Economic Miracle Year – A Symphony of Hope
Born in Nuremberg in 1952, I grew up in a city still recovering from the war’s destruction. The outskirts were filled with displaced persons and emigrants living in hastily built barracks. Despite the difficulties, my parents lived a contented life, with my father working in the U.S. Army Supermarket, allowing them to afford a car and the occasional vacation. My early school years were challenging. Teachers, trained during the Nazi era, struggled to adapt to the changing times, leading to a strict and aggressive teaching style with little compassion. As a dyslexic student, I struggled to keep up and was frequently bullied, leading to feelings of anger and hatred towards society and its authorities. My parents were unable to help, and the situation escalated into a vicious cycle of discrimination and reprisals. In conclusion, I grew up in a time of great change, but also great difficulties, particularly for someone like me who faced discrimination and difficulties in school
In 1952 I grew up in a city still recovering from the war’s destruction the outskirts were filled with displaced persons and immigrants living in hastily built Barracks despite the difficulties my parents lived a contented life with my father working in the US Army Supermarket allowing them to afford a car and the occasional
Vacation my early school years were challenging teachers trained during the Nazi era struggled to adapt to The Changing Times leading to a and aggressive teaching Style with little compassion as a dyslexic student I struggled to keep up and was frequently bullied leading to feelings of anger and hatred towards society and its
Authorities my parents were unable to help and the situation escalated into a vicious cycle of discrimination and reprisals in conclusion I grew up in a time of great change but also great difficulties particularly for someone like me who faced discrimination and difficulties in school as a young adult
My life changed forever when I discovered the Beatles their music opened up a new world of possibilities and helped me break free from the limitations of discrimination unlike those around me who were content with drinking beer and watching soccer I was drawn to something more meaningful the release of The
Beatles movie Yellow Submarine solidified my understanding of the power of music and the importance of standing up against Injustice the blue mean attack on music resonated with me and fueled my political activism I joined protests and rallies determined to bring change to a society plagued by post-war oppression and
Inequality my generation was fed up with being underestimated and thousands of us came together demanding solidarity and peace through these experiences we realized that the laws and rules in place were built on lies and manipulation and we were determined to challenge them during the same period Muhammad Ali made a powerful statement
By refusing to join the Army declaring why should I fight in Vietnam when my government doesn’t treat me equally I was deeply moved by Ali’s bravery and conviction and it inspired me to be more confident and steadfast in fighting for my beliefs I broadened my horizons by reading books and sharing my
Newfound knowledge with others I was introduced to the Beat Generation and the philosophy of existentialism which provided answers to many of my questions the English soccer teams win in the 19 1966 World Cup even though the goal was controversial showed me the power of determination and the impact one can
Have on shaping history growing up my family only had a black and white TV with limited channels the news focused on the Cold War and caused my mother great concern however there was one program that never failed to Captivate me Luis traner Louise a handsome and energetic South Teran Mountaineer shared
His stories on Sundays and despite performing so solo his powerful Tales made me miss a few episodes although he was co-opted by the Nazis due to his love for the mountains it only made him more inspiring to me as he stood for his passions and belief in his
Abilities in the late 50s I went to Italy at least once a year with my parents for a small vacation and these visits to Italy in the late 50s were filled with Adventure and Discovery the journey over the Alps was grueling since there were only winding country roads
Over the Alps that took over 12 hours but it was a small price to pay for the excitement that awaited me in Verona the taste of Italian ice cream was like a burst of fresh air a reminder that I was experiencing something new and different Italy was still a country amid
Transition with many people living as they had for centuries however I was young and eager to experience all that Italy had to offer I reviled in the country’s Rich culture soaking up its history and traditions and learning from the boys the art of picking up girls but
What changed me most was falling in love for the first time with Andrea a beautiful German speaking girl from Marano Although our time together was brief the memories of my trip to Italy stayed with me long after my return I couldn’t shake the thought of Andrea and
I knew I had to see her again so I took the chance and made the journey back to Italy ready to pursue love back in the day it was challenging to secure a date there were no phones and one needed an address to write a letter which I didn’t
Have undeterred I hitchhiked to Northern Italy to surprise my love interest armed with only the name of her Village after a long journey of 500 km from nurenberg I arrived in Morano in the evening and stumbled into a bar for directions a beautiful girl approached me inviting me to join her the alcohol
And her company made me relax but when the bar closed I was taken aback by the bill I explained my situation to her and she took me in for the night the next morning I woke up feeling changed and she offered to let me stay for a few
More days a week later when I returned to norenburg I felt like I had gone away as a boy and returned as a man transformed by The Experience my parents often sent me to East Germany to bring essential items to our relatives at the time the country was occupied by the
Soviet Union and controlled by the KGB with a strict regime that disregarded human rights my relatives former Factory owners were labeled as enemies of the people and their children were denied education and forced into manual labor witnessing their suffering in a system where Justice was non-existent and the
Rulers held all the power was heartbreaking this experience opened my eyes to the dangers of government propaganda and manipulation and made me appreciate the value of freedom and my ability to form my own opinions the regime’s oppressive tactics such as surveillance and informant networks made it risky to access foreign news news or
Listen to Western music deemed counterrevolutionary when I came home I decided to leave the church but it was not so easy because my parents had to agree in writing and also pay money for it today the church tax is voluntary and people can choose which church they want to
Support despite this change many Germans still choose to pay the tax as it is tied to their religious beliefs or social life but being one of the first young boys under 14 in Bavaria to leave the church on his well with the content of not accepting Authority giving
Teachers and other rulers a reason to make my life miserable turn off not confirming with the rules of the state and the church and at the same time being part of an Ever growing young society that we’re looking for different ways of having a life that makes sense
And fun made me the perfect Target for authoritarian people like the police or judges to take me as an example for what they considered a bed bunch of youngsters another aspect of life that has changed me was the knowledge of good food and true to my Italian experience I was open
To other kinds of International Food which again made me a bit of an outsider today there is a diverse range of Cuisine available reflecting the growing tolerance and appreciation for different cultures and this diversity enriches our cultural identity and is something to be grateful for for all of this and more
One needed to have money and that was a big problem for all of us because the system was in such a way that you could only earn money if you were accepted at some work please or otherwise for only short periods of times no matter what the payment was always very little in
The work was intense job opportunities were limited when I was a young adult and the only option was illegal activities I was lucky enough to find an underground job through connections with guest workers which allowed me to continue my education and make a living let’s make money my father father’s workplace was
Located in one of the largest military complexes in northern Europe where over 200,000 soldiers were stationed the barracks were built during the Third Reich as the headquarters of the SS and today is the Ministry of Finance when I turned 15 I was allowed to visit my father at his workplace for the first
Time on my own on the way to his job I often observed soldiers playing sports like baseball or basketball which were still relatively unknown to German children at the time it was fascinating to watch these new activities and I became increasingly interested in other cultures and ways of life my father
Listened to a lot of jazz and black musicians like Harry bellafonte Nat King Cole and BB King but he wasn’t the only one who liked this music in the 1950s and 1960s bellonte even sold more records in Germany than Frank Sinatra this development shows how the music of other cultures became increasingly
Popular in Germany and how important it is to respect and appreciate other cultur cultures and ways of life and always remain curious as I saw the soldiers going to and coming from Vietnam to defend capitalism against evil communism I became aware of the senselessness of this policy just a few
Years earlier Germany had been destroyed by a terrible war and had lost its best people in infrastructure during a visit to the US Barracks a friendly colored Soldier approached me and asked if I could get him something to smoke at first I didn’t understand what he was
Talking about but I quick figured out what he meant I got him some hashish for a very low price and still made a big profit for me this inspired me to become interested in drugs as a way to make money my connection to him quickly spread among the soldiers and I became a
Sought-after dealer of hashish the Turks and Moroccans in our neighborhood brought the best hashish from home and since many of them also had boys my age they treated me like one of them and sold me the hashish at very low prices most of them lived in huts and never
Went out to have fun but only to save money for their families my business ran very smoothly and without problems and my profits kept getting bigger because I sold directly to the soldiers who lived in the barracks and wanted to escape reality as much as possible as the
Vietnam War escalated and more and more young men were sent through Germany to Vietnam the demand for drugs also increased my father was still the manager at the local supermarket so I could go in and out of the barracks whenever I wanted without being checked it was a perfect business model without
Competition and with a satisfied customer base new customers came constantly all wanting the same thing many of the soldiers who returned were severely traumatized and needed to forget everything the Army organized music events soldiers entertainment to raise morale and I was right in the middle of the entertainment industry
Every month there was a concert and I was able to earn a lot of money I saw at the same time one of the best black musicians live on stage with only a handful of soldiers getting excited about it it was the time when I opened
My eyes to a new kind of music and dancing that was completely foreign to us and when I saw what is ready and at the same time Little Richard I could not believe the energy that came out of their performance as exciting as seeing snow for the first time having these
People rocking on the stage in the audience flipping completely out to it somehow I was introduced to something which also blew my mind and made me see how big my world can be through LSD which became a catalyst for unlimited imagination and possibilities sometimes when you go to
The movies and start a film like 2001 A lot of people watching it were stoned and after the film was over you could see their behavior or their eyes they’re still somewhere out of space but sometimes it also got a bit crazy for instance when all of a sudden in school
I got so high that I didn’t ignore what was going on and on top of everything the teacher asked me to come in front to write something something on the table even I thought I write in normal sizes in effect I was writing all over the
Wall and since my teacher did not know what happened to me you must have thought that I’m either drunk or that I want to do for him so he threw me out of class and sent me home when I came to the train station and the train arrived
It was as long as 1000m and the doors opened so widely then it felt like I’m going into Heaven’s Gate the trip seems to never stop and even after hours when there was no TV program existing I was watching the 9s scream a movie that made me laugh like crazy and made
My father think that I loose a dream but the wildest thing was when I and a bunch of friends got high during some important soccer game and when we went around there was nobody on the streets we thought there must have been an epidemic or something else and we are
The only survivors left it was quite a trip I must say in the real sense of the word and when we arrived at one point in a bar and saw all these Germans watching again it was like being on another planet with another species through these shared
Experiences with others who were on a trip or had an experience with it we were United as strongly as perhaps the war experiences of our parents with others who went through the same thing the war generation was not aware of how they were systematically pushed towards addictive substances drugs like alcohol
Nicotine and caffeine were normal but in combat hard drugs like amphetamines were used to put the soldiers into a state of euphoria and to drive away hunger or fear all of this was put into the guise of normaly through constant propaganda during the blitz cre in the west almost all
Soldiers took speed to fight for days without food and sleep and the pilots of the German air force were constantly on speed Hitler himself was addicted to all types of amphetamines from 1939 onwards so he was considered mentally ill by today’s standards he became paranoid and slept little distrusting everyone and
Everything many soldiers came home with neurosis and mental damage severe exhaustion sleep and anxiety disorders and were treated with medications packaged in chocolate paper after the war they still carried the shame of 50 million dead and many were severely depressed during the war women had to
Take on all of the men’s tasks but when their men returned from captivity beaten and both mentally and physically broken they fell back into their old role as Housewives and mothers without much protest together they had to come to terms with the shame of 50 million deaths and many of them were severely
Depressed and it made no sense to find a dialogue between our parents and us there was no interest in the opinions of children or those who thought differently even though it’s difficult it’s important to recognize what is the truth and what is propaganda or lies it’s important to think critically and
Always question who benefits from a particular opinion and whether that opinion true truly aligns with the truth LSD trips were directly produced by Swiss chemist Albert Hoffman who isolated synthesized and named the key psychedelic mushroom compounds psilocybin and sosin in an interview before his 100th anniversary Hoffman
Referred to LSD as medicine for the soul even great actors of the time like Gary Grant made their experiences with it and spoke only well about their experiences with the drug LSD also known as lysergic acid diethylamide is a synthetic drug that was used in the 1960s as a
Psychedelic drug to strongly alter perception mood and Consciousness also known as a trip through this drug the brain can make other and previously completely unknown connections that show a user a different but equally plastic and Visually real non-real world LSD was the Catalyst for unlimited fantasies and changed the surrounding reality into a
Much larger dimension in life that we had not known before my business model was thriving better than I had expected and soon I had a problem with obtaining the product as my suppliers only had relatively small quantities for their use the supply quickly became scarce and I had to reorganize the offer which
Became larger every month it was up to me to take care of obtaining hashish and I began building relationships with new suppliers to have an alternative should my old suppliers have problems getting a supply here I learned the first important lesson in business life supply and demand determine the price sometimes my
Supply was so scarce and without having to do much prices went up the soldiers couldn’t just buy dope on the corner because they often couldn’t even leave the barracks and they also didn’t know whom they could approach not to mention the language barrier so a young school
Boy with the best dope at a good price was the perfect connection I I found a Turk who procured larger quantities of hashish from Turkey for me for a search charge and soon I started to diversify and also traded goods for dope soldiers who had no money could pay me with cigarettes stereo
Systems or records this profit margin was even higher as us cigarettes were very expensive outside the barracks but cost almost nothing in the military Supermarket for example the salary of a soldier corresponded to the net salary of a German Banker without expenses records were very expensive and rare and
One LP cost 20 decimet which was my entire pocket money I now also started trading in stereo systems which were more difficult to sell and also difficult to transport without a car some amplifiers weighed up to 40 kg and it was also risky to transport them in
Public transport or by bicycle as they could easily be damaged in addition there was the difficulty of finding a safe place to store the goods and my father’s basement was soon full my second problem was school which was taking up more and more of my time it can be difficult to concentrate on
Several things at once and set priorities especially when doing something that takes up a lot of time like regular training and football competitions but no one ever asked me if I did not want to do something other than study such as become a professional football player since I was a very good
Center forward and scored decisive goals in every Club I played for I received an offer to play for Bayern Munich and the youth team but I would have had to move to Munich and there was no money for it and my parents could not and did not
Want to support me in this opportunity so I could not play in a club and go to school at the same time the club which might have allowed me to have a career had to let me go which was my first big disappointment at school we had to read
Many books and mostly about topics that didn’t interest me until I came across sidara by Herman Hessa which gave me a different perspective on life another problem was that I couldn’t register a business yet because I was too young and had to sell everything privately I made
So much cash but could not open a bank account because I was still too young and so there was no other way to hide the money than in shoe boxes only when American Express introduced Travelers checks did there become an alternative to cash but to get Travelers checks you
Needed a bank account again but then there was a policy change and even children could have their own savings account which was only for saving and not much more better than cash in a box now I only had to hide the savings book and possibly be able to explain where
The money came from that’s when gambling came to mind and so I started playing poker with friends to at least have a stupid story if it became necessary I also knew I had to be careful because I was still in a gray area and the risk of getting caught was still very high
Thankfully I finally found a store that mainly dealt with used records and was willing to offer my stereo systems and other products as well soon we were one of the largest dealers of high-quality Macintosh receivers in the city and I was making more money than my father since the market for highquality stereo
Systems in nurenberg was very small and my sales were mainly based on Word of Mouth and so I started to place ads in Regional newspapers shortly thereafter my business flourished and I found more and more customers who appreciated my stereo systems and were willing to pay the price
As I navigated my school years I was plagued by the challenge of juggling my buding business on the side matters worsened when my class embarked on a trip to Valhalla the German Gods Temple and my geography teacher an NPD member and National Socialist delivered a rousing speech on German heroism while
We crossed the danu river on a small Ferry but fate intervened in a dramatic turn of events I was suddenly bitten causing me to jump up and upsetting my teachers balance sending him tumbling into the water he accused me of attempted murder and the case caused a media frenzy ultimately being dismissed
Due to lack of evidence this however marked the beginning of my downward spiral at school my reputation was tarnished and I became a target of bullying from my teachers in a heated moment I reacted to a teacher’s harsh punishment with a spontaneous strike only to be denounced for
Misbehavior on another occasion I was dragged out of the class CL room by my ear only for the teacher to fall down the stairs and break his arm with the blame once again falling on me despite being expelled four times in a single year I was repeatedly readmitted due to
The lack of evidence against me in this Society young people were confined by rigid expectations and rules set forth by the older generation making it a struggle to forge their paths and make their own decisions non-conventional Lifestyles such as hom homosexuality were strictly forbidden and harshly punished while excessive drinking and
Chauvinistic Behavior were accepted challenging these Norms was a difficult feat as the law always cided with adults and Men the school was mandatory but the Young Voices Rose in protest echoing through the streets as they skipped class to participate in the Nationwide demonstrations the frustration of the youth left their parents bewildered
Trying to understand the anti-authoritarian spirit these demonstrations alongside the protests against the shaw of Persia and police brutality in Germany bred a strong sense of unity and solidarity among the young activists they organized through regular meetings and spontaneous actions coming together to reflect on their experiences and plan for the
Future I along with four friends rented a small house just outside the city where the neighbors were soldiers from a large US army training area considered as a front line in the Cold War with nuclear warheads stored in the vicinity the whole area around nurburg was considered strategically sensitive
Accessible only to the military and police with special permission the soldiers were often stationed there for weeks leading to the organization of illegal street races and accidents caused by fast missile Transporters driving through the narrow towns and damaging houses one day we thought of printing anti-military slogans on
T-shirts and hanging them on our window windows but to our surprise the soldiers were not angered but instead were amused and curious asking us about our reasons for protesting this encounter with their openness to our views made us abandon our plan the soldiers eventually found out about a place to make their stay
Easier but one day a tank drove into our small dirt road just as a police patrol was checking our details overlooking the road’s limited space the tank driver rolled over the small police car leaving it in scrap metal the incident was a stark reminder of the tension in the air
And the dangerous proximity of the military the soldiers in the tank were visibly shocked and frightened as they got out to survey the scene the police officers were unharmed but they were angry and started to berate and threaten the tank driver we tried to calm the
Situation but it was too late the police officers called for backup and soon there were police cars and helicopters everywhere the soldiers in the tank was picked up by the Army we were taken to the police station and questioned But ultimately we were released because we
Were not at fault for the incident the Americans still held sway in Germany and their soldiers could not be charged by German courts one time later a tank whose driver was apparently under the influence of LSD drove through several hundred vehicles in nearby F and was only stopped hours later by the Army
Police and admitted to a Psychiatric clinic in the USA it was no wonder that we were frequently checked by soldiers and military police when we were near our home it was a very exciting and stressful experience that showed us how quickly a harmless situation can get out
Of control the police accused us of organizing the accident and from that moment on we were checked by the police every time we drove into the city or back I didn’t have a driver’s license and had to either take the train to work or be driven by a friend one day on our
Way home we were stopped by the police again and harassed as usual I had no desire to talk to the police officers and ran away from the checkpoint into the nearby Forest I sat behind a tree to smoke a cigarette when a police officer grabbed me from behind in a choke hold
And pushed me to the ground later he claimed that I had resisted his commands and hit him in the face causing him to lose a tooth a dentist’s report served as proof at the time any defense by a lawyer was considered an admission of guilt my trial took place in the the
Same building where the nurburg trials were held by the Allies against representatives of defeated Nazi Germany for planning and carrying out invasions of other countries and other crimes during World War II the prosecutor said that an example should be made of me to show all my friends or sympathizers that
They should obey the law at the end of the trial I was sentenced to 13 weekends in juvenile detention which was harsher than a normal prison sentence my father was very angry about this verdict and was also find 100 marks for court insult I then had to go to prison every weekend
From Friday at 600 p.m. to Monday at 6: a.m. and sat alone in the same cell as the Nazi criminals it is ironic fate that I was imprisoned in the same prison as Herman Goring Hitler’s Deputy it was a horror to be locked in a Cell
Measuring 2×3 M with only a small window 3 m above and a wooden bench that served as a bed folded up during the day and turned into a wooden board at night with a blanket made of sandpaper during the day I had to sit on the cold floor and
Was only given water and bread to eat no books no music nothing for 36 hours straight for 39 days today I can understand and feel deep empathy for Julian assange’s situation I had a solution to survive this torture every time before I began my imprisonment I took an LSD trip and if necessary
Another one during my time in the cell this provided good entertainment and surprised the prison staff because I laughed so much in my cell every Sunday all prisoners had to go to church where the boys sat on one side and the girls on the other although it was strictly
Forbidden to speak one can imagine what was happening years later I met the prison chaplain during my conscription to the military and he told me he was very impressed with how I coped with the difficult situation after this cruel experience I first needed a long break and went to
Berlin to relax and attend concerts at that time there were many big open a festivals a city surrounded by a hostile neighbor who terrorized its inhabitants every weekend with military jet overflights sometimes they even broke the sound barrier over the city causing all windows to shatter just getting to
Berlin was already an adventure and one couldn’t be sure of getting out without problems to encourage people to live in Berlin the government offered tax breaks and other incentives for example if you studied in Berlin you didn’t have to do military service normal military service lasted 18 months unless you admitted to being
Homosexual then instead of that you went to prison until 1975 imprisonment for homosexuality under Section 175 so many young people went to Berlin to study and the city became a center for all kinds of dropouts and Alternatives life was a little like Anarchy by the the way the word Anarchy
And what it meant was created in the early 19th century in Berlin by a few radicals it means literally that you are your judge and it was not only the largest underground scene in Germany but also the center for many new political movements the late 1960s were a time of
Great change and upheaval and nowhere was this more evident than in Berlin it was a city of contradictions on one hand a symbol of Western Prosperity on the other hand a breeding ground for revolutionary ideas and anti-establishment sentiment I joined a socialist student group and spent many hours discussing
Marxist theory and its practical applications we organized lectures and debates and I felt like I was part of a movement that was going to change the world it was during this time that I met n at Fu University where nobody seems to study anymore since everyone was busy talking with each
Other she was a beautiful and passionate woman who shared my ideals and beliefs we spent countless hours discussing politics and philosophy and our shared Love Of Music brought us even closer together we attended concerts and festivals together and I felt like I had found my soulmate but as much as I was
Enjoying my life the world around us was changing rapidly the Vietnam War was raging on and protests against it were spreading across the globe the civil rights movement in the United States was gaining momentum and called for racial equality and social justice were becoming louder and more urgent and in
Europe a new wave of terrorism and political violence was emerging with groups such as the Red Army faction in Italy the IRA in Ireland Basque and Catalonia separatists in Spain and in Germany the bder mhof gang carrying out bombings and assassinations of kidnapped prisoners like Aldo morrow in Italy and
Scher in Germany in the name of their cause despite the challenges and dangers I remained committed to my ideals and beliefs I continued to work towards a better world and we dreamed of a society that was based on compassion fairness and equality we knew that change would
Not come overnight but we were willing to fight for it no matter what the cost this movement was used by the right-wing press which they called CA anen which means people that had sympathy for a more radical movement than what was necessary for change the future was
Uncertain but we were filled with hope and determination ready to face whatever challenges lay ahead tragically the death of student Beno onisor at an anti-p Persia demonstration against the dictator King Muhammad raaza palavi through the hands of police violence heightened awareness of police brutality and sparked the need for resistance the
Authorities were infiltrate the movement and gave them the first weapons to prove their point that the movement became became an impenitent danger for society but police officers were easily recognizable by their haircuts living in a society plagued by fear of a new war and a communist takeover the authoritarian and
Chauvinistic Norms were perpetuated by the daily readings of the Springer press build by the majority of ordinary men although there were many opportunities to get involved and express one’s opinion there was also a lot of violence and political tension in the city as shown by the insult and the attempted
Assassination of the student leader Rudy duka political Alternatives were often and sometimes aggressively discussed the young revolutionaries wanted to change the world an American German philosopher named Herbert Marcus made a great impression on me when at a discussion where many different communist groups were present he said if you want to make
A Revolution start with yourself this has become my Mantra to this day being a good example example is much harder than talking about it Mar huse a German who immigrated to the United States began his teaching career as a political theorist first at Columbia and then at Harvard
University maruse was an employee of the office of strategic Services the predecessor of the central intelligent agency CIA in the 1960s and 1970s he became known as a prominent theorist of the new left in student movements in West Germany I always wanted to explore the Mysterious World of East Berlin and
Finally had the chance to visit one of the few designated entry points from West Berlin I was determined to make the most of my day even though it meant exchanging my hard-earned currency at a disappointing exchange rate but little did I know my adventure was about to get a whole lot more
Interesting as I made my way through the checkpoint I was stopped by a curious border policewoman with a quirky sense of style straight out of a vintage movie she took one look at my frisbee and demanded to know what I intended to do with this strange flying disc I
Explained the concept of a Frisbee and she immediately called for her supervisor to investigate the Border guard grilled me asking what my true motives were for entering the DDR I came up with a clever answer on the spot claiming I wanted to test the strength of the East Winds and see if
The thermals were any different in the East the guard raised an eyebrow and asked if I was trying to be funny but I simply held my ground and kept a straight face once I was cleared I stepped into a world unlike anything I had ever seen the city was Barren with
No restaurants cafes or even an ice cream parlor in sight the only notable establishment was an enormous bookstore filled to the brim with 10 books all written by the likes of Marx lenon and BR unfortunately the lack of space and wind made it impossible for me to even
Play with my frisbee as I began my journey back I was approached by a young man in need of money I foolishly obliged and changed him some cash little did I know this small act of kindness would lead to a thrilling twist in my East Berlin Adventure I wanted to leave the
Worker State and tried to change the remaining East marks but I was arrested instead I was taken to an interrogation Room by The Border Police and interrogated for hours about where I got the money and why I had given it to a citizen of the the DDR I explained to
Them that I had exchanged it for a young man but could not remember his face they thought I was using the money for the black market or to buy something illegal and even threatened to have me imprisoned if I did not cooperate I was chained to a star with a Russian soldier
With his Kalashnikov in his hand and interrogated for smuggling foreign currency and illegal trade the consequence could have meant up to 5 years of hard labor and in the DDR at that time you had to take such an fence seriously especially if your name was Springer a few years earlier my cousin
Was caught selling blue jeans and got 10 years in prison the border policewoman at the typewriter took so long to fill out the papers that I thought she was writing in Arabic and I couldn’t even go to the bathroom or drink a glass of water then after many hours of
Interrogation was sentenced to 2 years imprisonment however the sentence was commuted to a fine and had to hand over the DDR money and sign a paper that I would never come back finally I was released and even given back my frisbee back in the west I had to look for a
Place to stay and I found my way to commune 13 which was known to be a hangout for revolutionaries that evening I met Fritz toel and the next morning rner langhans langhans was working on a flyer calling for people to set department stores on fire his girlfriend ushi oberm one of
The the first groupies and also involved with Mick Jagger was more interested in men than Revolution at breakfast everyone received a plan for the day but I told them I wasn’t there to work and they could keep their lousy revolutionary plans for thems but one evening I threw a rock into a store
Window of a fashion store as a dare and a symbol of Terror when I received comments like throw a Molotov cocktail in and light up the capitalist store I realized these people were playing in a different league and I better get out of there quickly I still preferred love and peace and the
Beatles and Marcus and a little political activism against the Vietnam War was okay but not to this extent and not with these people and realized I was in over my head it is now proven that the first weapons the terrorists had become from the police to find a reason
To crack down on many of the communards since they were deemed to be active members of the Communist party and the plan were to overthrow the existing government the communes were home to Future terrorists like Andreas B Oru minoff goodan enin and other criminals goodan enslin a pastor’s daughter was
Unlucky to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and her life was influenced by many unfortunate circumstances after the politically motivated arson of department stores in Frankfurt in April 1968 enin was arrested and sentenced to three years in prison together with Andreas B thoral PR
And HED sonl ensin disappeared in 1969 and fled to Italy with b and Astrid prawl numerous bank robberies followed to finance life underground and other actions the group fled to palestrina and received military training from the PLO they are said to have been involved in the murder of Deutsche Bank CEO Hausen
And other kidnappings and committed further bank robberies and five bombing attacks goodan enlin was involved in the raf’s May offensive in which a a total of four people were killed and arrested in Hamburg in 1978 she and many other colleagues were placed in a specially erected high security unit at the stutgart stamhealth
Customers worldwide we agreed to split the profits and arranged for a shipment to transport the goods from nurenberg to Holland although communicating with the trader only by phone was expensive everything went smoothly and after a few months I traveled to Holland to collect my share and received a large sum of
Cash afterward we went to a cafe and I told him about my US Army story which impressed him so much that he offered me a job however I already had other plans for after school on the way back I went to a rock concert in roddam with 100,000
Spectators and many bands that I loved were there such as Pink Floyd the cream the who the doors and so on thankfully there were still lockers at the train station where one could store valuables like money as long as one didn’t lose the key upon my return to nurburg my friend
Ingo who was 2 years older than me asked me if I was interested in taking over a bar together Ingo had just turned 18 and could rent the place but he didn’t have enough money after some consideration we made the deal and I became a partner
With a large portion of my money which we used to renovate into an alternative movie bar which still exists today for me it was a good way to turn my cash into passive income without having to work much as a co-owner I could now officially spend money without having to
Worry about how to explain its origin we showed so many good new movies that weren’t on TV that a scene quickly developed that still exists today then I had a great idea I started a student newspaper this gave me a reason to travel and also be paid for my work and
The best part was there was no law prohibiting a student newspaper from operating under 18 years of age and making money as long as my grades were good my parents had no problem with it I could afford to finance the news paper and hire students who helped me publish
It and also get me good grades I convinced my parents that I was working for the student newspaper and that it paid for my travels it was a win-win situation check invasion in the spring of 68 the Czech Republic and the Eastern European League of Communist States
Elected a new president and with dub began A New Path of Communism later called the Prague spring it did not last very long but for the time it lasted it was very exciting I went to Dresden every summer to support our relative there and I decided to make a little
Detour to Prague afterward I didn’t yet know that blue jeans were more valuable than gold in Prague and when I arrived in Prague I had about 20 pairs of jeans with me for my cousin in Dresden people were standing at the train station asking for anything they could buy and
Paying in cash and dollars for the price of a pair of jeans I could stay in the best hotel in town for a week it was amazing and I had the best time of my life there were parties everywhere and a whole country was celebrating freedom
People in the East finally saw light at the end of the tunnel of communist rule by Russia and everywhere communism was collapsing so the Communist hardliners ordered the invasion of the Czechs to save the Communist system on August 21st 1968 morning Allied Communist forces invaded the Czech Republic and annexed the whole
Country the first armored divisions to enter Czechoslovakia went directly to Prague at that time I was in a discotech on whether vesl Square in the center of the city when suddenly the music went off and everyone ran outside screaming when I got to the street t34 tanks were
Right in front of me and there was a shooting in Wes law Square it was hard to understand what was going on and it took me a while to know where to go next everyone thought it was the start of the next World War I had to sneak through
The streets back to my hotel where all the foreigners had gathered in the lobby and were being escorted to their rooms by soldiers a German television crew was filming the action from their balcony next to my room and asked me because I look so innocent if I could smuggle the
Footage back to Germany I agreed and took the first train out of Prague and no one checked me when I got back I gave the films to the television and the world saw what was happening in Prague the occupation lasted until 1987 and ended a year before the fall of the wall
The events of the Prague spring inspired a great film The unbearable lightess of being it was a scary and confusing time after the Prague spring I became fed up with Communism and decided to travel to America as soon as possible I was still residing partially at my home in the
Forest and figuring out my circumstances my dad had taken another job which made my dealings in the barracks difficult and I had enough stress the bar was earning money and I had some leftover cash from selling stereos so I decided to travel again I packed up my belongings in nurburg but
My dad wanted me to learn more or do an internship but I wasn’t on the same page nevertheless I promised him that I would enroll in a merchant apprenticeship after a long trip the following year counterfeit money one evening while playing poker with my friends we noticed
That all the dollars we were playing with had the same serial numbers at first we thought it was a coincidence but the more money we looked at the more dollars with the same serial numbers appeared it turned out that Ingo had fallen for counterfeit dollars printed by a professional
Counterfeit the money came from a soldier who had been a customer of ingos and who strangely reappeared a month later wanting to buy drugs he didn’t know that we had figured out that he wanted to pay with counterfeit money the guy had a roommate in the barracks who
Worked at the counterfeit Factory and was sent away on maneuver for 2 weeks our guy discovered a full suitcase of dollars and thought he could make a quick deal with us kids to exchange the dollars for dope like one of those typical Hollywood stories you see in B
Movies he planned to buy $100,000 worth of hashish from us a Porsche costs $7,000 but since we knew that the money was just paper we told him that there wasn’t that much hashish on the market right now but we could get him LSD instead he agreed and we set up a hand
Over time we planned to give him pills for a cold that looked like yellow Sunshine trips but what we hadn’t taken into account was that the pharmaceutical pills were also very expensive ensive fortunately they were manufactured nearby and all we had to do was break
Into the factory and steal a milk can of clinical gurgle topl leton no problem at that time in Germany there were no security measures and even factories were only occasionally guarded by Watchdogs that you could easily trick the only problem was Transportation because there were many Road checks due
To the terrorists and since only Ingo had a driver’s license he had to drive if he were to be checked we would have to a story to explain why we were driving around with a milk can full of pills the emergency story was set and we carried out the transaction which was a
Little scary but went easy the Handover took place at a small Lake in a forest near the highway and from there you could easily drive to Frankfurt we disappeared into the forest and everything went quickly and as planned the guy drove back to Frankfurt and we had a suitcase full of counterfeit money
We gave the money to a guy from the scene we knew who was supposed to give us 30% of its value Ingo and I took a bundle of the money and drove to Italy for the rest of the week it was shortly before my 16th birthday and already very
Cold and I will never forget how we got off the ski lift 3 days later and saw the face of our soldier on the front page of the largest German newspaper the headline read largest dollar counterfeit money discovered in Frankfurt I almost wet my pants but after some initial
Shock we analyzed the situation and knew that given that the guy didn’t even know our names or addresses it would also be hard for the police to find us he could only have met us in our bar so we decided to go back but not to go to the
Bar again that was the way it was in the time without cell phones there were also positive aspects of not being reachable so we took a break from the scene and kept our distance for a while the story of how the guy was found went on when he
Returned late to the barracks on the night of the transfer and wanted to bury the milk can in a sandbox the ground was already very hard and he didn’t dig deep enough so the next day playing children discovered The Hideout out of fear that the children would poison themselves he
Turned himself into the police and after some time in interrogation he told the story of where he got the counterfeit money from the police found the entrance to the counterfeit money press in the basement room of the barracks I believe the success of the investigators was so
Great and the guy was so stupid that they never looked for us it was the end of my drug dealing career and I decided to take my final exams and then travel to America in December I went with friends to corvara in Italy to go skiing in the
Dolomites and recover from the stress of the last few weeks on a ski tour I met a young guy from hurg whose brother ran one of the best clubs in hurg and he invited me to visit him I just had to pass my final exam and was free as
Always with exams I cheated and this time no one noticed that I had hidden a a walkie-talkie in the bathroom due to my kidney operation I had a free pass to go to the bathroom whenever I wanted and in the bathroom on the other side of the
Line was a student who answered my questions for me in this way I passed the exam with a satisfactory grade but that was more than enough given the circumstances and I was able to make my way to hurg in Germany it is common to either attend school or work however
There are also other ways to pass the time one option could be to pretend to have a study abroad program or to feain being sick I was very excited about the music scene in Hamburg and spent a lot of time going to clubs and bars to
Listen to music I was lucky enough to see some of my favorite band’s life and thanks to my new friend from the ski trip who knew every Club through his brother I was able to get into everywhere despite my age hurg in the 60s had a different scene than cities
Like London or Amsterdam and the best music scene was in St Paulie the city’s red light district where places like the star Club hosted even the Beatles the Nazis couldn’t even re-educate the people there and one of the best films from that time was set there the movie
Grosa fry height H7 starring Germany’s most popular male actor Hans alur the German John Wayne playing singing and crying pimp is legendary during the Third Reich the movie wasn’t allowed to be shown and was only released after the war and was a big success in the city center there was the mad
House which marked the beginning of punk and heavy metal bands in Germany and the music got going after midnight hbor can be a fantastic City when the weather is nice but unfortunately this is very rare and most of the time it is cold and rainy a bit like in London I stayed for
2 weeks and then took a ferry to England where concerts were held every day and the music was even better I saw bands like the Rolling Stones or Pink Floyd in small clubs I recall a time when groups like 10 years after The Who and Led Zeppelin regularly performed in spectacular
Concerts music was everywhere but after a concert with Pink Floyd who played for 2 hours non-stop nothing was ever the same again or deep purple where the sound was so loud it was physically exhausting to listen to I remember a concert in Essen Germany where Fleetwood
Mac played on the first day with Muddy Waters and then Pink Floyd on the second day followed by Deep Purple and the sound was so powerful that it rained rust from the steel beams and after the concert almost half the audience had to lie down to recover after concerts
People would go home with someone and sleep only to wake up the next morning wondering where they were in Europe there were many open a concerts at the time and one traveled from concert to concert there was a radio station that played the music of my generation a pirate station called Radio free
Luxemborg which was based on a a ship between England and Belgium in the free zone and became the most important radio station for young music in northern Europe after several weeks of traveling I returned to Berlin and moved into a squatted Villa in the gruna VA empty buildings were often occupied by
Ordinary people like me and effectively seized especially in Berlin in the 1960s many apartments or houses were abandoned by their owners because there were better investment opportunities in cities like Hamburg entire block were occupied by anarchists for years and despite many eviction attempts the police were unable to drive
Out the people in the end the city gave up the houses to the residents to calm the scene one morning stood among many workers outside an old Villa where I was sleeping they were there to demolish the villa which had the most beautiful wooden doors and windows I had ever seen
I couldn’t bear the thought of them being destroyed so I asked the workers for a day to raise money to buy the wooden Treasures I withdrew 3,000 marks from my savings account rented a truck with a driver and paid the workers 1,000 decimeters to preserve the wooden
Artifacts for me I took the truck to Amsterdam where there was a great flea market where I sold the items with the help of my friend whom I had previously traded stereo equipment with after a few days I sold everything at a profit and sent some of the money back to my
Savings account through my friend on the way back to Hamburg we drove on country roads and took the opportunity to remove old metal Advertising Signs That No One owned or could buy for a small fee it took a few days longer to get to Hamburg
But it was worth it I had about 500 partly exotic Advertising Signs that I sold easily for a lot of money at the Hamburg Fish Market the fish market was very popular among locals and many came for breakfast on Sunday mornings after a wild night they would then rumage on the
Market as it was called or buy fresh fish directly from the fishing boats on different days of the month people could put out on the street everything they no longer needed and anyone could take it you could call it analog recycling today but in the 60s bulky waste was just
Normal for people you can’t imagine what was put on the street valuable things like pianos old stereo equipment or beautiful paintings everything that people no longer needed and others like me could still use to furnish themselves just stood there and had to be collected I furnished my first three apartments
With it and when I go through Ikea or other furniture stores today and see what junk is being sold for a lot of money I can only wistfully remember the good old days I loaded the truck with everything I liked and drove to Poland to sell it there but I soon realized
That the people there already had plenty of their old things and were not interested in buying anything new so I decided to give most of my items away and only bring back the best ones to sell at a flea market in Berlin on Sundays although I didn’t make much
Money money from it the trip was still worth it one day I heard that a famous musical called hair was coming to Berlin it was a big deal because we had never seen anything like it before people were talking about it all over the city especially young people with long hair
Since I had long hair too I went to the audition with some friends and was selected as a background actor all I had to do was sit on a platform for 20 minutes during the performance on the night of the premiere we hung around the theater and smoked something a little
Too strong for us so we all lost track of time or fell asleep in our seats when the audience started to come in and saw us sleeping there was a bit of a commotion and we quickly took our positions on the stage this was a new experience for everyone with actors
Coming from the audience to join the performance but it was a success and became part of the show after the premiere the whole cast went to a restaurant and then danced early one morning a very beautiful woman came to him to us as we were sitting on ker and
Dam having breakfast and asked if we would like to perform at a fashion show in Paris for most this was too extreme but only I and two others were ready to do it so the next day we met the Japanese designer Kenzo at the hotel and discussed the details the fee was
Fantastic 200 decimeters a day for 14 days and so we decided to go to Paris and become models I had never been to Paris before and fashion shows meant nothing to me I didn’t even really know what it was good for but later we found
Out that Kenzo was a big star and famous for his show so I and the two other guys drove to Paris in an R4 on the way to Belgium where the highways are lit up at night a woman stood by the side of the road elegantly smoking a cigarette with her broken
Ds21 she looked like a scene from one of the French film noir films that came to us at the time and that I lik to watch in my bar one of my favorite movies was elevator to the G ows by Louise Mali with Jean Moro with the music of Miles
Davis we took her with us to Paris and it turned out she had a very large house right next to the Eiffel Tower where many artists lived rent-free she invited us to stay there as long as we wanted and to feel at home wow what a great
Surprise I lived right in the city and didn’t have to pay anything for it countless people came in and out of the many apartments and what I found out later it was a famous Gathering Place for intellectual ual filmmakers my problem was that I didn’t have an alarm
Clock but I had to be on time for the prap porter the next morning I tried to find the French or English word for an alarm clock but it was impossible so I decided to stay up all night so as not to be late the next day I had to find
The location of the show which again became a problem since in Paris nobody speaks German or English and even the taxi drivers only give you a typical shrug the show took place on the other side of the s in an old slaughterhouse which was very cold but that didn’t
Matter because I quickly got hot when I saw all the beautiful girls who were only occupied with themselves and partially wore nothing or very little I had no idea how hard the job of a model on a catwalk is and to add insult to injury I had to wear high heeled shoes
To Tower over the already tall girls at the first show I had to walk like a stor on the ice beside the girls who found it normal but but for me everything was new and I couldn’t walk in the shoes at all so I slipped on the runway during the first performance and
Crashed into the audience I was so embarrassed and humiliated but the audience just laughed and clapped to my surprise I found out later that this was a sign of approval and a way of showing appreciation for my efforts the show was a great success and as bizarre and beautiful as Paris it was
Full of colors and the clothes looked as futuristic to me as nothing I had seen before I was not even 18 years old yet and every night the whole crew went out to eat and then to various clubs from Jazz to Johnny holiday we came home very late
Every night and after about 14 days I was as exhausted as I had ever been in my life and then on the last night the most attractive girl I had ever seen that lived in the same building as I and did work in another show at the same
Time look at me and I was in love just from looking at here I had no way of contacting her or speaking with her and I was sure that she would have a lot of other dates the way she looked however in the evening the whole Cruise window
Out to a big party somewhere strangely enough we found each other on the dance floor and from there she took me to where one needs no words to enjoy needless to say after this night I never saw her again but she stayed with me like somebody out of a movie the two
Weeks in Paris passed by quickly and before I knew it it was time to return home fortunately a wealthy man offered the crow the opportunity to travel to the coot daour and to stay at his place in San Trope it was a welcome break from
The stress of the past few weeks and I was grateful for the chance to relax and gather my thoughts most of the guys there were different from my friends but there were no problems and I finally slept well by myself before going out again the decadent scene was boring to
Me and the foolishness of most of the guys was annoying most of them were gay which was also unusual for me but it didn’t matter as there was enough distraction in the movie To Have and Have Not Humphrey Bogart flirted with Lauren ball one of my favorite scenes in
The evening a woman sat at the bar who looked very much like her and I couldn’t help but stare at her because she looked so beautiful like in the movies to my surprise she also flirted with me and I thought maybe she was her so I took a chance and asked her to
Dance What followed was Indescribable as she was ready for a lot of fun and she laughed at me with a charming smile I felt like I was in heaven and it got even better as she pulled me close and kissed me passionately as no one had
Ever done before I thought this can’t be real and she became Wilder and Wilder and no one in the bar seemed to care and we kept going until a quiet song came on she pressed herself tightly into a corner against me and suddenly felt something familiar in her lap I ran my
Hand down her skirt and couldn’t believe it she had a penis the shock was so great that I stood there like a statue and she looked at me curiously then she said something in French and sat back down at the bar I needed some fresh air
And went back to the house where I was staying packed my few things together and took the next train to Marseilles this shock was so great that I needed to be alone for a while and I traveled through Spain to Portug been Dazed and Confused for so long it’s not true one little a woman never bargain for you lots of people talking few them know soul of a woman was created below You and abuse telling all of your life run R sweet baby Lord how they hypnotize sweet little baby I don’t know where you been going to love you baby here I come [Applause] Again every day I work so hard bringing home my heart and pain try to love you baby but you push me away don’t know where you’re going only know just where you been sweet little baby I want You Ah A [Applause] Oh La [Applause] Oh