The question has been playing on my mind since a conversation I had with Kati a few months ago. Kati's German. Kati was born in East Germany - that was when East Germany was a nation overrun by Soviet troops. Kati's dad was in the East German air force. The town they lived in (I don't recall the name) was close to one of the country's major air bases. Obviously, its inhabitants were connected to the force, in some way or the other.
Then on November 9, 1989, the Wall in Berlin came down, signalling the unification of Germany as a single country. While people rejoiced in the streets of Berlin, residents of Kati's town were not too sure of what happened. There was an air of disbelief, as they saw the clouds of uncertainty.
Kati, who was barely six at that time, remembers they no longer had to wake up really early in the morning to queue up for hours outside a ration shop for a couple of bananas and an orange. That was good. Now, the new German forces would deliver them their daily bread.
But not everything was good. The East Germans had lost their country. They did not have an identity anymore. They no longer existed on paper. Their degrees, university qualifications, passports, identity proofs were all derecognised. They lost all their jobs. Millions of them.
Those like Kati's father who worked with the forces were left out in the cold. Thankfully, Kati's mom was allowed to work as a doctor after she finished a short medical course. Kati's dad could have joined the united Germany's armed forces, but he would have had to start from scratch. He didn't want to do that. He started doing some odd jobs for survival and later opened his own business.
Kati says her dad's never been the same again. He just does it because he has to have a job. All he wanted to do was wave out to fighter aircraft that it was ok to take-off. That was his big responsibility and he loved every day of his job as an air force officer.
For Kati, the change didn't affect her much as she had just started school. Yes, she'd missed out on Walt Disney in her younger years (only Russian cartoons were telecast in East Germany), but she managed to catch up on Backstreet Boys and American music later in life.
Then on November 9, 1989, the Wall in Berlin came down, signalling the unification of Germany as a single country. While people rejoiced in the streets of Berlin, residents of Kati's town were not too sure of what happened. There was an air of disbelief, as they saw the clouds of uncertainty.
Kati, who was barely six at that time, remembers they no longer had to wake up really early in the morning to queue up for hours outside a ration shop for a couple of bananas and an orange. That was good. Now, the new German forces would deliver them their daily bread.
But not everything was good. The East Germans had lost their country. They did not have an identity anymore. They no longer existed on paper. Their degrees, university qualifications, passports, identity proofs were all derecognised. They lost all their jobs. Millions of them.
Those like Kati's father who worked with the forces were left out in the cold. Thankfully, Kati's mom was allowed to work as a doctor after she finished a short medical course. Kati's dad could have joined the united Germany's armed forces, but he would have had to start from scratch. He didn't want to do that. He started doing some odd jobs for survival and later opened his own business.
Kati says her dad's never been the same again. He just does it because he has to have a job. All he wanted to do was wave out to fighter aircraft that it was ok to take-off. That was his big responsibility and he loved every day of his job as an air force officer.
For Kati, the change didn't affect her much as she had just started school. Yes, she'd missed out on Walt Disney in her younger years (only Russian cartoons were telecast in East Germany), but she managed to catch up on Backstreet Boys and American music later in life.
No comments:
Post a Comment