European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 9, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thousands of berliners gathered by a and on top of a the Berlin n Wall at the steeped in Symbol Lam Brandenburg Gate after the German democratic Republic opened its Borders nov. 9,1989. A a a v r w a you a a la 1 f �?T4 floodgate Berlin Wall was breached a year ago by Mark Fritz. Associated press the opening of the Berlin Wall did far More than allow East germans to dance across broken Concrete into the dazzling world outside. It let the outside world come in. Less than a year later two nations were wiped off the map and replaced with one. Breaching the Barrier was a desperate act by a dying regime trying to placate a people massed in revolt although the opening of the Wall nov. 9,1989, took the unromantic form of lifting travel restrictions everyone recognized it As the end of the cold wars most famous Symbol. It was the dominant image in a breathtaking year of revolution in the soviet bloc. What no one predicted was the resulting maelstrom of forces that led to German Unity an inexorable process that forced the superpowers to recognize a new world order and reach new Levels of cooperation. Today the nation that built the Berlin Wall is a territory transformed no longer a communist state no longer a closed society no longer a nation it is a Region whose destiny lies completely in the hands of people who live in what used to be another country. Uniting with the mighty German Federal Republic has Given citizens of the dismantled German democratic Republic an experienced hand to Lead them and a mattress stuffed with Money to rest on. But it also has forced the old nation to make Eastern Europe s fastest most turbulent most Radical transition to a free Market democracy after four decades of sleepy unchanging communism Poland Czechoslovakia Bulgaria Romania and Hungary Are proceeding much More gently by comparison dipping a toe into the cold Waters of capitalism As they peer through the dust and smoke of their revolutions. So swiftly has East Germany become distinct from its neighbors that a it is inaccurate and unfair to even compare them Quot said Heinrich Vogel an analyst at the Federal Institute for Eastern economic and International studies in Cologne. He said Eastern Germany is in Quot a distinctly privileged situation Quot sharing a language Legal system government currency and Borders with a Rich and stable Region. East Germany also has thrown its Fate to the West however while the other former soviet satellites still have autonomy and some control of their destiny on the longer less certain Road to Prosperity. What Eastern Germany has in common with the other former communist states Are profound similarities in Public mood. Quot they Are All sharing exaggerated expectations to a Large extent Quot Vogel said. Quot they have All inherited the structural handicaps the mental decay the system of distrusting each other and  asap East German Border guards watches parts of the Berlin Wall Are dismantled nov. 10, 1989. In Eastern Germany westerners have seized control swiftly from the Man in charge of Selling its factories to Ifa governor of its largest state to Clever squatters who have claimed its vacant tenements. Leading Eastern politicians have Western Campaign managers and aides. The East German women s swimming team which dominated the world for years has a West German coach. Children who have been drilled their entire classroom lives in the correctness of communism Are using Western textbooks. The food in the old nations stores the cars on its streets the Money in its Banks and the Flag flown atop its Public buildings a All have changed in the single year from revolution to reunification. Political extremism overt racism crime and drug Abusi have crept through the Wall or simmered up from the darkest Corners of a Long suppressed National psyche embracing the West has ruined the Homegrown Economy and its overstaffed inefficient enterprises which once were the strongest of the soviet bloc but now Are literally being killed by the Competition. Since March about one fourth of the 8 million workers in Eastern Germany have lost their jobs or Are working fewer hours at lower government subsidized wages. A recent joint report by the five leading German economic institutes said nearly 4 million could be in the same situation next year and that the Pace of recovery was much slower than expected. Except for some Perky areas of the service Industry virtually no sector of the Eastern Economy can survive without Western help said economist Heine Flass Beckon Berlin one of the reports authors. Chancellor Helmut Kohls government facing National elections dec. 2, has dismissed the report As too pessimistic. Quot Hans Peter Stihl president of the German chamber of Commerce said a new Survey showed half of All Western German businesses will have invested in the East by the end of 1991. If there is disagreement Over the timetable for Eastern Germany a Elevation to Western standards there is Little doubt about its inevitability. On a single Day soon after the Germany were joined oct. 3, three unrelated announcements illustrated Why East Germany was More fortunate than its old Warsaw pact allies a. A Mercedes Benz said it would begin building cars at a struggling East German truck Plant near Berlin saving or creating 6,000 jobs. A the government increased pensions to help 2.7 million retired people pay higher prices and rents. A another department announced plans to spend 10 billion Marks <$6.7 billion on fixing up 300,000 Homes. Romania Poland and the other former communist states could use a Day like that but Many citizens have decided not to wait for it. Thousands of Eastern europeans have poured into Eastern Germany in Hopes it will be the new Gateway to the West creating a German immigration crisis. Soviet soldiers who once died by the millions fighting the nazis and now must leave the nation they conquered Are deserting in hundreds and asking to stay even jews subjected to hideous crimes under Hitler Are arriving from the soviet Union a a fleeing from increasing anti semitism and in search of better lives. All this in a country millions of people could not wait to leave last year where pent up desperation brought Down the hard line communist Leader Erich Honegger. The uprising forced his successor Egon Krenz to Bow even More to the masses and do the unbelievable change history in a single autumn Day by opening the Berlin Wall. Page 16 the stars and stripes Friday november 9,1990