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Berlin, 1961

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NutmegCT

NutmegCT

Great Pumpkin
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Don't know what got me thinking about this; maybe something I saw this morning sparked a memory.

When I got out of high school, I bought a six week Eurailpass for the summer before college. Took Loftleidir (Icelandic Airways) from NYC to Luxembourg. Traveled from Narvik (Norway) down to Sicily, and Brest (France) to Berlin. Train through East Germany, seeing armed guards on towers watching the workers in the fields. Crossing from West Berlin to East at Checkpoint Charlie, and being "eyed" by the guards for over an hour to see if I "got nervous" - what an experience.

These aren't my home movies, but I swear I remember seeing just about everything in the films.

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Not something to enjoy. Just for contemplation.
 
Here's a Time article that covers a famous escape through the Berlin checkpoint using an Austin-Healey Sprite!

Click Here
 
I think John Kay of Steppiwolf fame escaped when he was a young'in. My ex wifes mothers family was Czek, and a lot of the family lived in the "old country" She had a cousin who happened to be here visiting when it all went bad in 68, and she stayed here....The family was punished, lost the "high end" jobs, made into laborers, things like that. Rough times, and a scary way to have to live.
 
Nutmeg,

I enjoyed the video. I lived in that city in the mid to late 80's. Left before the wall came down.
 
I was in Stuttgart on business on the day the wall fell. Still have the newspapers. In retrospect, I made a mistake not heading for Berlin just to be there but at the time it was so hard to believe - even my German colleagues were stunned - that it seemed prudent to stay away for a few days.

Great video.
 
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