You've got to be kidding!

It's a small world after all!

If I hear 1 more dumb blond joke!

Two Upper Rogue Ladies Meet and Discuss Their Common History in Wartime and Postwar Germany

At noon on Thursday, August 9, 2001 two petite ladies one in her 60's and the other in her early 70's met for the first time at Two Pines Cafe. Not knowing what each looked like, a mutual friend brought them together. She felt they shared so many common roots in their lives. Karla Podlech a trim tanned reserved quiet spoken Shady Cove resident sat quietly waiting to meet Hanni Fuller from nearby Trail. She remarked to me how excited she was to finally meet this local lady who grew up in Leipzig. And now lived so close by. Hanni a vivacious fair skinned blonde came in and greeted Karla warmly with a smile and a German greeting to set her at ease. Hanni said that meeting a German born lady like Karla here in Jackson County was a first for her. This was the start of a fascinating conversation that moved along with no awkward moments for a little over an hour. A very brief sketch will emerge from that first meeting and then we will put it into the context of the larger historical framework of a divided Germany later to be expanded by a series of narratives.

Can you imagine running to catch a train to freedom from Eastern Germany in March. 1956 when the only alternative was a Russian prison? A stranger's wrist reached out between moving cars at Marienborn to capture the hand of a running 19-year-old Karla. She knew from very painful first hand experience the oppression of post -war Germany. A 26-year-old Hanni left Communist Germany under similar circumstances a year previous. Or picture a school girl out for a walk with her mother over an overpass were suddenly looking on as a group of Jews with black coats tagged with the traditional Star of David were being forced to march around and around until they boarded the Death Trains to the concentration camps. A 7 or 8 year old Hanni, clasping her mother's hand, questioned the scene and they were shushed by an officer with a rifle. What terror these two innocent bystanders must have felt! These were a few of the vivid pictures of an oppressed people that colored the momentous hour we spent together. Their reminiscences are rich with historical interest.

For more facts about the Berlin Wall:

8-10-1 BERLIN (AFP) - The Berlin Wall, whose construction began early on August 13 1961, was constantly modified and reinforced until it fell 28 years later, having cost the lives of at least 250 people who died trying to cross it. Another 5,000 people succeeded in escaping over or under it into West Berlin, according to the latest figures produced by the "August 13 Working Group" which has devoted itself to researching such questions. The total length of the Wall was 155 kilometres (about 97 miles), of which 43 kilometres ran roughly north-south, cutting the city in two, while another 112 kilometres isolated the enclave of West Berlin from the surrounding East German state. A "no-man's land" ran the length of the Wall, varying from the width of a street to about 300 metres (yards), effectively blighting the immediate terrain around for normal human use. For more than 106 kilometres of its length, the Wall was composed of panels of reinforced concrete to a height of 3.60 metres, with a roundedtop providing no toe- or hand-hold for any would-be climber. The rest was composed of metallic grill fencing. A total of 302 watchtowers and 20 bunkers were manned by seven units of 1,000 to 1,200 soldiers each. The Wall was also protected by 124kilometres of patrol routes, 127 detector and alarm devices, 259 paths for watchdogs and 105 kilometres of ditches dug to trap vehicles in. The watchtowers, some 250-200 metres apart in the city centre, were connected by paths for the guards on patrol. With lamp posts every 30 metres, the Wall was also the best-illuminated part of all Berlin. By contrast, East Berlin was quite dark at night. The land adjoining the Wall was under constant examination to detect any footprints, but devices which automatically fired shots at those who ventured onto the Wall were dismantled in later years. Instead, a second,inner wall was built along it on the eastern side. The number who people who died trying to cross is uncertain. Estimates vary from 239 to 270. Demolition began rapidly after the East German authorities gave the order to allow people free passage through the Bernauerstrasse crossing point on the evening of November 9 1989. Souvenir hunters carried away much of the structure but some of it has been preserved in place. In parallel with the Berlin Wall, the 1,400-kilometre-long inter-German border was also marked by barbed wire, metal grill fences equipped with electronic detection equipment, and landmines. An estimated 960 people in all died trying to cross from East Germany to the West, according to the August 13 Working Group. The group said that 40,101 people broke out from East to West, of which 5,043 entered West Berlin via the Wall. (excerpt from Rense.com)

"The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government." ---Patrick Henry

Click to make comments or ask questions about anything on this website.

To contact the editor, click here: editor@rogueforum.com