Joe McCarthy wrote:Ok saxitonin first off let me say I think Ive got a monster mancrush on you. Holy smokes, Ive never met a person on the internet from the old DDR that misses it and comes right out with the crazy stuff that you do. That said, your way of thinking is completely alien to me and that you and I are certainly from opposite sides of the political spectrum. That makes you interesting. I want to hear more and maybe argue with you a bit sometimes.
LOL! Ol' Saxi is a lover, not a fighter!

(But I'm all man, so don't try to hit on me.)
By the way, when I was in the US army stationed in West Germany I had the chance to visit Berlin at the time the wall was coming down. Hammered a bit off myself. It was a huge celebration. This was before reunification and there was still an East Germany. We soldiers were under strict orders that if we approached the wall that we had better be damned sure not to cross into the DDR or we would face arrest there and court-martial when we got back. Surely an exaggeration to make us really scared and not go over there but it worked on us. Well as you know that wall wound around a bit, and much of it was already down, and my buddies and I got lost and found ourselves a few blocks inside East Berlin. When we realized it we crapped our pants. We're behind enemy lines! We beat feet back as quick as we could and didn't get in trouble, but it's a funny memory for me.
First, the reason you were told not to go near is that the so-called "celebrations" were staged events for the benefit of media. The government of the occupied sector mobilized the federal territorial forces to bolster the rather paltry numbers of "celebrants" at the Anti-Fascism Defence Barrier.
That said, I'm sure you would have nothing of which to fear. The forces of the National People's Army and the Combat Groups of the Working Class held no ill-will toward enlisted personnel and non-commissioned officers of the occupation armies and all appreciated the Americans, French and British for the logistical support they had given the USSR in the liberation of Germany. Most likely you would have been feted with a round and then sent on your way. Even the guards regiments (Wachregiment Hugo Eberlein, Wachregiment Friedrich Engels and Wachregiment Felix Dzerzhinsky), despite being more motivated, understood this was not an interpersonal conflict.
I'd be interested in hearing what you and your friends, people that were loyal to the DDR, were thinking as the wall came down. Was that a sad day, or did it not yet hit you that reunification was coming? Maybe it seemed that both countries would just exist without a physical barrier, or maybe you thought it would be repaired? Just whatever your recollections are of that time would be interesting to me.
I was abroad at the time the democratic sector of Germany was sabotaged by The Insect.
In terms of feelings, I was ambivalent. The revolutionary struggle simply moved to the next phase as had been predicted. Max Zimmering addressed this in his 1972 agitation pamphlet titled "It is Inevitable the Revolution Must Return Underground; Let Us Use the DDR to Prepare."