A TRAVEL STORY

In 1986 I traveled to Germany with a friend.  We went to many of the well-known cities that were available to us.  At the time the Cold War was on and the “Wall” was in place splitting Germany in half.  When we got to West Berlin we learned that the best museums were on the East Berlin side so we went to the tourist bureau and with their help we booked a trip into East Germany.  We booked hotel nights in the cities we were interested in and really didn’t think about the implications of spending American dollars in a country that was restricting their citizens from leaving. 

Our first night was in Potsdam, at the hotel where the Potsdam Treaty was signed. It was a lovely property and we wanted to learn more about it so we spoke with a hotel clerk.  His name was Timothy.  His English was exceptionally good and we were delighted with his vast knowledge of the area.  He in turn asked us many questions about California and the US.  He saw many of our television programs via satellite and was a big fan of the USA.  When he offered to take us around Potsdam the next day, we were delighted to have his services.  He was about the same age as our sons back in the states and was as friendly as could be.  He talked about his desires to travel abroad and get out of East Germany but if he escaped, he had family who would be left behind and probably harrassed.  His frustration was obvious.  He was young and adventurous and had a love of travel. 

We got along very well with Timothy and asked him if he could take more time off from work and travel with us.  We offered to compensate him but he would hear none of that.  He managed to get a few days off.  We picked him up at his home and were introduced to his mother who spoke no English.  She offered us tea and cookies.  We found out later that it was an honor to be invited in.  No sooner did Timothy get in our vehicle that he played his tapes of American music.  His grandparents in West Berlin ordered them for him and snuck them in.  This is why his English was so good.

My friend and I spent the next three days with Timothy sharing food and even our hotel room with him.  We unofficially adopted him as our “German son”.  At the end we put him on a train back to Potsdam and kissed him goodbye never knowing if we would see him again.  We left for the Austrian border which we could pass through but he could not.  The reality of the Iron Curtain struck home like it never had before. 

When the wall came down, Timothy wsa there – cheering – experiencing the flush of real freedom for the first time.  He sent my friend and me a piece of the wall.  It is a reminder of the inhumanity of man when power is abused. 

We kept in touch with Timothy.  After the Iron Curtain finally came down, we invited him to visit us in the States.  He has done so twice and may come again this year.  Thanks to the post office and now e-mail we continue to communicate more than twenty years later.  And we have never cease to realize how precious freedom truly is.

Linda Stolow

 

I absolutely and whole heartedly agree that traveling could be a political act, if you mingle with the people of the country you travel to and listen to what they have to say, in my experience I believe people of other countries are much more informed of the world politics than Americans.

We are just fed what ever the media and the our politician want us to know, while in other countries people have much more analytical mind to read between lines.

Alexander Goren

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