THE WALL BEFORE AND AFTER (Satis Shroff) The Wall was erected in 1961 To keep the people in. The folks called it fondly: The anti-fachist-protective-rampart. Anyone who fled the barbed-wire republic Was shot by snipers or automatic guns. The common bonds, language, history Were erased overnight. Germans became split into: them and us. A folk was divided into the haves in the West And have nots in the East. Berlin became an island, In the middle of the Soviet occupied zone. Families were separated. On August 13, 1961 the Soviets and East Germans Built an in-depth fortification: the Wall. * * * In Berlin Kudamm with Scandinavian friends After the Wall fell thousands of East and West Germans Met and higged each other at last. The same language, cultural heritage, Yet worlds apart only because of another ideology. I took off in a light plane from Hessen's highest peak: The Wasserkuppe airfield (950m). 'The Rhön is
