enthusiastic about the project. A i can say i was Here with history in the making a said Jared Davis 16, a Sophomore in Crowders second period Art class. Kennedy said she Hopes the students realize the importance of events in Germany this week. She said she told the students a i realize that today this Isnit meaningful to you but someday it will a i Hope the kids will go Home today and say a we did something a a
