Stanford Student Letters and Memoirs

May 20, 1960

Hello folks,

Goodness- George has been to Berlin and returned and even taken another excursion- and here I am, late again. Perhaps by now you are used to this routine. At any rate, as I wrote to him only last night, he just got to see Berlin in time with that Mr. K acting up. And, frankly, I shall be very happy to greet him on June 11th in San Francisco. Somehow we will prefer to have him on this side of the "pond" and he seems to be counting the days too.

April 28th, 1960

I have a few minutes before going to the Berlin Philharmonic so will start a letter to you.

We have spent both morning and afternoon in seeing the refugee situation. We began this morning at the main reception center here in west Berlin, where the refugees come first of all after crossing the border into east Berlin and then crossing again into west Berlin.

First of all we had a very informative lecture from the director of the center, himself a refugee in 1951. Some statistics he gave were well worth repeating: Since world war 2 there have been 3.4 million refugees from east Germany, not counting those from other lands such as Latvia, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland etc. Germany has a present popultion of about 54 million; of these, 13 million are refugees from somewhere behind the iron curtain- i.e. 25% of the whole population! That is a lot of people to absorb especially when three foirths had another language, customs, etc, and of, course, none of them could bring more than a suitcase or so with them, many of them not even that much, so it was also quite an economic problem and still is.

Even more interesting are the more current figures; for example, the monthly refugee flow so far this year: January 5,300; Feb. 5,900; March, 8,000; April to the 26th, 14,000. One reason for the rise since Feb. is that the Communists have put on a big push to collectivize the farms and also the handworkers etc who remain self-employed. This has, as the numbers show, driven thousands of farmers to make the very dangerous trip to Berlin to escape to the west, where they must now face the difficulty and hardship and uncertainty of starting life from scratch. The no. of farmers jumped from 200 in Jan. to 2,400 in the first three weeks of April, after the new laws came in. The phychological [psychological] importance of west Berlin as an escape valve for refugees from Communism cannot be exaggerated!

After the backgroung [background] speech we split up into groups of ten to sit in on the actual interviews given to all new refugees. These people must show good reason for having left the Communist country in order to be granted refugee status in west Germany (this preventing infiltration and also preventing the complete flooding of west Germany with refugees to house, clothe, and feed) and hence they are questioned by a committee of three former refugees to verify these reasons. We got to listen to four cases, were permitted to ask questions when we didn't understand something- this was, I thin [think], the most informative experience of the day, giving a unique insight into how Communism goes about its slow but relentless job of taking over the lives of the common people in service of the state.

-4-

these went along another street and we only saw them at a distance. The rest of the parade was at least semi-civilian, though the pervasive sense of a people organized into a chain of little fighting units existed for us. There were thousands in "sport clubs", youth organizations, "factory fighting groups", all carrying colorful flags, posters, pictures of party heroes, etc. - all marching in front of the review stand in step. (By this time we had managed to slip with a small crowd of people thru gap in police restraining lines, and stood in good positions at one corner of the square itself, a fine view of the proceedings).

About 10:30 we (Dr. Tarshus (George's Econ. prof.), Dr. Whittaker, Dr. and Mrs. Zoerner, Laurie Hutton and I ) worked our way through the crowds back to the train to go over to the west side rally, just across the border between east and west Berlin in the gigantic Platz der Republic. This is a huge open space about 1/6 to 1/8 mile each way; there were an estimated 750,000 people there, to hear three speeches by west German and Berlin officials. To get any feeling for the magnitude of the occassion just try to imagine that many people assembled in one place- Big Game is 100,000, and this made that tiny. I was held up briefly to take pictures and it was an endless sea of faces in every direction. But the tone here was quite different from that of parade and spectacle in east Berlin. People were coming and going in steady streams at the edges of the crowd, but there was a arge [large] central area where the people stood still, watched and listened. The spirit was generally serious, thoughtful, people listening attentively, clapping at some points. It was quiet and serious the whole time as though the people appreciated the gravity of the situation and the importance of their position as an outpost of the free world. The speeches themselves were generally anti-Communist ("we will not surrender our freedom" variety.

As the west rally broke up (it lasted only 1 1/2 hours) we went back to the east sector and caught the last hour of the parade there (which lasted five hours)- which aws [was] closed by thirty units of polikspolizer (people's police) 100 men in each unit. Thus it closed on the same militaristic note on which it began.

We spent the rest of this afternoon again looking around a couple of book stores- and with the help of Laurie's Russian visa- I was able to buy a beautiful book on Van Gogh which I had been refused on 5 previous tries. Cost $2.25- worth $18 in the USA. I have bought several others by now including two big works by Harz and Engels and Lenin (30c each for 500 peces) and four longplay classical records with the exchange of east marks being over 4-1 in west Berlin (this is illegal to the east Germans) the prices are ridiculously low!

Tonight I am staying home, partly because I am tired and my feet are all walked out! But also I have to prepare a short talk for a meeting tomorrow morning in which we try to pull together our experiences and observations here in Berlin. So I have some reading and thinking to do. Maybe if my observations end up being organized enough I will write them down and send them on to you- for there is surely much to be learned and understood about Berlin and the US and every little knowledge helps.

Tomorrow is then our last day of sightseeing- we leave after dinner for the burg, arriving about 1:30 AM.

March 26, 1960

Hi, folks-

Dave and I have finally found some spare time to do a bit of the typing for George that has truly stacked up in the past few weeks.

We thought these two subjects particularly interesting in a general way and only hope we can talk further with him about all of this when he gets home.

Meanwhile, he has spent a lovely long weekend in the Black Forest area of Germany and, at the present time, is bicycling through Germany- up to Bremen- over into The Netherlands (The Hague, Amsterdam etc) and then bak [back] into western Germany and along the Rhineriver (including a stop at Heidelberg) and back to the Burg by April 4th. They are loving every bit of it- even going uphill hasn't been too much for them I gather- and feel that they are getting a wonderful close-up view of the countryside they are covering. Later the group goes to East Berlin on a tour and to Luxembourg.

In a few days- maybe even tomorrow- I will be here at the typewriter again and will have some specific news of this trip for all of you.

I know there are probably more than the usual number of errors in this typing job- blame it on my lack of German, or just industrial fatigue. Just hope that you can guess what I could have written had I not made these typographical errors.

Dave and Lo

4/24/60

Hello, everyone-

George has been back from his bicycle trip for some time- has even spent a weekend in Paris- but we will start telling you about his trek and the rest will follow along soon.

March 16th.

First a little unpleasent business then the more pleasant news of our trip. I am writing this from the youth hostel in Hamburg. Last night we stayed here and left our bikes parked out in the rack outside. This AM mine was gone- STOLEN. Naturally I had to buy one to replace it which we did this morning after reporting the theft to the police. Our equipment was all inside so no problems there.

Our trip so far has been quite interesting although the best part (Holland) I think, is still to come. We got away Saturday about 3 PM after two days of finishing up Anthropology papers, packing etc. We went through Schorndorf then turned northward in the general direction of Schwabisch Hall. That was to be our destination for the night but we ran in to some pretty rough country- woods, creeks, steep hills- much like the Black Forest and very pretty. We had to push our bikes up each hill then ride down and push up the next. It was reallt [really] exhausting work, especially on our first day when we finally quit about 8 PM. Stopped at a gas station and got directions to a nearby farmhouse. Here they showed us a summer cabin with a covered porch, roof (n walls of course) where we spread our sleeping bags for the night. We have about four days food packed with us and will replenish as we go. Just about froze about morning and probably won't sleep outside again if we can avoid it. We need the rest to make the mileage we want to. Anyway, up at 6:30, load up and on the way- about a mile of pushing uphill and then the summit at last! From here mostly down or flat all the way to Schwabach Hall. We went through Althuate, Gaildorf, sometimes coasting at 30 miles per hour. Along the way we passed thru [through] farmland as well as forest. Saw many small villages much like Beutelsbach. This is the sort of thing that small roads and villages as well as the cities.

From Schwabach Hall we took a train to Rothenberg to save time and energy. There we took our gear to the youth hostel and set out for a few hours look at the town. It is a famous tourist center though not in this season, of course. Because it is an authentic mecieval city bounded by the high walls, standing on steep bluffs, overlooking the Tauber river. Must have been an impregnable fortress in those days.

Sitting on a bunk in the cool (unheated) youth hostel in Oldenberg, having jyst [just] finished a very pleasant leisurely meal in a nearby gastatte (small restaurant-beer hall).

Back to Rothenberg- It was a lovely sunny day and we strolled down the narrow streets. Saw the Rathaus (city hall), went in to one of the churches which had two beautiful wood carved altar pieces (about 1500) from the German Renaissance. Stopped by the walls to look out over the river and valley. Then at dusk we found a small woodpaneled gastatte, had dinner by candlelight.

-4-

It is a beautiful spot in every way and I don't know how it ever became a hostel.

Yesterday morning before setting out to see the Hague, we took a short bike ride down to the beach. Rode along the path through huge sand dunes 20 or 30 feet high. It was a gray overcast morning and the sea and the horizon were one continuous mass, broken only by three small cargo ships steaming off to somewhere. It was my only look at the Atlantic (technically the North Sea) for this trip I don't mind that too much if it is always so gray and dreary.

In the city we went first to the Binnenhof, which is sort of a palaceadministration building. In the center court surrounded by an old bldg. filled with offices is a small building containing several large halls, the largest of these is a lovely hall on whose walls hang the flags of the Hollandish provinces, the shields of oast ruling princes, etc. At one end is a lovely round stained glass window (again the shields in the center). The roof is beamed hardwood, nailed with wooden pegs (re-built in 1904 though the building dates from 1280). Here are held special meetings of the legislature and large state receptions for visiting royalty or heads of state. And here in September each year the Queen marches in to officially open Parliament for the year.

After lunch we went to a small museum (the Mauritschuis) which contains several Rembrandts including the late self-portrait and "The Anatomy Lesson", Franshals, and a couple of good Vermeers. Then to find directions to the Peace Palce [Palace], built in 1918 by the US. We stopped in at the US information Service building which we happened to ride past. But here we found a small library and so sat down for a couple of hours to catch up on the news and relax. We bought the week's Time magazine in Amsterdam but a good reading of one day's New York Times aided a lot. After this interlude we arrived at the Peace Palace at 4:15 to find that the building closed at 4, so we had a tourist stylelook at the outside. Then the half hour ride back to the hostel and another relaxing evening. These easy evenings seem to be the best formula for the day's walking or biking and a 10 PM light's out in the hostels prevents concerts etc. anyway. So we just stay in after dinner and take it easy.

This morning, up as usual, and away about 9 to bike to Rotterdam, 30 kilo. It was against the wind all the way, some up and down, and we are getting stronger by now and did the distance in 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Went first off to the American Express and I found 6 letters waiting for me!

After a very short ride through Rotterdam to bought train tickets to Koln and got here about 6:30 this evening. On the way (Utrecht, Arnhem, Emmerick Oberhausen, and Deuseldorf) we came through the Ruhr, of course and saw endless smoke stacks and heavy factories. It is really industry saturated.

This does it for this installment. More to come real soon. Isn't it a pity we sold George bicycle so long ago. He probably would have more fun with it now.