European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 08, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse East German goods big hit in Western Berlin shop by Marc Fis Herthe Washington Post \ the jars Are stacked lovingly artistically on White cloth with lace trimming. The labels Are Plain though sometimes Sticky from the wares within. There Are no fancy Brand. Names just a statement of the simple a pleasures inside red cabbage spinach Plum Jam. Amid the seedy Bustle of West berlins Kreuzberg Section where brusque. Shopkeepers Deal Curtly with immigrant turks and angry Young freq enters of the neighbourhood s Quot alternative scene Quot one barely marked shop stands out As an Oasis of Calm politeness and strikingly Low is Brandenburg country goods a Small grocery devoted entirely to products a of the farms and factories of what was East Germany. The shop is a sudden Success a discount Delight for Western retirees and struggling Young people a nostalgic venue for Eastern customers readers action line who now must Cross the City to buy products from their own Region. A in the Rush to go West last year most Eastern Consumers spurned anything that smacked of. Their socialist past. Even if butter is butter and Eastern butter was cheaper it wouldst in its Gray paper wrapping in lonely stacks on Market shelves next to depleted piles of shiny. Golden wrapped Western brands. V Western supermarket chains pushed the trend along by requiring shops in the East to forsake All Eastern goods before the chains would agree to transform their drab sparsely stocked establishments into brightly decorated densely packed wonder worlds of fresh canned and Frozen abundance from the land of plenty. Siegfried Schneider a Brandenburg country shop is an unapologetic throwback. There Are no Bright colors no displays no Freezer cases no choices. You want sausage pick up the can that says like thousands of other Small cogs in communist East i Germany a machinery of repression Schneider found himself out of a Job after Germany unification. In fact his entire line of work was abolished he was a guard at one of the Many Border towers a designed to prevent East berliners from breaching the Wall built to keep them in. After the two Germany. Merged last fall Schneider and a group of other former East germans decided to open a shop that would proudly offer Only the products of the farms and factories that were rapidly closing around them. The group arranged. For support from a collective that had. Backed some Independent businesses in a the dying years of the communist regime rented a storefront next to a turkish travel Agency and a turkish vegetable dealer a and found they had an instant hit Quot the goal is to create a Market for. Eastern enterprises Quot said Schneider who often disarms Western customers accustomed to Gruff impolite shop clerks by being so Friendly As to Volunteer where his tomatoes were grown and what differentiates one Type of Noodle from v another. Quot but we Are also Here for the customers who really want to talk about their problems who have questions about How the Market works Quot he said. The stores motto is Quot its totally wrong that everything from the sex East Germany is a Quot there is a Bond among us Quot Schneider said meaning both his clerks and the. Customers from the East in search of a. Vanishing old favourites East German sour Cherry juice or a variety of Mustard that to a Western Tongue tastes vaguely of gasoline. The Only non Eastern goods in. The place Are iranian Pistachio nuts and. Bananas from Ecuador no German food shop catering to easterners is conceivable without bananas which were unavailable a under communism and now have become one of the regions favorite foods. Quot we re not Here to make a maximum profit but to offer Good prices and make the Eastern products better known Quot Schneider said. Customers come to the tiny shop from As far away As 100 Miles. Quot we be been drinking this stuff for years Quot said Lutz Reinecke about Heilbrunn Mineral water a at about half what he would pay for a Western Brand. Reinecke 39, a Berlin teacher travels to the store weekly for Beer and battled water. Frank Zamboni lives Only a few blocks from the store and buys Plum Jam an cake because they Are cheap Good and convenient. Quot i m not Here for ideological reasons Quot he said Quot but there s nothing a wrong with this some easterners he said Are childish in their desire for. Everything Western. \ a bringing Home pets from saudi Arabia the purpose of this letter is in response to the Many pleas and inquiries regarding the Fate of those puppies and dogs that have become companions of our service members in saudi Arabia. Many of these soldiers have expressed the sincere desire to adopt these animals and bring them Home. In order to do this the dogs must have the proper inoculations and health certificates to gain admittance into Germany or the United states. Central come Headquarters in Riyadh saudi Arabia 1 has issued a directive that advises soldiers not to have Contact with these dogs. In addition to the above the veterinary corps will not be involved in the inoculation of these animals nor whims. Army transport planes be used to ship these animals however Central come has published a list of local civilian veterinarians which leads us to believe that it is possible to import these animals. Due to logistical and financial constraints it is very difficult for soldiers stationed deep in the desert to reach the veterinarians located in civilian population centers. We ask Central come in Riyadh saudi Arabia to consider the following recommendations 1 civilian veterinarians be established at Central locations on a regular basis allowing for easy Access to inoculations and health certifications. 2 an itinerant team of civilian veterinarians be established As a Mobile unit to visit Remote Sites. 3 information concerning pet shipment organizations be distributed along with the veterinarian care. Time is of the essence As our soldiers redeploy forcing them to leave their companions behind. Unless these recommendations Are addressed or a change in Central Comdr a policy allowing for military veterinarian involvement in the adoption process these dogs will die a slow and painful death of starvation dehydration and exposure. If anyone Reading Thi article is concerned about the plight of these animals and has information that would be helpful in resolving this problem please Contact Catherine Riedel hhc2nd be 3ad to Box 359 Apo by 09091 Kathie Guild hic 4/7 cavalry a Apo by 09076 Grey Edwards Apo by 09165 it. Col. Michael r. Gallagher chief of f Media relations . Central come Riyadh saudi Arabia replies. We have reviewed Catherine Riedell a letter on abandoned pets in theater and share her concern for the . A Ltd a a a a upon arrival desert storm personnel were advised to avoid Contact with local animals As a precaution against rabies and other diseases. They were told that pets were not authorized in this area of operations. Similarly personnel were not authorized to bring any animals Back to the United states or Germany. The health and customs requirements for bringing pets into both countries Are very strict and much too extensive to be supported by military veterinarians deployed to this theater. For instance Germany requires veterinarian certification and health certification that must be translated into German the United states requires veterinarian certificates and customs certificates that must be accomplished in theater prior to bringing the pet into the United states. Central come forces brought sufficient veterinarians to the theater to accomplish the primary Mission but not the numbers that would be required to provide support for personal pets that were not authorized. A. The primary Mission of . Central come forces in the theater at this time is to protect and care for iraqi refugees in Southern Iraq until International agencies take Over that responsibility. At the same time the Mission of safely redeploying our forces from the theater continues. With those critical missions under Way it simply is not possible to implement any contractual veterinarian a program such As that outlined by is. to write us a a readers action line is the readers Quot court of last resort Quot striving to answer some of the questions about life overseas in a military environment or. Questions about policies and guidelines when other avenues for answers Are not readily available. If you have a question and Don t know where to turn for the answer write to readers action line co the stars. And stripes Apo 09211-4211. All letters must be signed and preference will be Given to those seeking information of general interest to our readers. Master sgt. William Fields in saudi Arabia with the desert dog he adopted and named a Ebojo. A bringing desert pets Back to Germany or the United states is not authorized by the military. Page 16 a the stars and stripes wednesday May 8, 1991
