Berlin: 750 years young Fireworks greeted the New Year and Berlin’s 750th anniversary. A dazzling half-hour display of sight and | Sound marked the beginning of a year of celebrations for | Berliners. But Berlin is a divided city and has been so divided _ Since 1945 when World War II ended with the defeat of | Hitler fascism. Most of us were born after this war or Were too young to remember the death and destruction it brought to a very large part of the world. We have not _ known anything else in our political lives than the exis- | tence of two opposing social systems — one socialist | headed by the Soviet Union and the other imperialist | headed by the United States. ___ The post-war generation has to a certain extent grown | accustomed to this division, but very few of us can imagine what it is like to live in a city that is also divided - Into two social systems. Berlin’s division took place in the immediate after- Math of the Second World War: At the Potsdam Con- ference in the summer of 1945, the United States, Fr- ance, Great Britain and the Soviet Union agreed to eradicate German fascism and militarism, rebuild Ger- Alexanderplatz: socialist Berlin’s city centre. A tale of two cities From Berlin Gerry van Houten many on a democratic and peaceful basis and divided both the country and Berlin into four occupation zones. Nosooner was the division implemented when the cold war began. Led by the United States, the three western powers unilaterally set up the Federal Republic of Ger- many (FRG) in violation of the Potsdam agreements. The FRG was remilitarized rather than demilitarized and was incorporated into NATO. The foundation of the GDR and its membership in the Warsaw Pact came later. In their drive to ‘“contain communism’’, the western powers turned their sector of Berlin into a base of opera- tions against the GDR and the entire socialist com- munity. Berlin became a source of world tension. Eco- nomic sabotage and armed provocations against and inside the GDR were the rule until August 1961 when the GDR was finally compelled to take remedial measures in defence of its economy and security — the building of the wall. The wall stopped the economic sabotage and sharply curtailed armed and other provocations. In the long run, the Western powers were forced to face the reality of a socialist community determined to defend the GDR’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. And they were also forced to realize that West Berlin could not function without some kind of co-operation from the GDR. Thus in September 1971, the four oc- cupying powers concluded the Quadripartite Agreement on West Berlin which, among other things, stipulated that West Berlin is not part of the FRG. This agreement defused international tension over Berlin, but it has not eliminated armed provocations against the GDR. ts City Hall. On the right the sign on the building reads “Berlin, City of Peace”. Every year there are roughly 2,000 incidents along the border. An average of six each year involve pro- vocations with tanks driven by soldiers of the occupying Western powers. Eight GDR soldiers have been killed since 1961 by gun fire from West Berlin. About 150 professional anti-communist organizations have offices in West Berlin. Sometimes these right-wing groups shoot across the wall in full view of West Berlin police — and nothing is done. They even climb the roofs of West Berlin’s taller buildings close to the border in order to get a better shot at their intended victims on the other side. An acquaintance of ours who lives in a high-rise near the wall had the unsettling experience of waking up to the sound of breaking class and discovered a bullet hole in her window and the bullet itself lodged in her living room wall. Ordinarily, however, there is an appearance of normality between the two Berlins. But the West never allows the GDR to forget that hostile forces are waiting and watching for the first opportunity. INTERNATIONAL FOCUS Tom Morris Hiding behind Civil liberties God, how they protest! The report of the Deschene inquiry into war criminals in Canada hasn’t yet been made public, and the ultra-right al- ready is screaming to high heaven. They bought a $17,000 full Page ad in the Toronto press, Feb. 2, warning that Canada’s Civil liberties are threatened if the. government acts to bring nazi war criminals to justice. ‘Protect the Innocent”’, it’s headed. Protect the innocent? Civil berties? Strange words coming from this lot. Former nazi collabora- tors do live here, brought to this country after World War Wo in the anti-communist binge of the day. Nazis after » Were the ultimate anti- Communists — and that was Criteria. Belatedly, 40 years later, Some small steps may be taken to find out who these criminals oe how they can be dealt Civil liberties is the very last Concern of the organizations which paid for the ad. Many of them have much to hide, and setting the wheels of justice in motion fills them with dread. That’s exactly the point. Canada was part of the Nuremburg findings and the pledge to pursue nazi war criminals relentlessly. Suc- cessive governments in Ot- tawa have broken that prom- ise, provided haven for nazi criminals, and by so doing spit on the graves of millions of vic- tims. Now we may Saeki ae tunity to help clear the slate. . shouldn't be missed. The guil- ty may no longer hide behind the innocent, or civil liberties, or, in many cases, their well- entrenched positions. T# ™ Occupied Ukraine, 1943: Galizien Nazi officers. ‘ % te ‘ : in - * Violating civil liberties And, while managing to let all sorts of scum into the coun- try over the years in as political an immigration policy as could be devised, federal officials do draw the line somewhere. It isn’t the veterans of Hit- ler’s Waffen-SS Division Gali- zien of Ukrainian nazis living here that worries the protec- tors of our frontiers. In 1950 Ottawa sectfetly lifted its re-. striction forbidding Waffen-SS personnel from entering Can- ada and some 1,200 to 2,000 took advantage of this gener- osity. Vietnamese collabora- tors with the U.S. occupiers are also no problem. Division parade inspected by Jump off a Polish freighter in a Canadian port or a GDR air- craft at Gander and you'll get instant service from Canada Immigration. If you play hockey for a Czechoslovak team or dance in a Soviet ballet company, just ask and thou shalt receive in the name of ‘‘freedom’’ and ““democracy”’. * * * But if you’re a left-wing Sal- vadoran journalist facing the worst kind of torture and death, forget it. That’s what Victor Regalado learned Feb 3 as his last appeal for refugee status was rejected. He will now be expelled from these shores after more than four years of legal battles. Regalado was deemed ‘‘detrimental to the national in- terest’ in signed certificates by former solicitor-general Rob- ert Kaplan and former immi- gration minister Lloyd Axwor- thy (both now born-again democrats as Liberal opposi- tion MPs). Federal immigration officer Len Westerberg told the press Regalado has had the full treatment under Canadian law. He certainly has. PACIFIC TRIBUNE, FEBRUARY 11, 1987 e 9 Mocking civil liberties As luck would have it, the crypto-fascist ad protesting the work of the Deschene inquiry - took up all of page two in Feb. 2 Globe & Mail. On its reverse side (page 3) was an equally offensive ad. This one urges you to travel to South Africa ‘‘to see for yourself’. It’s ‘‘fact-finding tour 2”” — a scarcely disguised ploy (at $3,918 per person) by the regime to take gullible (and well-heeled) Canadians on a carefully managed trip. Ad copywriters tried mas- terfully to sound up-beat: “briefings on the dismantling of apartheid’ and ‘‘visits to black and coloured areas’ are offered. One ‘‘important feature”’ in- cluded: ‘‘Talk to anyone about anything’’. How about Nelson Mandela? Or the estimated 2,000 detained children? Or tens of thousands of banned persons? The ad describes South Africa as ‘‘an African state with a dominant Third World element.”’ Get it?