Special+Interview

__** Interview of an East German Citizen **__ __** By: Neale Petilla **__ 1. What is your name age and What part of berlin did you live in? My name is **Randolph** **Shultz** and I am age **27** and I lived in **East Germany,** the communist side. If this interview took place a year ago, I would have been pressured into saying yes. Truth is that I hated it here. There was never enough food to satisfy us and the soldiers made me feel like I could not do anything. The safest thing was to stay indoors. No one was ever allowed to cross the wall, not even to visit relatives. Some people tried to cross it and were shot or jailed. Sometimes people would disappear and we would just imagine that they tried to cross the wall. Not personally, but my father had talked about some friends when he was young. He says that when the wall went up he never saw them again. He does not know where they are now and how they are doing. Also I have a friend whose family was separated be the wall. He says that they are longing to reunite with them. Our only connection to the other side was through television. We very often watched the news about West Germany. We knew about their economy lifestyles and important events. At first it seemed like a good Idea. I had read parts of Carl Marx’s book. I talks of spreading wealth and good working conditions. The reality is that communism goes horribly wrong when controlled by the wrong set of people. I was very skeptical, that such a thing could ever happen. There were always talks that the only way was to start a revolution a war. The first time I heard the wall was coming down I rushed to see if it was true. The sight of it brought joy and many new possibilities. But there was also a lot of chaos and anarchy. Many people have a desire to reunite and become on strong nation. But it will take a long time before the economy can stabilize because East Germany was very poor. I know from television that West Germany had a lot of political factions. I think those factions are a bad sign and there won’t be much compromising. I would like to get a better education and eventually a better job. There was so much time lost when we were in East Germany. But now the future seems brighter and I will always live every day to the fullest.
 * 2.** Did you like living there?
 * 3.** Were you allowed to cross the wall?
 * 4**. Did you know anyone on the other side of the wall in west Germany ?
 * 5**. Did you ever know anything that was happening on the other side of the wall in West Germany?
 * 6**. How do you feel about communism?
 * 7.** How did you react when you herd the Berlin Wall was coming down?
 * 8.** How do you feel about the future of German, its economy, unity and politics?
 * 9.** What are your plans for the future now that the wall is down?