In the winter of 1986, a friend of my father met a girl from East Berlin. At the time, my father was only 16 years old and lived in West Berlin, right on the border. He often visited the GDR to buy school books cheaply. At the border crossing at Friedrichstrasse, one was forced to exchange 25 West German marks for 25 East German marks. Prices in the GDR were also significantly cheaper, and he could spend the leftover money after shopping on a few more beers in a bar near the Friedrichstrasse crossing. One day, my father and his friend visited the girl from East Berlin. They met her little sister, who was just six years old. Her little sister was a type 2 diabetic and needed insulin. The problem, however, was that the syringes from the GDR were large and made of glass, with thick needles that had to be boiled. For the little girl from the GDR, these were an absolute nightmare. Back on the other side of the Wall, my father contacted a friend's mother. She was a pharmacist and had easy access to disposable syringes with thin needles from the West. He obtained as many insulin syringes as possible from her and, together with his friend, planned to smuggle them into the GDR. Since it was just before Christmas, they wanted to give the little diabetic girl a gift and bought her a teddy bear. Before heading to the border, my father and two friends hid the insulin syringes from the West in their shoes, socks, underwear, and the lining of their jackets. My father had the teddy bear under his arm. When they arrived at the border, they were singled out by a border guard. The border guard suspected smuggling and interrogated my father and his friends. The reason for this was the teddy bear, which caused a particular stir at the border. During the interrogation, the police claimed that the bear was a symbol of capitalism, as it had been invented by American President "Teddy" Roosevelt. For the police, importing a "capitalist teddy bear" was a questionable act, and my father had to explain why he wanted to bring it across the border. After half an hour, an officer brought the teddy bear back for interrogation. They had thoroughly examined it for contraband but found nothing. My father had already explained that it was intended as a Christmas present for a little girl and, in the spirit of Christmas, asked the officers to turn a blind eye. The officers were gracious and let him and his friends pass. In the commotion caused by the bear, the border guards forgot to continue checking my father and his friends. Thanks to the teddy bear, the little girl was able to get her insulin injections, which were much more pleasant for her.
