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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">===========================================<br>
L O W L A N D S - L - 25 January 2009 - Volume 01<span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><br>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"><br>
From: <span class="ep8xu"><span style="color: rgb(0, 104, 28);">Luc Hellinckx</span></span><span class="hccdpe"> </span><span class="ldacoc"><<a href="mailto:luc.hellinckx@gmail.com">luc.hellinckx@gmail.com</a>></span><br>
Subject: <span class="hccdpe">LL-L "Personalia"</span><br>
<br>
Beste Ron, </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">You wrote:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;">It
was obvious that Hanne was fully supportive of what we do at Lowlands-L. But
she lacked the level of English proficiency to follow all that we do, since for
most of her adult life she lived in Eastern Germany
where English was not taught to everyone in the early days and people lived in
isolation from the rest of the world.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">Is that
really so? I'd like to know if Eastern Germany
had no contact whatsoever with other Warsaw Pact states. Anybody know?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">Kind
greetings,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(136, 136, 136);">Luc
Hellinckx</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">----------<br>
<br>
</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">From: R. F. Hahn <<a href="mailto:sassisch@yahoo.com" target="_blank">sassisch@yahoo.com</a>><br>
Subject: History<br>
<br>
Luc,<br>
<br>
As far as I know from others and from my own experiences, <i>any</i> foreign
contacts had to be specially permitted.<br>
<br>
East Germans could host their visiting Western relatives, both sides needing
special permission, monitoring and regulations. East Germans could not go to
Western countries unless they were parts of special government-sponsored
groups, or unless they were pensioners (in which case "good riddance"). Trips
to Warsaw Pact countries, too, were either controlled visiting group trips or
special permission vacation trips (only for politically obedient boys and
girls) to controlled camp-like areas similar to those Western tourists were
housed in, but as much apart from Western tourists, especially West German
tourists, as possible. The odd East German vacationer you might have run into
in, say, Yugoslavia
was a trusted party member for sure, someone that was likely to return home to
his or her secure nest. Aside from this, there were the occasional foreign aid
working groups staying in certain developing countries, also visiting scholars
to select countries outside the Warsaw Pact region, again living with severe
restrictions, as was any collaboration between East German scholars and their
Western colleagues, while collaboration with Eastern colleagues was less
controlled, though of course limited to fitting research into common political
frameworks. None of the above was without restrictions, lengthy application
processes and background checks, and "clean" records were required in all
cases. Lots of West Germans and foreigners went for brief visits to East Berlin, in which case it was easier for foreigners
to cross the border. Contacts with East Germans were limited there, on a
tourism basis. I did once walk around off the beaten track in purely
residential areas. I could tell that people recognized me as being from the
West and were avoiding me, and there was the distinct possibility that I was
being followed.<br>
<br>
I don't know what would have happened had the Internet been up and running as
it is now. At the time, simply communicating with outsiders was most definitely
not advisable, certainly not under a regime that arrested people for merely
waving across the border. Even just sending a letter from private home to
private home without family relationship could be dangerous, especially a
letter to West Germany. It was only in the waning few years that one of my East
German nieces started sending me letters to Australia. She would have been more
careful had I still lived in West
Germany, because young people were not exactly
encouraged seek contacts with their Western relatives. I believe it was during
those years that Hanne, meanwhile having reached pension age, began communicating
with and visiting the West.<br>
<br>
Regards,<br>
Reinhard/Ron</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"></span></p>
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