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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 11, 2000)
Wednesday, October II,; dncsday, October 11,2000 Page 3 6 H^Aew Survivors of divided Germany share their tales of tragedy and triumph in a war-torn nation Jews in Brief- o arrested in arm/drug ra« istina Shockey, 18, a| Veller, 22, were arrested-; : partment at 3031 Texas:! #12, when officers I ed to a report of a disti involving firearms, lege Station Police Dep?| tfficers were arriving or; as a maroon ChevroletS:! was leaving, accordingtcf r elease. officers stopped ^ ed the pickup, findingcff >tol, 3/4 of a pound off; Tlw Battalton and 23 units of what hi The night of Nov. 9, 1989, Hildegard Boucsein was t was MDMA (ecstasy, driving home from a party celebrating her new job when ckey and Weller w she heard on the radio that people could travel freely be- d with possession of it tween East and West Berlin. The Berlin Wall, which, for oossession of a contra decades, had symbolized tyranny to so many people, was nee and unlawfully cam tin down that night. on. Weller was also airea “That night 1 saw the mayors of West Berlin and East an outstanding warranter! in cut out a piece of the wall together,” Boucsein said, o serve jail time onaciBfijs is probably the greatest thing that has happened to spass charge. L j n m y life.” D later received a call 1 Boucsein was a speaker at a forum held Monday night l that three people we* t |-, e international Center of the George Bush Presi- masks with shotguns LjB rar y Complex as a part of German Week, ra" apartmi'nt in forep 'rj ie f orum focused on compared experiences of e. The CSPD release w j 10 |j ve( j j n democratic West Germany and >( 'opie a egec V too m'ialist East Germany before the country’s reunifi- mined amount of C ashb|i 0ninl988 jng in a van - ■ | n 193^ Boucsein was chief of staff for the mayor in J®est Berlin. Boucsein said that Berlin was a heavily mil- [ ^ (( itarized zone, but not -7—^—: tt T*cure against terror- — ContinuedfromPl^p 3^ sa j c j j t was b a i on-campus tours, sically a playground twever, will be heldinkfL- foreign intelli- THE BATTALION their neighborhoods and made short visits to the other side.” Boucsein is currently the undersecretary of federal and European affairs for the State of Berlin and a member of the International Advisory Board at Texas A&M. Boucsein said the situation in West Germany was a lot like the current situation in Serbia. “My friends tell me they can hear the bombs in Vien na,” said Boucsein. “It’s a question of courage to give those people and those countries a chance. This is the first time in history to have a peaceful and united Europe and I hope we have the courage to do it.” Anke Finger, an assistant German d Rudder Tower. geuce agencies. is a once-every-five-y* "Our these are very iinpoi:phones were o our campus,” WilliifLged by e know that studenb ;\ieryone, not 1( T' just the Soviets, but also ms said he hopes to (the Americans, French and British,” t ggie football gamesocBoucsein said. Mall shuttles during After the East German and West German governments veek, only one lot closf ified) the East German ivenienee student p^capital was moved from said. 1 he gravel lot n®| 0 nn to Berlin, resulting ticulture/Forest Sa’ n ^ combination of two opposite PA 97, will be closeu , 0c j a ] anc j econom i c systems, Arpav.ng and will reir 3oucseinsaid the Iollowing week, v »we were afraid that every- iweyer, remain openio' )ne wou i d i eave East g er ]j n ng during the conferencJ d g010 West Ber]in . Bouc . sein said. “People stayed in Germany, until age 7. She is writing a history of her par ents' and relatives’ experiences in East Germany. Finger said one of her duties as a child was to sit on the window sill at her house and watch for the trucks that delivered food to the store across the street. “As soon as I saw the truck, I would shout to my mother, and she would run across the street to buy food,” said Finger. M Youth organizations were considered an A important part in the lives of all good little so- ® cialist children Finger said. “I was in one called the Pio- ^ neers,” Finger said. “It was the only way you could do anything social, such as go to a concert or go camping. Everything revolved around the youth organizations. ... It was suspicious if you didn't participate.” Finger vividly remembers watching her mother sit in the living room crying after receiving a telegram that said Finger's father had escaped from East Germany and was safely in West Germany. “My father had a lot of trouble dealing with a system that was oppressive and made him promote an ideology that he didn’t believe in,” she said. “He had to recruit students to be in the army from the university where he was a professor, and he had to support the socialist state.” Finger’s father escaped by swim ming across Lubecker Bay, which he had explored during*his time in the army. Finger’s father began training by swimming against the current. Her mother watched out for people watching while he trained, because excessive swimming would look suspicious. He carefully observed the area and discovered that only one of the Hildegard Boucsein (right) and Anke Finger (left) spoke Monday night about their experiences in East Germany. He escaped by going under a wire, figuring out the" guard’s watch pattern, running through the spotlighted area and scaling over a triple fence. He then ran across | the beach and swam along the coast for three miles. Fin- • ger’s father went to a police station and said he had just ! escaped from East Germany. They did not believe him ; because nobody had ever escaped via that route before. > This was an extremely dangerous place to escape. ! Only 20 percent of people who attempted escape were successful. At least 189 people died trying to escape at 1 this point. The area was heavily patrolled by border , guards, Finger said. ( Near the border, there were snipers posted at the top 1 of watchtowers to search for escapees. Some people tried 1 to get on boat on international shipping lines and were , killed by the ship’s propellers. Many drowned or died of exhaustion after swimming such a long distance. Finger’s family was eventually allowed to leave East J Germany to be with their father. The reason the family | received travel permits is not certain, but it is most like- 1 ly because of the Helsinki Conference that urged the East spotlights that illuminated the coast German government to allow families separated by the J and the water moved. Finger said, border to reunite, Finger said. J slam mr life? y ? lues? THE GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF :m in @ 7:00 PM ies! AMU? erving the Waco urday 14. a building for the Many opportunities for full funding with stipends ranging from $11,000 to $20,000. If you are from an American racial/ethnic minority, call Associate Dean Poorman at (219) 631-8423. For more information, call (219) 631-7706, or write to the University of Notre Dame, Graduate Admissions, 502 Main Building, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556-5602 E-mail: gradad. l@nd.edu http://www.nd.edu/~-gradsch/ Come see us at your graduate fair on October 12. INTERN -||p- TRAVEL ABROAD ana SingaP 0 ^ MSC L.T. Jordan Institute for International Awareness Informationals October 9 5:00 pm MSC 230 October 11 4:00 pm Rudder 502 October 10 5:30 pm MSC 230 October 16 7:30 pm MSC 203 October 10 8:30 pm MSC 230 October 17 5:30 pm MSC 203 & Come see us online at Itftp;//ltjordan.tamu.edu Test Anxiety - Tension - Headaches therapeutic massage can help... & ASSOCIATES Call 693-5562 Student Rates and referral rewards offered (BarlcY^ Tonight in OUTER LIMITS FREE cover charge! $ 1 wells 7, Ar . r Si pints All Night Long FREE admission to Charley's Sports Bar & Grill and Manhatten Room 701 University Dr., Ste. 300 C.S. • 691-0484 • Across from Blockbuster Engineering Leadership Conference 10am-4om. October 14 7000 10am-4pm. October 14, 2000 College Station Conference Center Events include: Ettiquette Luncheon hosted bv LOCKHliO MARTIN i, Aggielife Editor frnion Editor ion. Photo Editor ^hoto Editor Night News Editor Copy Chief Radio Producer >n, Web Master gh Friday d u ring the fat. , ssion (except University! 1 ": i Paid at College Station. \&M University llllW M 1 exas A&M University in ^ rws offices are in 014 E-mail: Thebattalion® 1 " 1 ' p or endorsement by ^ -2696. For classified adv® 1 ' and office hours are 83. nl A&M student to pick "P" I subscriptions are $60P® or $10 a month. To chars® Corporate Seminars Team Design Competition Open to all engineers and engineering societies For more info or to sign up call 847-8567 or come by WERC 219. Cost is $5 payable by cash or check. Sponsored by Student Engineers' Council http:// sec.tamu.edu mmm /T\ (Pt The Princeton Review Complete analyses of all practice LSATs, LSAT ImsI chance to take the LSAT in this millenium. 979.696.9099 \ www. PrincetonRevie w. com Ttie Princeton Review k not rdtiHaled wttllTrftfenn iliilrenilty or jaw Servieci. Greeks Are Always Willing to Lend 4 Helping Hand Aggie fraternity and sorority members gave over $200,000 to charity last year. Aggie Greeks accounted for over 1/5 ofthe Big Event Participation Our time, effort, an4 energy is ejevoteej to the following charities: Phoebes home-The American Heart Association-Brazos Valley Rehabilitation Center-Children's Cancer Research-Service For Sight-The Still Creek Boys and Girls Ranch-Brazos Valley Food Bank-HOSTS-CASA-Scotty's house-Girl Scouts-Prevent Child Abuse America-Links to Literacy- Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation-Women's Health Symposium-Habitat for Humanity-Meal's on Wheels-National Bone Marrows Pro gram- Boys and GirlsClub-Assaultofllliteracy-Operation Big Vote Programs-American Cancer Society-Bowen Elementary School-Children's Miracle Network-Adopt-A-Schbol-Adopt- A-Highway-Pl/5H America-Go Texan-l/mted Way... and more!
