European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 13, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse L cover Story a cover Story Good time from the cover institution painted an eerie Silver Halo against the Gray sky. Guard towers with their 360-degree View gave visitors that tense uneasy feeling of being a watched. More Likely than not they were. Butzbach after All is a a maximum Security prison housing 500 inmates. Less than half 240, arc German. The rest Are foreigners. Each month members of the american women a club of the Taurus venture behind prison Walls at Butzbach Dietz and the Section of Frankfurt to visit americans who ran afoul of German Law. The . Embassy in Bonn said 106 americans arc incarcerated in German prisons. A for Many a the majority a no one else visits them Quot said the Rev. Sonja Waldmann Bohn director of the methodist English language ministry in Frankfurt. She has served As adviser for the project the past three years. The women quickly discovered that the better living conditions of German prisons a compared to the . Variety a done to make up for the isolation of language and culture that confronts most americans. The men Are Cut off not Only from society but also from relatives who live in the United states. Unlike German prisoners americans who have no families living in the country can to qualify for Urlaub or Home vacation and other privileges. Most . Prisoners were affiliated with the military at one time. In Many cases it is their first experience behind bars. Quot there Are Many segments of society that need help but prisoners Are the lowest on that list a Waldmann Bohn said. A people generally think of people in prison As deserving to be there that they re supposed to be there to be punished and Why would anyone waste time visiting the two hour sessions in which men and women sit around tables and talk randomly arc enlightening for everyone she said. The subjects of conversation vary. A some Are prolific readers and Are Well informed about current events politics and sports. They May talk about their families estranged wives or personal situations a she said. Occasionally a few choose to discuss Why they re in prison but Waldmann Bohn added a a it a not something we bring to the women the visits May be a Small thing but to the men they provide Relief from the monotonous daily grind. A a it a a touch of Home Quot said Jerry 39, a shy prisoner with shoulder length Blond hair who is ending a 14-month stretch for Possession of hashish and marijuana. Jerry said his father is a retired . Military general and his Mother is German. He and other inmates asked that their last names not be printed. Under prison rules inmates cannot be interviewed or photographed without their consent. All women requested that Only their first names be used. Inmates Are treated Well said Jerry a former pastry chef and Cook. A the poles and East germans say its like a hotel in Many ways the atmosphere is like a College dormitory a Only with bars. Each inmate has his own cell a narrow room with a solid wooden door for privacy. Pinups Grace some Walls. Food and sundry items sold at a prison canteen line shelves. Each cell contains a television. The design of Butzbach prison a where every area of the four floor prison can be observed from a Central Rotunda a is based on the Pennsylvania prison system. A these ladies make life More pleasant. At least of know you re not forgotten about Quot said Rick a 42-\cirold native of Quot South Rick a Vietnam who worked for a private contractor re pairing helicopters during the persian Gulf War is serving 21 months for attempting to smuggle hashish from Holland. A we have no violence Here. We done to have to fear anything a he volunteered. Guards he said arc courteous addressing each inmate As Rick works in one of the prisons Many factories that make rain gutters clothes shoes furniture or components for opel and Mercedes autos. Inmates May earn As much As 400 Marks $240 monthly. Most inmates learn to adapt to the restrictions placed on their Freedom. A for me its of. I Haven to seen hard times Here Quot drawled a 36-year-old prisoner who refused to give his name. A a it a not Good for my re sum a he joked. He is serving a 33-month term for smuggling cocaine and heroin across the dutch Border. The inmate said he a grateful authorities transferred him from a prison in Aachen Germany so he could be near Frankfurt where his wife and two children live. He plans to apply for vacation privileges soon. The inmate who served seven years in the military said he spends most of his time watching an and Reading the stars and stripes. A you make it what you want it to be a he said. Ray Hernandez tries to make his four year drug sentence pass quicker by keeping Busy. Each morning he awakes at 6 . To go to work making parts for tiny electronic dynamos. At 3 . He returns to his cell to watch television or read in either English a Spanish or French. A i find these visits Good for my psychological Well being a said the single Parent of two teen age girls. The children live with friends in the states. Hernandez 41, was convicted of attempting to smuggle drugs from South America to Germany. A builder of Coin operated kiddie rides he confided that he resorted to drug smuggling after his company went bankrupt. Hernandez a native of puerto Rico seems to be coping Well with everything with one exception. A i can to handle German weather a he said with a Grin. Freddy Mercer who proclaims he is innocent of the 1985 murder of a German actor in Kassel said of his prison life a i done to smoke. Sometimes i done to sleep at night a he spends much of his Days and nights working on Copper Art and working on his Appeal. Although his family lives in Fulda Germany a amps Jim Derheim Freddy Mercer works on a Copper Wall in european prisons the following is a list of european countries and the number of incarcerated americans in 1991, according to the state departments Bureau of consular affairs austria.8 Belgium.14 czechoslovakia.2 denmark.11 finland.1 france.42 Germany.201 greece.18 hungary.3 ireland.3 italy.54 luxembourg.2 netherlands.29 norway.4 poland.2 portugal.13 romania.1 spain.74 sweden.6 switzerland.37 turkey.8 United kingdom.88 yugoslavia.4 Bulgaria and Albania Are the Only european countries not on this list because that Kjad no . Citizens in custody As of Doc. 31,1991. The european total comes to 625. . Citizens in foreign prisons worldwide As of dec. 31, 1991, was 2,720. Figures for 1992 will be available in late january. Mercer is still grateful for the women a visits. A a it a a Blessing Quot he said. A a lot of americans have no Waldmann Bohn sees the visits As a two Way Street. A the experience of being there is life changing As much for the women if not More so than for the men a she said. A they see people they otherwise would never see and we begin to get a deeper sense of what prisons Are about Why we have them and what they re not a i wanted to do something to help other people something where i would be giving out not just social a said Nancy a former elementary school teacher from Illinois. A i think its important not to get preconceived ideas of people in prison a said Anne a resident of Johannesburg South Africa. A they had a life before prison and have a life after this was Annex a first prison visit. She admitted that curiosity As much As Good will carried her there. A you Are fascinated a she said. A a in a struck they re just so Normal. They re just Normal people. I get the feeling they really appreciate our Susan has been going to the prison for two years. Quot there a never a Lull in the conversation a she said. A two weeks before the presidential election the conversation was about the candidates. They were Well informed on the Inge the Only German member of the group said she looked for something different to do after her children left Home two years ago a something More than playing Faith and an inner voice compelled her to go to the prison she said. She quoted a passage from the Bible a what you have done to the least of my Brethren you have done to me. She said she regards the prisoners As people not criminals. A i realize they Are human beings like i am a she said. In a Given situation the same thing could have happened to me or my Barbara the wife of an american civilian said she came initially out of curiosity. Her chief concern was that the men were treated right. She a convinced they Are. Quot when i leave Here i feel Good for it a she said. Judging from their smiles handshakes and hugs it Vas a feeling they All shared. Page 4 a sunday december 13. 1992gifts crawling with spiders Worms mice and leeches by Dave Barry for the third straight year despite numerous threats of Federal prosecution we Are proud to present our Holiday gift guide. You have no idea How much work we put into this. The Effort began Way Back in april when we assembled our team of gift guide buyers gave each one an unlimited expense account and sent them off to scour the Gloslie in search of the ultimate in unique and tasteful gift concepts. We have Learned to a expect the unexpected from our highly trained shopping professional but even we were amazed when six months later none of them returned. We have no idea where they Are now although the state department has notified us that at one Point they threw a party that resulted in considerable damage to Belgium. What this Means is that for the third straight year we do not have any tasteful gift concepts for our Holiday gift guide. But this setback has not dampened our Holiday spirits. We Are like the whose the cute and plucky Little critters who had their Christmas stolen away from them by the mean old Grinch in the or. Seuss Story How the Grinch stoic Christmas. Even though the Grinch took away All the whose material things a their gifts and Trees a he could not take away their Holiday spirit. And thus the who were Able in the Story a heartwarming conclusion to put together a Holiday gift guide and charge advertisers a lot of Money to be in it. That is the spirit that drives us Here at the Holiday gift command Center. We cancelled All our regular appointments and spent close to a full hour assembling the collection of gift items you arc about to see. We want to stress that we re not making any of these items up. They Are real things that we purchased with Miami Herald Money that might otherwise have been used by real reporters to gather actual news. We also want to stress that we never put any item into the gift guide until it has been subjected to rigorous testing procedures. So we feel confident in offering our unique lifetime consumer satisfaction guarantee if you Purchase an item featured in this gift guide and at any Point during your lifetime you become for any reason less that 100 percent satisfied with it then nyah nyah nyah. And we stand behind those words. Auto Security spider $24.95 from aah 14548 Ventura blvd., Sherman Oaks Calif. 91403, phone 818 907-0300. Consider this in the United states an automobile is stolen every 14.7 seconds. If that statistic scares you think How we Felt when we made it up. Because we were fully aware that the actual statistic could be even worse. That a Why chances Are there a somebody on your Holiday gift list who would like nothing better than to receive a Quality car Security device. But which one probably the Best known car Security device is the club. This product is advertised extensively via a to comm Erica wherein a person claiming to be a police officer tells you that he a standing on a spot from which a car has just been stolen. What bothers us about this commercial is this if the police officer knows the car has just been stolen Why Isnit he doing anything about it Why is he just standing there yammering away about the club is that what the taxpayers Are paying him to do he be chasing the car thief or could it be that a w e done to want to Start rumours but we have to consider every possibility a the thief has stolen the police officers car in that Case we have to ask ourselves if the club is really All its cracked up to be. We have to ask ourselves if there is perhaps another car Security product on the Market that would offer Superior automotive Protection plus certain other useful qualities such As being Able to float in a swimming Pool. Fortunately there is such a product the spider. This is a High Quality piece of Limp plastic that can be easily wadded into a Glove compartment. When you Park your car you simply remove the spider spend a pleasant and relaxing 10 or 15 minutes blowing it up and void French meaning a a Eek you have a Large inflated arachnid on your hands. To your Security device you simply fasten the spiders legs around your steering wheel using the convenient velcro strips. You can now walk away in a Carefree manner knowing that even the most hardened professional thief is going to think twice before Messing with your vehicle lies la take one look at the spider and wisely elect to move on to a More vulnerable car such As one protected by the Hamster. We Are not just blowing smoke when we make these claims. We tested the spider in a real world environment involving an actual car. We observed the car for a full minute and absolutely nothing happened a despite printed statistics indicating that during that time the average car should have been stolen four times. But there a More the spider can also be used As a personal Security device. Yes. If you find yourself in a neighbourhood frequented by violent criminals simply inflate the spider fasten it around your neck and stroll confidently on your Way As the criminals give you a wide berth for fear of coming in Contact with your saliva. Eight foot beef stick about $3. Manufactured by Bridgford food corp., 170 n. Green st., Chicago Iii. 60607, phone 312 733-0300. A constant headache this time of year is deciding what to feed your Holiday guests. On the one hand you want a dish that is easy to prepare. On the other hand you want something that takes an extremely Long time to Chew. Well look no further Mccause this eight foot beef stick is exactly the Holiday food product for you. We purchased our beef stick at an Iowa City Iowa Kmart. It was part of a Nice display at the Cash Register to attract those impulse buyers who get to the checkout counter and say to themselves a they i could go for eight feet of beef stick right about that a the Beauty of the beef stick you can eat it continued on Page Ita ight poot 3.ee-f stick Iii time my Rittel h. I a h i Yum Yum Yum. December 13, 1992 sunday a Page 5
