1961-08-24 — Page 6

Page

RETURN RIDE FROM

EAST BERLIN

I

WHERE

BARRIERS

CANNOT

HIDE THE TENSION

By Colin Lawson

Berlin.

TRAVELLED back- wards and forwards between East and West Berlin the other day.

First of all I went by car. Then by elevated railway, And finally by underground.

And

I

saw

something of

the ruthless measures. which the Communista are taking to seal off their population from the Western world.

More than 50,000 East Berlin men and women are commuters who work in the West, draw valuable

and West marks, change thent into East marks at Ave to one. Some are taxi- drivers, others walters, kitchen porters, mechanica: more than 500 are women.

Effective

One garage had dive sitters, four came from the East, and now only one man the West Berliner will report for work, Into East Berlin daily travel nearly 10,000 inen from the West to work. Most come from Wedding, the Red suburb of the test, These workers will be allowed to cross to and fro freely.

My trips into the East illustrated the near 100 per cent effectiveness of the plug in the Irun Curtain.

At the Brandenburg Cate my ear was checked by three hofty, ormed People's Policemen, I watched as they examined minutely Germans wanting to get lato West Berlin. Two men explained they lived in the West and had been staying the night with friends when the clamp come on.

They were allowed through. A weeping womari from the East said her daughter was ill in hospital. She was refused and told "Get a doctor's certi- Boute."

Ordered out

E on without his passengers, The driver stayed.

On the West side thousands of sightseers stared Into the

nussian sector. Lorry-louds of

West Berlin riot police wero posted ready to throw back any

the

hot-headed attempt by milliant East sector.

anti-Communista to storm

t loured thr East Berlin main structs. Small crowds were scattered through them,

and- talking

gesticulating excitedly.

scotiered But they whenever military patrols were sighted.

1 tamed my car accidentally Lito a street with a hastily erected one-way sign on it. A soldier stepped from a building, waved me down with his tommy gun. And down the road I saw a dozen armoured half-tracks packed with troops.

From the East I tried to leave aver the Potsdaminer Square, which piso borders the British sector.

But a tough young East Ger- man soldier standing beside a lorry-load of troops stopped my car half a mile of acar o road- block, and I was directed to an- other exit a mile off, where I checked out.

Then I thought I would sec how things were going on in the railway, and I drove to the nearest elevated station.

One train in 10 was running. Just before the Eus! Berlin

station the train halted. From the station to West Berlin, came another train and We went on.

Into the street I walked) 1 tried to question passers-by, but they hurried on with a scared glance at the posses of police swarming on the pavements and

in the road.

I bought my return ticket. At the barrier pistol-urmed police checked every passenger. "They allowed only two out of 60 through. I showed my British разтрог and was waved through.

But I spoke in Germen to the

THE CHINA MAIL,

THURSDAY, AUGUST 24, 1961.

WITH THE BARBED WIRE UP A REPORT ON THE RUMBLING IN EAST BERLIN

FIRST to go were the

men of enterprise and ambition who had once, had visions of an ecoko- . mie miracle on the East- ern side of the Iron Cur- tain-until the State na- tionalised their firms.

They were followed by the men of property and the shopkeepers, big and small, whom the State could not provide with any goods to Hell,

Hard on their heels came the able-bodied men who could count onl real wage (with which to buy the good things In life) on the Western side of the iron fence.

Drained

Eventually the farmers and their families who could not Etumach collectivisation and controls and quotas and delivery

and, dates to the Stale;

be- laicaly perhaps, the lawyers and the judges who have long conned to administer what enn Le enlied Justleg.

A total of over two-and-a- hall million has left East Ger- many in the last 10 years. The

ticket-puncher. A policemen A

heard me, stopped me, and this time examined

passport my minutely, acanning my face to searched. The bonnet and bost make sure it agreed with the

Ал East Berlin

car

Was

papers

passport photograph. I was al- The driver was told lowed to go on.

were opened and all scuumed,

to proceed, but three passengers were ordered out. Rather than

QUOTE

Severity

In my carriage were only three other men-iwo of them Austrians.

The third was taking a short cut Wirough the Russian sector from the extreme edge of the

-by Mr W. T. Phillips, chair-French sector to a relative man, Neath, Glamorgan, Juvenile the American sector. court, fining a youth £16 for Only (wo sets of rails were trair damage:-

working. Electricians building barriers аскаже Your have to VOUR generation will have to other four.

ponsibility to socieăr.

were the

Faced with a showdown

I believe Kruschev

will drop Ulbricht

country has been drained of

brain as well as brawn,

Take a brief car ride into East Berlin and investigate the alde streets; get away from the Stalin Allee, East Berlin's show

Gate.

By Willi Frischauer

Biato-sponsored professional whisperers have been sent out to mingle with the people in the tablaries and iti the traina “ằng suggest to them; that the outcomė of the current criqla ynicht even bereliification on "East: Gorj ninh terma." Anything to dipel the mood of national,caustro- phobla which uppresios the people of Bøst debokhy,-

But East Germans (as well as West Germans) remember.Dr Gorbbola and are 'no - longer easily amenable to official pro paganda however cunningly Wished up.

While West Berlin. Is strange- ly calm, a few hours in East Berlin cannot fail to communi+ cafe to the knowledgeablo visitor the undercurrent of panic which prevails in the East..

1

#lousewives on shopping Expe- dona no longer discuss the shortages, and the price of food -they talk about tomorrow struct with the prestige cafen Yet, curiously, nelther the ers refused to just behind the Brandenburg drain on the labour force which "quotas (rates of production), bad; and this is my home after reality

accept new bad," he replied, "but not too when "peace" may become

and lum -thien inlo woriles the ExBl German defled the Communist auitori all. But if it gets worse we can pilanners of a regime in which Rubble Government nor the dearth of tles by coming out on strike and always slip across to the other long lost all confidence and hope they and their mentolie "have What will you see?

goods which makes rebelled until driven back by side. that has been left where 1 first consumer

for the Eant Soviet tanks.

-they never had much love for saw it 15 years ago; tall trees life miserable

He might have added, Dait. Krowing from the ruins of a two- German people is at the root of

Yet the current trouble.

many others told me, that they

the very storey building....

dramatically would definliely, make their despair of the East Germans move before it was too late. and their. unrest and hostility to

their rulers at this. There is no doubt at all that

grave

Although supplies of consumer goods have improved over the past two yeurs, you will still lind shops patheticnlly bare of what every Western--and West Berlin-housewife can demand

sa mnlter of course.

'Peace'

These were the motives which caused the explosion of June 17. 1953, when East German work-

THE STORY OF JOHNNY HEAD- IN-AIR

RUNNING JUST IN JOHNNY'S WAY, CAME A LITTLE DOG ONE DAY; JOHNNY'S EYES WERE STILL ASTRAY UP ON HIGH.

IN THE SKY;

AND HE NEVER HEARD THEM CRY "JOHNNY, MIND, THE DOG IS NIGH !" BUMP!

DUMP?

DOWN THEY FELL, WITH SUCH A THUMP, DOG AND JOHNNY IN A LUMP !

VICKLY

hem "STRUWIVELPETER'

PARIS NEWSLETTER A by John Moynihan

WEIRD pastime is flourishing at Auvers-sur- Oise on the outskirts of Paris where Van Gogh shot himself,

Loados Exprast Berzion

no

This inte it is the threat of peace which has caused in East Germany n_psychological com- moltoh with probably counterpart in postwar Burope. For peace to the average East German looks like per- monent separation from hi friends and relatives on the happier side of the Iron curtain -and there are literally very few East Germans Indeed who have no friends and relatives in the West.

Time now

In "pence" they see the danger of being trapped in their own country whatever economic future the Krushev-Ulbricht combination has in store for them.

in the minds of many East Ger- Juncture in world affairs consti mans this moment has now tutes perhaps the aruvest threat arrived, and there is evidence to peace. that the Communiat authorities know full well what makes their Sammy Run across the border,

Whisperers

They have launched an inter- sive propaganda campaign de- signed to convince the East Ger- mans that the Berlin policy of the Kremlin and of Pankow (scat of the East German Govern- ment) is harmless and will not lead to wor; that, if the worst comes to the worst East Ger- many, backed by Moscow, will

When 1 was last in East Berlin I asked an old friend what made him stay. "It's triumph.

Any length

To avoid an explosion which must come as surely as it did in 1933 Ulbricht will go to any length and may well seek escapo from his untenable position by deliberately provoking the Tha cident which will, confront his master Kruschev with the agonising cholge to back him up and go to wor or to drop Ulbricht and climb down.

If I were asked which of these two courses was more likely I for the second plicknative. would, without hesitation; plump

-(London Exprese Zervice);

A BURST OF HERESY FROM

As trouble

inches

closer over Berlin, a A U.S. PROFESSOR

book* comes out which will cause a flutter of anger and embarrass- ment in high places.

Its central purpose: to prove that the Western Powers and primarily the United States are responsible for starling and prolonging the cold war,

What is worse, its author is n distinguisfied specialist in in ternational relations. And (for U.S. readers) must dirconcert- ing of all, he comes from the American South, where he teaches at Nashville University, Tennessee.

'Dangerous'

By DOUGLAS CLARK

everything everywhere, Un led by France, and ultimately happily, in acting out this role, able to treat on equal terms Fleming argues, America sees a with the Communist bloc. potential Communist aggressor lurking under every bed.

Not then, when Europe con dispense with the governessy Therefore,

whenever any protection and Interference of political change or readjustment Americo, will de Gaulle be threatens, her reaponce is to ready (Fleming

to argues) say: "This is dangerous. We negotiale seriously with the must riep in and stop it."

Russians,

· This is

remarkable book. (1153

opinienst,

Classic example; Germany. Here, claims Fleming, Moscow Monumental in scope genuinely fears an explosion pages), fantastically unless an up-to-date settlement ed. But compulsively readable, profoundly you. is reached. But America will And, however only negotiate on the basis of may disagree with it, a burst of Fleming's general an unconditional Soviet surren- heresy from America does the

heart good. thesis is that Russia rejected a der at the conference table. policy of military conquest 40

(London Express Servic@)..

Professor

years ago.

distributes la

Though his chief target is the Against thin Bhe now faces U.S.A, Fleming an America "overcompensating" individual villains Liberally Western Allianco. for her previous isolationism by around the

of One of them is Sir Winston trying to assume charge

Churchill (the Fulton speech),

D. F. Fiebing? The Gold As for de Gaulle, Fleming War and His Orlalas (George pictures him brooding over the Allen and Unwin, £3 5«. Od. vision of a revived West Europe, the set of two volumes). built on the Common Market,

LE WILD WEST- VAN

WEST-IN

GOGH COUNTRY

There were no transistor sets. "We don't allow radios here," aald the boss,

Apparently he is at the dis- kept an Americen bookshop in advantage of having to dress the 20's and 30's, from where Mr Kennedy without a single she published Joyce's Ulysses. atting.

A 30's MAN

Her measurements are kept na safely guarded as the Crown Jewels under another name.

"I remember him coming What hoa sho ordered? Whisper is afternoon clothes, along," she told me. "He wasn't really опе of our crowd."

dréu,

Hulin belleves in action. He drove another punch tô- wards my face and then offered a whisky to calm me down.

He talked extravagantly about Texas, and his passion for Wild West Alms.

Later in the corral, Hulin cocktall dresses and an evening (Homingway, Joyce, Gertrude rade a sprightly nog up and down screaming: "Allez, allez." woman lounged ngvinst a

allez," roared Hutio,

I walked back down the path towards the waving 'corn.

Behind

In the wheatfields where he painted his last gale scratching her ankle with savage landscapes lies an extraordinary ranch a pur "Alicz, where members of Parisian society play at being weekend cowboys.

A sign at the gates orders members to leave their social ranks in the car park which is un-Texan, to say the least.

marked

The owner of this curious organisation greeted me by firing a couple of rounds into a

fenco I walked down a long path nearby

and aiming a a large tremendous punch, at my jaw. to the ranch-house,

building wooden Sher T's Office

Roger Hulin, middle-aged, where

some doggedly rugged and balding quite astonishing people Jaring away the hour after hat off, greeted me effusively.

wherever he swept his cowboy .lunch.

He told me his establishment The veranda was bulging with strapping, shaven-headed, blue- was for Parisiens who wanted Jeaned, spurred men, covered to be cowboys. with sheriff' badges, and, signs of the Wild West,

were

Stain). it will be interesting to se

"He was a 30's mon 'rather what the reaction is on Fifth- than a 20's man.

avenue.

INCIDENTAL INTELLI- GENCE: The head of

* gent him to another pub- Maker, Jack Kalidne, who accepted the manuscript."

Miller found fame as did many other writers whom Miss

the strange missing persons bureau at Beach helped. phenomenon of, Paris social life. Corbeil an the outskirts of woman who spends her time

moved into a noisy afternoon,

JACKIE'S

SECRET?

It is being

proclaimed here

that

Jacqueline Kennedy · La

She is a lively, white-haired reported now cataloguing her valuable collection of first editions in her Paris apartment.

Parla has been mfasing.

BOOK OF

THE YEARS

On the mantelpiece is an carly photograph of Heming way. "I never had any trouble selling his books right from the atart," she said. "He was a -- weiter, always in. demand!”.

On the walls wore other Tourists in Paris are on their hostalgic photographs of Joyce, being dressed by Guy Laroche, perennial war path again for. Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude the young French deslimer.

This state secret between two Henry Miller's famous book. Stein.

There was a apell of valuable His large membership list allons has been gossiped about. Tropic of Cancer.

for some

time. But now the Fewer Americans now be books. suggested many people did.

cause it has been published „Miss_Bench Je toying with the Brigitte Bardot might come news has leaked out.

The White House will prob there for the first time this idea of parting with her collec one day, baron the next.

ably deny the news,

Year. It now stands 7th on the tion to an American univeralty, "We got Ministers who come As French columnist said book hit parade.

I would · Like · students, to Jiere to enjoy the open Ufe," what would the French say if But It All banned i Dri- benefit from then she sila. fald Hull. But ones they get they discovered Cleneral de sin, Millet'à Book whs pub-. "My Joyce collection has al WOMEN aforest and East Berliners have gone Lu

Similarly garbed blondes with through Uie gates they become Gaulle eruiring, about in 4. Ushed in Paris în 1934 and was ready gone to Bulbulo," VY ston] Judæan. The architect lakesides for the day.

hair the colour of lemonade incogrilta. Everybody here is Cadillat?"

megtés petinted five Umes before the mistusimmanama (Bade may know what is nesikeijonily But this mullen · atmosphere ́) chewed softly on perfect and in line, but we know, could easily turn into pulsating

their gum. simply a cowplinther." He lea

Laroche has vigorously denied warengine YA

QUOTE OF THE WEEKS Pistols were used frequently me into the sheriff's offer.

it, too..

Miller at of the hoop of women are not Howard. Why Whether a thing will or will not | demonstrations when factories, 救助 shock treatments" to the The primitive wooden interior Naturally do kus, béen sworn tokuwveryy

Citatar du into a Triden Bo Wieling the officer, and workshops bejan tó | stranger. A stallion resred paat was decorated with everything to secrecy, so why should in bo pornodes (ytɔ bymalne and shuld they want to mieli Tike milk beities, will be squisand er i gil the next morning...

my hebd.: Tho odrzal was full. from buffalo sking to indiscreet apout, fuch an impars manigoriji to Kobs BYTVIK KEREN HOWas PalMike. Chanel)- --{London Repreų šerpies), of leaping horses.

·tant cliani?

Shak' redačkákale'« Wakkama who 20

by Misa Pat Homaby-Smith, Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Fermions and Na- tional Insurancs:----

It was the same story on the underground, except that the checks were even more savere, And I saw three people arrested probably would-be refugees. Walter day for the closing of the frontier well, for in beautiful Imunny... weather thousanda of

Ulbricht chose his WITH A PUNCH

Tomahawka.

POCKET CARTOON BY FRIELL

"If Krushchep and Útend}}£ torre and word of gentilmen theid be, out aš, the mode) now instead of

mucking about in the middle of a vity f

London Erbskia · Barton,

POCKET CARTOON BY FRIELL

FORLICH OFFICE