European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 29, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A Wall within threatens political stability still divided o Nee we swore to the nations Unity despite its division today despite Unity we have to realize that the nation remains  Egon Bahr former a Vest German Cabinet minister Byram Arjones and Tyler Marshall the los Angeles times it took several months for the architects of German Unity to grasp the extent of economic devastation left by four decades of communist Rule in the East and the difficulties it presented in rebuilding a unified nation. Then they ran  problem far More alarming and infinitely More intractable than an economic crisis. The terrible truth germans Are still divided not by the physical and ideological barriers that kept them apart for 40 years but by experience emotion psychology expectation a their very approaches to daily life. Collectively these differences produce an invisible but formidable Quot Wall within Quot that threatens both the Eastern Region s Short term economic recovery As Well As the whole nation s longer term social cohesion and political stability the growing awareness of this inner Wall has deadened the Joy so openly shared among germans during their initial months of mixing together replacing it with a sobering hard reality. Quot a unified state has been created but the split Between the two halves is so deep in economic social and human terms that we could not have imagined it in our worst nightmares Quot politician Wolfgang Thierse told a Congress of his social democratic party in May. More worrisome for National planners is evidence that 18 months after the collapse of the Berlin Wall brought the two Germany together the Gap separating them seems to be widening. In a matter of months the Gap has generated a sense of separate identity among Eastern germans that decades of communist propaganda failed to achieve. Those who talk of the East achieving economic Equality with the West in several years predict that a Unity of spirit will take generations. The very words Ossie and Wessie for example used to differentiate Eastern from Western germans emerged Only after the fail of the physical German Frontier. They have since entered the nation s Slang As verbal shorthand for the two stereotypes the naive confused inexperienced Ossie and the Slick arrogant know it All Wessie. Germany sinner Wall is in part simply a product of time the near Hal Century the two Germany spent apart effectively As enemies. But it also stems from the total contrast Between their separate postwar experiences. Out of the wreckage of the third Reich Western germans filled a cultural vacuum and built their famous Wirtschaft Wunder or economic Miracle As much with free Wheeling american style Quot go go Quot As with Marshall plan Aid. The euphoria that led people to dance atop the Berlin Wall on the Day of its collapse has been replaced by disillusionment but As Western germans listened to Elvis Presley watched Marilyn Monroe strut her stuff in How to marry a millionaire and Learned the value of the High powered sales pitch their Eastern cousins were slipping under the Shadow of a Neo stalinism that stifled personal initiative scorned self promotion and suppressed individual thinking. As a result German unification has been depicted As a collision Between confident open up front westerners born into the Cut and thrust of free Market in june Blacks in Berlin demonstrated against the increasing racism in Germany. Germany smelting pot a time bomb ready to explode by de Reavis staff writer since the unification of Germany attacks against foreigners have been increasing in the country particularly in the new Eastern states. African students and migrant foreign workers have been attacked. One worker was murdered in the Eastern states. The Berlin Wall opened on nov 9,1989, and the two Germanis became one on oct. 3, 1990. The initial flood of euphoria on both sides of the former Border soon gave Way to Mutual disappointment. In the West it was because of the High Cost of bringing the East up to Western standards in the East it was because of increased unemployment and because residents feel they Are treated As second class germans. In the East frustration has led to growing Neo nazism and acts of violence among the youth. Since unification a soviet tourist was fatally stabbed in the town of Neu Ruppin and a number of polish tourists have been brutally beaten after crossing the Border at Frankfurt on the Oder into Germany. In May in the Eastern town of Wittenberg in Brandenburg a gang of Young germans stormed the residences of african workers destroying their apartments beating them and forcing at least two namibians off their fourth floor balconies. One is still in critical condition police reported. Earlier this year a gang of skinheads in Dresden eat a mozambican and threw him off a moving s re Etcar to his death. In March right Wing extremist you s with Iron bars and Sticks stormed a hotel for refugees near Leipzig. In Many Eastern states political refugees seeking Asylum refuse to live under the threat of bodily harm and return to Camps in Western Germany. Polish buses and cars were stoned by raging mobs Competition and Uncertain bewildered Eastern germans bred with an introverted passive nature group loyalty an instinct to keep one s True thoughts for a select few to avoid conflict and to withdraw when challenged. _ easterners Quot came to Unity with All the skills you done to need to get ahead in a Market Economy Quot said Manfred Stolpe the governor of the Eastern state of Brandenburg. Quot they developed a special Knack for keeping a Low profile and were creative Only if asked to  although planners were aware that the East a weak obsolete Economy would Likely buckle under the full weight of Western Competition few understood that there would be a second equally devastating juggernaut from the West a one of brimming Confidence innovative ideas and flashy style that has overwhelmed and demoralized Many easterners. Quot i stay quiet around wessies Quot admitted an Eastern Berlin office worker Quot because in a afraid ill be used laughed at or make some terrible mistake Quot commented an 18-year-old Western Berliner Quot if you just want to bum around then it s of Over there a but if you really want to do something at night then you stay Here in the  Quot one nation two different worlds Quot summed up Wolfgang Roth Deputy parliamentary floor Leader for the opposition social democrats examples of the Gap Are everywhere. For instance a Kari Huck. An accomplished Eastern Berlin puppeteer says he sees sharply contrasting children s cultures in the East children have had a More regimented docile experience that emphasized discipline stressed the individual s role mainly As part of society at Large and anchored its lessons in traditional German tales. In Western kindergartens if is  world of Batman and of Sterix a French comic strip character that holds Sway. There the stress is on development of the individual personality. The results Are Clear. Even at Ages 4 and 5, a stronger individuality is visible among Western youngsters said Huck who recalled his amazement at the time a Western German child came up on stage in the midst of a performance and announced that he wanted to play with the puppets himself. A that would never happen in an Eastern class Quot Huck said. And just As that Western child was encouraged to Experiment to Quot dare to be different Quot an Eastern German child was flunked by her Art teacher because she was non conformist enough to color her horse purple. A politician Roth noted that alter making a party speech to a Western audience he invariably sees about 10 hands Rise among the audience a Quot people either with questions criticizing what i be said or adding their own  Quot i give the same speech to an identical rally in the East Abd i Don t get a single hand Quot he said. Quot i think they Are All Lazy a until i get Down from the podium and there Are 10 lines each with 10 people All wanting to cover the same Points but privately just Between the  a differences in body language occasionally generate misunderstandings. One woman brought in from the West to help restructure Eastern Berlin s Humboldt University instantly alienated her Eastern colleagues by entering an office unannounced confidently flopping into a chair and launching into Light chit Chat. Although she almost certainly meant no offence the easterners with whom she would have to work said they considered her Demeanour presumptuous and arrogant. A one result of the East sold communist Quot work collective Quot was that it frequently spilled into free time with office or factory colleagues grouping together for the theater sporting events or to help in apartment renovations or in Case of illness. That contrasts sharply with the More individual lifestyle of he West. Easterners continue to rely More on the Home As the principal place to meet and entertain friends while westerners at least in Urban areas prefer to meet outside the Home. However with unification Many of the factories and offices have closed As easterners compete for the first Lime in their lives in an open Job Market they continued on Page 16 shouting nazi slogans when they crossed the Border into Germany on april 9, the Day visa free travel Between the two countries became possible. In May the Overall rising crime rate in Germany made the Bonn government sit up and take notice. Justice minister Klaus Kinkel took measures to increase Law enforcement personnel in the Eastern states where most of the problems have occurred. According to the ministry a own statistics robbery and extortion have More than tripled in the new Eastern states while theft and embezzlement have climbed More than 50 percent. Murder and manslaughter figures Are up 17 percent and aggravated assault has climbed 14 percent the ministry claims. Almost All of the increase in acts of violence since unification is blamed on acts of discrimination Kinkel said. Ethnic groups named As targets of acts of violence in the report Are the vietnamese and mozambican foreign workers because they Are easily identifiable and also the largest group. But cubans angolans chinese poles and soviet citizens also Are victims of attacks. All but the soviets were originally contracted in their Home countries by the old East German communist regime As cheap labor. In March 1991, Hartmut reichow a Berlin representative for a commission dealing with the integration of foreigners said there were 122,000 foreigners in the Eastern German states. Quot some 30,000 Are contract workers 10,000 Are students and the others Are in the main Eastern europeans married to East germans. Quot because of the increased number of attacks on foreigners particularly those with Darker skin we expect almost All the contract workers to leave the country and we think that Only 10,000 of the original Quot of 000 vietnamese might try to stay in the Eastern Tkv is Quot the spokesman said. If. The Western states there have been fewer overt acts against foreigners but discrimination is still common said Irene Khateeb a spokeswoman for Frankfurt a department for multicultural affairs. Quot for example there Are discos that will not admit foreigners. And finding decent housing is difficult Quot Khateeb said. The government s expert for the integration of foreigners claims the increasing hostility is a result of the government s indifference to the problem of tolerance. It was All too much for Liselotte Funcke who held the lengthy title of Federal commissioner for the integration of foreign employees and their families. She left her position earlier this month. Quot i be had this position for 10 years Quot she said while still on the Job. Quot we produce studies and papers on the problems foreigners have living Here. Chancellor Helmut Kohl listens to me in the Cabinet meetings but nothing happens. I see no reason to remain at my  Funcke said she recommended that the commission she Heads with its staff of eight be upgraded to ministry level with ministerial Powers. Germany needs a ministry for migration and integration responsible for All political questions concerning foreigners in the country she said. In her parting statement to the press in Bonn Funcke said she hoped her resignation will draw the government s attention to the problems particularly to the problem of growing violent xenophobia in the Eastern states. Overall she noted the situation of foreigners in Germany has not improved in 20 years Quot they Are still the Las t hired and the first fired. If we want to avoid ghettos and prevent having an underprivileged class of immigrant children the government must act now Quot she said. Quot we already have a subculture of immigrant youths who Are not As timid in their demands As their parents were. It s a time bomb that the government chosen to  Funcke gives her country bad Marks when it comes to tolerance. Compared with other european countries Germany has Quot a relatively Low percentage of foreigners Quot a about 7.5 percent she said. Germany is most restrictive in allowing foreign workers to bring their families into the country. With the exception of Switzerland Germany has Quot the most prohibitive requirements for gaining citizenship for adults Quot she said. Quot and along with Switzerland and Austria we have no provisions for easing citizenship Foi the  statistics from Funcke s commission show that Germany with its population of 61 2 million inhabitants has a total of 4 6 million foreigners. By comparison Belgium has a population of 9.8 million with 852,000 foreigners 8.6 percent. Franco has a population of 55.8 million with 4.5 million foreigners 8 percent. Luxembourg with a population of 377,000, has 100,000 foreigners 26.5 percent. Switzerland a population is 6.6 million including 979,000 foreigners 15 percent. Countries with percentages of foreigners smaller than Germany Are Sweden Austria England and the Netherlands. Funcke said that with Western Europe bracing itself for a wave of millions of immigrants from the former East bloc countries it s time for her government to begin taking the problem seriously Quot Frankfurt s efforts to have foreign residents elect a parliament composed of foreigners is a Good Start Quot she said. The Frankfurt idea born in the City s department Lor multicultural affairs is for foreigners to have a recognized body that can lobby the lawmakers on problems and solutions to problems they have living in the City and the Region Page 14 the stars and stripes monday. July 29, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 15