Berlin Germany - A Small Island With A Difference

I have sometimes written on this website about small islands.  For example, I have written about my visits to Madeira, Malta, Cyprus and Middle Caicos. Let me now write about a small island with a difference.

This small island was not surrounded by oceans like those other small islands.  Instead, from 1945 until 1989, it was surrounded by land under the control of communists and was therefore cut off from the western world. During those years, it was a tiny island of freedom inside the vast red expanse of the Soviet empire. This small island was of course West Berlin which, since the fall of the Berlin Wall, has been reunited with East Berlin and has resumed its position as Germany’s capital.

Pat and I passed through the reunified city for the first time in July 2010. We were only there for seven hours, which is no basis for writing anything at all about such a large and historic city as Berlin. At least Pat has had the wisdom not to pontificate on the subject of Japan, simply because she was once a transit passenger through Tokyo airport!  Nevertheless, I must mention some of the places in Berlin, which saw the making of history and of which I was fortunate enough to catch a fleeting glimpse during our visit.

Firstly, there was the Berlin Wall itself, separating East Berlin from West Berlin.  A very short stretch of the wall still stands and I filmed Pat touching it.  We resisted the temptation to take home a little piece of the wall as a souvenir.  We can always buy a piece on E-bay, if need be.  Indeed, so many pieces of the wall have been offered for sale on E-bay that one could build many walls with them.  Before the wall was built by the communists in 1961, millions were using Berlin as an escape route from East Germany. After the wall was built, thousands still managed to escape to West Berlin though hundreds perished in the attempt.

Checkpoint Charlie - Then and Now

A guard house now stands at the intersection of Zimmerstrasse and Friedrichstrasse to mark the location of Checkpoint Charlie, the best known of all the crossing points across the Berlin Wall. This was of particular interest to Pat, whose late brother served with US military intelligence in Berlin at the height of the Cold War. Much of his time then was spent in the vicinity of Checkpoint Charlie, where his fluent German – free of any foreign accent – allowed him to gather useful information. Today, the guard house is staffed by actors dressed as allied military police with whom tourists can have their pictures taken.  Nearby is the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, in which we inspected a number of motor vehicles with hidden compartments, used to smuggle refugees across the Wall.

1936 Olympic Stadium Berlin

We also visited the stadium built for the 1936 Olympic Games. There we visited the Bell Tower, which is several hundred feet high and from the top of which we were able to enjoy, not only the stadium itself, but also spectacular views across Berlin. Fortunately the tower contained an elevator, otherwise I would never have made it to the top! When one compares the present view with 1945 photographs showing the total devastation of Berlin, one can only marvel at the recovery.

Reichstag - Home of German Parliament

There are also fine views across Berlin in every direction to be seen from the platforms underneath the glass dome which has recently been built on top of Germany’s parliament building, the Reichstag. It was thrilling to see the Reichstag and to recall its place in history since its construction in 1894.  In February 1933, just four weeks after Hitler had been sworn in as Chancellor of Germany, the Reichstag fire started mysteriously and thereby prevented parliament from subsequently using the building.  This conveniently enabled Hitler to circumvent parliament and to suspend civil liberties. The Reichstag was badly damaged then and also by allied air raids during World War Two. That war was prolonged by two days in 1945 when 1500 Nazis made their final stand in the Reichstag. The building was later beautifully restored and, since 1990, has been the meeting place for the parliament of reunified Germany.

Brandenberg Gate and Berlin wall

Finally, we came to the Brandenburg Gate. Built in 1791, it lies to the west of the center of old Berlin. This Gate is the monumental entry to the Unter den Linden, which is the well-known boulevard of linden trees that once led to the palace of the Prussian emperors.

This Gate was the site of the famous speech by President Reagan in 1987, when he challenged the Soviets.  “Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate” and “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall,” cried the President.

The Brandenburg Gate was not the site of an earlier speech by a US President in 1963, when President John F Kennedy proclaimed “Ich bin ein Berliner – the literal translation of which is “I am a jelly donut”.  That speech was made in front of City Hall, when his huge audience perfectly well understood what JFK meant and appreciated the support that he was promising to the beleaguered people of West Berlin.

The story of the Brandenburg Gate recently had a happy ending in November 2009 when the present German Chancellor Angela Merkel, together with Mr. Gorbachev himself and former Polish president Lech Waleska, walked through the Gate to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Political leaders walk through Brandenberg gate 11/9/2009

So we accomplished much in those seven hours, despite having to cope with a humid temperature of a 100 degrees Fahrenheit.  While it is sad not to have been able to take more time to enjoy these famous places, together with many others that are to be found in Berlin, it is far better to have had a fleeting glimpse of them than never to have seen them at all.

This piece, written by Bob, was originally posted on our website on February 11, 2013.

Juarez Mexico - How Juarez has changed !!!

Benito Juarez

In 1848, it was provided by treaty that the Rio Grande would serve as the border between Texas and Mexico.  However that river divided a city, which was discovered as long ago as 1659 by explorers seeking a way through the southern Rocky Mountains.  So there developed two adjoining cities, one in Texas and one in the Chihuahua province of Mexico.  The city in Texas became El Paso.  The city in Mexico became Juarez, after it was eventually named in honor of the Mexican revolutionary, Benito Juarez.

I awoke one morning in a hotel in El Paso, Texas and decided to cross the border that day to take a look at Juarez. I was without a car, but the border itself and Juarez beyond it were both within walking distance of my hotel.

People in line at US Customs Border connecting El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico. Date taken 1943 LIFE Photographer Charles E. Steinheimer

I stood in line at the border post.  Everyone else on foot looked to be Mexican and I do not look Mexican.  This was probably why a US border guard walked up to me and said to me in English "Have you heard that the President has been shot?"  I assumed that he was referring to the President of Mexico and I had no idea whether any attempted assassination had proved fatal.  People were still passing through the border checkpoint, so I kept walking with them over a bridge which crossed a very dried up Rio Grande.  Eventually I found myself in the center of the city of Juarez.  It was very picturesque with no shortage of good restaurants.  There was plenty of sightseeing to do and many pretty churches to admire. Quite frankly, I had entirely forgotten about the possible assassination attempt on the President of Mexico. Yet when I attempted to return to El Paso, I found that the border had been closed. I could see El Paso in the distance topped by its forest of US flags. In every case, the stars and stripes were flying at half staff.  I then realized my mistake.

JFK motorcade just before he was shot

The date, of course, was November 22^nd 1963.  Everyone remembers where they were at the time that President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas, Texas.  The border guard, who had spoken to me earlier, has been referring to JFK rather than to the Mexican president. Now Dallas is 650 miles away from El Paso at the other end of Texas, but that did not matter. The whole Texas/Mexico border had been sealed in both directions and I was unable to return to the USA that day. My stay in Juarez therefore became longer than planned. With some difficulty, I found a hotel room in Juarez where I remained glued to the television. Although Lee Harvey Oswald had been arrested in Dallas within a few hours of the assassination, it could not at first be determined whether or not Oswald had been acting alone. Therefore the entire Texas/Mexico border had been sealed to prevent the escape of any possible accomplices. The following day the border was re-opened and I returned to my El Paso hotel. When there, I once again remained glued to the television, on which I then witnessed the murder of Oswald by Jack Ruby.

Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald

Although I have just mentioned certain shocking acts of violence in Dallas, the times themselves were not violent. In 1963, I could safely wander across the bridge from Texas into Juarez, alone and on foot. I could then sit in a Juarez café on the sidewalk, contentedly enjoying the music of Mexico and watching the world go by. I would not be bothered by anyone. Yet, in October 2008, the US State Department had to issue an alert cautioning Americans about the dangers of traveling to Mexico. It specifically cited the situation in Juarez as being of special concern. That is because Juarez has now become the epicenter of the drug cartel wars.

Investigators photograph a man stabbed to death in Juarez

Violence in Juarez has now become so widespread that innocent bystanders are becoming victims as a matter of routine. Dozens of journalists have been killed, just because they are journalists. In the past decade, hundreds of young women have been abducted and murdered in this region.

While the drug cartel wars are the main reason for what is happening, the breakdown of law and order is also due to extreme poverty and to government corruption. When governments neglect their basic responsibilities and instead interfere in areas where they have no business to be, this is what happens to society on both sides of the border. 

This piece, written by Bob, was originally posted on our website on December 7, 2008.