over

Less than one year ago,
“November 82 the Berlin Wall

. came down.

That event marked the begin-
ning of the end of the division
of Germany, Today, Oct, 3, the

re-unification of Germany .of- -

ficially takes place,

“More than any other cir-
cumstance; the. creation: of a
single Germany signals a final
end to the Second World War,
an.end to thé Cold War and an
end toa pdlitical system with
which the Warld has become
familiar fo more than 40 years,

Money, attitude change needed

Other countries; too, have
“been affected by the events tak- |
ing... place. inside. the: Soviet.
Union and in its former. client.
The = economies and:

states. ©
governments of. Poland,
Czechosiovakia, Hungary,
Romania and Bulgaria are
changing.

Below are some of the
thoughts of three local residents
who were born and raised in
two of those countries,

Each returned this year for a
visit and each gathered in-
dividual impressions of what
has taken place.

B Baltic States. 4
Estonia
Latvia iy
Lithuania

The challenge of a united G

There's a kind of paint used
in East Germany that illustrates
what has happened to the coun-
try, says.a local resident who
recently visited his home town
there’

“it smelis of decay and cor-
ruption,” says Willy Schneider
in describing the qualities of the
off-white, paint. ‘‘You can
scrape itioff with your finger —
like rot. ?

In many ways, said
Schneider, returning to his
hometown of Plauen, near the
border with Czechoslovakia,
was like going back to his youth
because none of the buildings —

“although! in decay and falling

apart —'and surroundings had
changed,

. “Bast Germany stopped 40 or
50 years ago, once the Iron Cur-
tain went up,’ he said of the
country he left in 1947.

One: reason was the sealing
off of -East Germany. fromthe:
rest of the world;: except,.for
other. communist countries, .by
Stalin following the end of the
Second World War.

The Soviet leader stripped the
country of what machinery that
wasn't destroyed in the war.

“Stalin saw his chance to get
even with at least a portion of
the German population,"’ said
Schneider in recalling the war
losses of the Soviets caused by
German leader Adolf Hitler.

What industry that was left,
Schneider continued, had to be
assembled in a_ helter-skelter
fashion and hasn't progressed
since then.

At the same time, Soviet
policies were designed to create
what Schneider calls a nation of
puppets that was supported by
two pillars — fear and suspi-

Willy Schneider

cion.

‘People who have no ambi-
tion, who have no motivation,
who have no interest in
anything and who are totally
apathetic,’’ he added.

It’s that destruction of a na-
tion. over -the:course: of nearly
two. generations.that. will-be the
most. difficult to change,
Schneider said. .

From what he saw, heard and
read, Schneider feels the process
could take between five and 10
years.

“'There was initial enthusiasm
-~ on both sides — but now
there is, in the east, a fear of
what is going to happen,” he
said.

“| have spoken to a number
of West German contractors in-
volved in rebuilding the
autobahn and other road
systems .., and they are telling
me it is next to impossible to get
any work out of East German
people.’”

‘That doesn’t mean that they
are bad people, they simply are
not used to work for a day for a

fair pay. They have never done
that — if they are 40, 50 years
old they have never done that
and they cannot figure out why
they should do that now,” he
said.

Schneider does feel the re-
unification process will be pain-
ful and will cost tremendous
amounts of money to re-tool in-
dustries and to repair damage
caused by pallution.

He also feels the process will
work out and he plans to visit
again in five years to see the
progress that has taken place.

kkkkke

Fred Krautschick’s trip back
to his home town near Dresden
in East Germany was like stepp-
ing back in time.

‘In the west, places — small
villages — are kept up to date.
East Germany never had the
dollar. It’s run down, Iv ll take
alot of money,”’ he said after a
visit there this summer, ;.:

It was Kfautschick’s. first visit
there since escaping in 1963 and
says people are waiting for the
benefits of a  western-style
economy.

‘People are a little bit bitter.
There are layoffs, few com-
panies will survive after Oct, 3
(the date unification takes
place),’’ said Krautschick.

He said there are and will
continue to be massive changes
to East Germany as it adjusts
but that people will have to
learn to cope.

“Ht will take time. The spirit
of the people may be a bit
down. They must be patient. It
will be slow,”' he said.

Qne aspect of a communist-
style economy that will change
as East Germany blends in with
the west is the idea that a person

ONCE PROSPEROUS, this dairy cattle barnona a farm outside of Willy Schneider's hometown of Plauen
in what is now East Germany stands almost idie and neglected. Schneider, wha worked at the farm,

found four cows inside and iittle to remind him of the more than 300 litres of milk a day the operation
once produced.

is guaranteed a job, Krautschick
added.

“It was mismanagement

completely. There was no pro-
ductivity,’” he said.
_ The one advantage East Ger-
many has is West Germany,
Krautschick added, because the
latter.has the money and the ex-
pertise,

“Rast Germany is lucky toa
have West Germany. Other
countries, like Poland, don't
have that,’’ he said.

Assistance to East Germany

will have to come in the form of
investment for while it had one
of the more advanced com-
munist economies, it lacks
much in comparison to the
west, Krautschick added.

That investment will pay off
and a united Germany will
become a strong effective force
in the European economy, he
said.

A strong Germany may give
rise to fears from other coun-
tries but they are unfounded,
Krautschick continued.

‘People should not be afraid
about Germany anymore.
They’ve learned,”’ he said,

One realization Krautschick
gathered on his trip is the degree
to which he has become a Cana-
dian.

‘*} am a German, but I have
also 150 per cent Canadian, |
listened to people and they
seemed a little bit bitter, but
they must have patience.
Everything takes time,’’ he said.

. What was once scarce in
Poland is now plentiful — as
long as you have money, says
Steve, Pejski who spent eight
weeks: this summer in his
homeland. .
“There is no more black
market, You buy, sell

says,

Yet the economy runs on

western dollars, much the

same as did the black
market, Pejski adds.
“Eastern (Europe) money is
worth nothing.’’

‘This trip’ was the fourth
Pejski has taken since he first
returned to Poland in 1975.
He was shipped to a labour
camp in 1942, survived the

“Second World War and lived
-in’ West Germany - before
’ coming to Canada, -

On. each trip, Peiski has

_hoticed changes, adding that
some have been for the good

changes this’ time are .even
more noticeable now that. the
-gomntunist-dominated
: gOvernment | and.. cenitally-
; dontrolled: economy have
3 alven Way,

whatever you want,” he -

but others - have not. . The:

‘« Costs~ far. everything are

Costs for everything are climbing and those who
work often have more than one job to provide
enough money for the life’s necessities.

climbing and those who work
often have more than one job
to provide encugh money for
the life’s necessities.

Apartment rents were once
40,000 zlotys (one Canadian
dollar equals approximately
8,000 ziotys) but that has
risen to nearly
zlotys, said Pejski.

That makes life difficult

. for those who are on pen-
sions .which are roughly
40,000 zlotys a month. Pe-
jski’s sister who lives in War-
saw but her son and
- daughter-in-law live with her
and are able to help out, he
added.

The son-in-law, for in
stance; is a mechanic and Is
able. to bring in extra money
by doing jobs outside his -
normal workplace. me

_ “A kilo of bananas is
“12+15,000 zlotys and one egg.

“ean be 550,-A° kilogram ‘of.’ ”

toast beef can be between -
35, 000 to 50, 000 zlotys," P

100,000 -

jski continued.

And as the economy goes
through changes as it shifts
away from the communist
system, there is unemploy-
ment — ‘something that
didn’t officially exist before.

There is also an increase in
crime as some people turn to
theft to gain money, said Pe-
jski.

“Be careful where you
walk — especially at night,”’
said Pejski.

. Yet for all of that, Pejski

said the people are happy
because there is freedom of
speech and of-expression.

It's’ much, much better.
People wilt never want to go
back. You can talk about
anything you want,”’ he said.
- He recalled one incident, a
ceremony. outside the Tomb
_ of .the Unknown Soldier in

Warsaw, where the people ,
‘who: gathered: criticized
» Politicians that were there.

' “The - “police there just. _

High prices, uplifting
Spirits in new Poland

Steve Pejski
laughed. People are really
_ free,” said Pejski.
. He adds that there are
moves for people to buy the
apartments they have been
‘renting: ‘from the govern-
ment...
' The .apartments will re-
quire-. much improvements
because the rooms are small
-and, facilities in need of
repair, 'Pejski said.
; » One noticeable change Pe-

» Sski saw on this trip. was: the

ONE EXAMPLE of the Polish spitit is found in this monument,
located on the site where once stood the Warsaw cily hall. The
building was destroyed by the Germans during the Second
World War.

increase in the number of
people visiting from North
America,

Yet: despite. the conversion
of Poland = from: the. com-

munist:systém, Pejski has no!
. joy the visits because he has 4

desire to live there.

2 "]'ve lived. in’ Canada. all

these years. This is my home.
The customs there now are
different in many aspects,””
he. said.

Yet Pejski said he does ¢ en-

chance to see relatives.

serene

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