<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CRon%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:SimSun;
panose-1:2 1 6 0 3 1 1 1 1 1;
mso-font-alt:宋体;
mso-font-charset:134;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:3 135135232 16 0 262145 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:"\@SimSun";
panose-1:2 1 6 0 3 1 1 1 1 1;
mso-font-charset:134;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:3 135135232 16 0 262145 0;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-font-family:SimSun;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;
text-underline:single;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;
text-underline:single;}
span.hccdpe
{mso-style-name:hccdpe;}
span.ep8xu
{mso-style-name:ep8xu;}
span.ldacoc
{mso-style-name:ldacoc;}
@page Section1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;
mso-header-margin:.5in;
mso-footer-margin:.5in;
mso-paper-source:0;}
div.Section1
{page:Section1;}
-->
</style>
<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 04<span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><br>
-------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>
Please set the encoding mode to Unicode (UTF-8).<br>
If viewing this in a web browser, please click on<br>
the html toggle at the bottom of the archived page <br>
and switch your browser's character encoding to Unicode.</span><br>
===========================================</span></p>
<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 "History"</span><br>
<br>
Beste Mike,<br>
<br>
You wrote: </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: black;">So,
the essential part of what ron said is perfectly true: teh AVERAGE East German
had NO uncontrolled contact whatsoever with the outside world ... even in the
Warsaw Pact countries (controlled contact was more common, yet still limited
... unless you count watching old Soviet movies on TV!)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">I found the
rules that applied to East-Germans wanting to travel abroad end of 1988, 1989:</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;"><a href="http://www.verfassungen.de/de/ddr/reiseverkehr88.htm" target="_blank">http://www.verfassungen.de/de/ddr/reiseverkehr88.htm</a></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;">Paragraph 6
leaves some freedom. Some.</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;">"Funny"
to read about wedding anniversaries in paragraph 7. Some "couleur
locale" as well, given the attention for a first communion. I would not
immediately have expected this in a diehard communist state.</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;">Luc
Hellinckx</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"><br>
----------<br>
<br>
From: R. F. Hahn <<a href="mailto:sassisch@yahoo.com" target="_blank">sassisch@yahoo.com</a>><br>
Subject: History<br>
<br>
Hey, Luc! What's going on, bud?<br>
<br>
Thanks for that link.<br>
<br>
All that stuff looks "nice" in theory. But look at paragraphs 14 and 15 which
essentially say that exit visa applications "may" be refused "if this is
necessary for the protection of public order or other state interests of the
German Democratic Republic" (my translation). As far as I am aware, this
conveniently vague statement served as a catch-all provision for denial. In
fact, the vast majority of citizens had a snowball's chance in hell to get an
exit visa to travel to any country other than Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia,
Hungary, Mongolia, North Korea, Romania and the USSR, similarly guarded
countries with which there were mutual extradition agreements. And even that
was a long shot if there were no "real" purpose and travel "companions". People knew this full well and
few that were not retired (and were thus dispensable) would even bother
applying, not only because it was a waste of time but also because it would
have put them on the state's (Stasi's) sh*t list, which meant that their careers
and social lives were pretty much over, and it would have affected the lives of
their relatives and possibly friends as well. Many if not most East German
citizens had relatives in Western Germany and
other countries with whom they could have gotten together in any country (including
the ones mentioned above). That in itself was considered a threat to the interests
of the state, leave alone not returning home. And there was the blanket exclusion
of a sizable population section from <i>any</i> official right to leave the country:
"Permission can be refused if the applicant has yet to rendered active military
service [...] and has not yet completed his 26th year [...]" (my translation). A
few of them would leave as members of closely guarded sports teams or performance troupes.<br>
<br>
Regards,<br>
Reinhard/Ron</span></p>
•
<p>
==============================END===================================
<p>
* Please submit postings to lowlands-l@listserv.linguistlist.org.
<p>
* Postings will be displayed unedited in digest form.
<p>
* Please display only the relevant parts of quotes in your replies.
<p>
* Commands for automated functions (including "signoff lowlands-l")
<p>
are to be sent to listserv@listserv.linguistlist.org or at
<p>
http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html.
<p>
*********************************************************************