My father was in the Inspector General’s office, so he traveled around quite a bit. My parents thought it would be good for us to see as much of Europe as we could so my father, like many of his fellow officers, took his family on as many trips as he could.
While I wish I might have been older and been able to appreciate things more, perhaps it was good to see things when I was younger and more impressionable. I remember seeing Bastogne only twenty years after the Battle of the Bulge.
I think, though, that the trip that left the most important impressions on me was in June 1965, when we traveled to Berlin. At this point the Berlin Wall was less than four years old, but it had a terrible history even in such a short period of time. I read the story and saw the picture of a 16-year-old boy who had been shot and left to die while trying to escape through the barbed wire.
I thought the streetcar tracks disappearing under the wall was poignant, so I asked my mother to take a picture.
She also took a picture of my brothers and me in front of the wall.
My oldest brother was never afraid of getting on a bus and taking it to wherever. One day he took my other brother and me on a double-decker to the edge of the city on the other (non-Berlin) side. The end of the line was at a river, and there was a barbed-wire fence a couple of hundred yards away. Being the little imp I was, I remember trying to egg on the guard in the watchtower. I mockingly pulled my pockets inside out and turned around. I don’t know if it had anything to do with our presence, but I remember a couple more soldiers came to join him in the tower. I would see that they were watching us.
All the families on the trip took a tour of East Berlin. That is, all the families except the family of the officer who inspected the secret documents. His family could not go. We arrived at a museum at the same time as a class on a field trip. That class had to wait outside while we were in the museum. There was plenty of room for both groups, but they could allow them to mix with a group as dangerous as ours.
They were strange times. I hope my grandchildren do not have to see anything like them.
I enjoyed your post Matt. It's amazing how much things have changed in the last fifty years, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteNoah was also in Germany as a kid. His dad was stationed in Mainz in '57 and '58. Noah said the whole area was bombed out and in shambles; it looked like the Germans had swept out the trash, and that's it. He also said the German's weren't happy with the American occupation, and were mean and nasty. I guess that's understandable.
We had some German friends. They owned a restaurant close to where we lived. I think there was give and take on both sides.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, RMM. I've recently re-viewed both Tinker Tailor and Smiley's People after a thirty year period. Guinness at his best- relentless, mesmerizing acting, with a flawless supporting cast. But the underlying story was absolutely real- we were at war with an implacable foe armed with nukes. Fortunately, thanks to RR and The Iron Lady, we won.
ReplyDeleteIt's great that you still have those pictures, they must mean the world to you! The photo of you brothers evokes the gravity of that awful wall. And the disappearing tracks? It's heartbreaking.
ReplyDeleteI so envy you being stationed in Europe. We were in Panama for 3 years and got to see quite a bit but I would have loved to go to Germany.
The paranoia to let both groups in at once is surprising.
Thanks for sharing this part of your childhood, Matt. It seems incomprehensible that partition would happen again but who knows? Do you think one day Korea can be reunited? If this doesn't illustrate the evils of communism, nothing does.
Those pictures and your story are fascinating Matt. Thank you for posting them.
ReplyDeleteMy dad used to travel to East Germany on business and he had occasional trouble at Checkpoint Charlie, having been born in Germany, even though he had a British passport. He used to take his kosher food with him, and it got confiscated more than once. They made trouble over his Tefillin too, prising the boxes open to see what was inside.
But he had some funny stories too - how he hung his kosher salami out of his hotel window to keep it cold; how he lit his Channukah candles in his room and the fire brigade turned up while he was in the shower because the candles had turned on the smoke alarm... Things happen to my dad. :)
I don't know how your dad could stand to go back, annie, after what the Germans did to him and his family. I guess he had to for work...
ReplyDeleteFlorrie, yes, that's the reality of it. My mother refused - and refuses to this day - to set foot on German soil. We asked their permission before we bought German appliances for our home. My grandmother would never get into a Mercedes, even though at one time all the Israelis taxis were Mercedes.
ReplyDeleteBut the strange thing is that nowadays Germany is probably one of Israel's best friends. Amongst other things they supply the Israeli Navy with submarines.
Go figure. My grandparents would never believe it.
Thank you for sharing annie. Wow.
ReplyDeleteI don't blame your mom a bit, annie. I'm not saying I can know what she feels but I think it would be hard for me not to hate them.
ReplyDeleteOh, there was plenty of hate in the old days florrie. But once the war generation passed things changed on both sides. And the Germans, more than any other country that took part in the Holocaust, made very great efforts to compensate Israel and the Jews. And remember, there were many other countries that took part - Poland, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, France, the list goes on.
ReplyDeleteAnd the Germans, more than any other country that took part in the Holocaust, made very great efforts to compensate Israel and the Jews.
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm glad for that.
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ReplyDeleteLets try again. In 1957 the bridges were still bombed and the a few buildings around town were partial. It was occupied territory. Most of the vehicles on the roads were our army. Our teachers spoke no English. The Germans who lived in town had barbed wire around their yards. It was a strange time.
ReplyDeleteThat's creepy, Noah. I can't imagine what it must have been like to live there...
ReplyDeleteA funny side note. xGermany was divided into four sectors -- not just "East" and "West." There was the U.S., the Soviet, the British, and the French. The U.S., British, and French sectors made up the "West." Berlin was divided the same way.
ReplyDeleteUntil the fall of the Soviet Union. Germany was still considered "occupied territory." My oldest brother went into the Army and served in Germany several times. Because he served there when it was still "occupied," he technically was considered to have served during WWII even though he was not born until 1950.