"What happens when lines of communication suddenly break down?" I asked my grandma. She experienced exactly that on Sunday, August 13, 1961, when police and soldiers sealed off the so-called "sector border" to West Berlin. She had just turned 13, a year younger than I am now. From one day to the next, she no longer had contact with her best friend. How horrible and unimaginable. My grandma and her friend had always played hairdresser in Pankow, and now that was no longer possible? Why? My grandma couldn't understand what happened back then. I can't understand it. Just as my grandma did, I would have tried to write to my best friend. I would have tried to encourage her and tell her that everything would be alright someday. That I firmly believed we would see each other again and that people would understand the terrible and senseless things they were doing. Unfortunately, my grandma never received a reply to her letters. After the Wall was built, East and West Berliners were without personal contact for 28 months. After that, starting in the new year of 1963, West Berliners were allowed to enter East Berlin with a "passierschein" (passport) for rare "urgent family matters." Unfortunately, according to the border police, wanting to see one's best friend again was apparently not an urgent matter. Another nine years would pass until the "Four Power Agreement" was signed in 1972. From then on, West Berliners were allowed to visit East Berlin and the GDR with a "Berechtigungsschein" (authorization certificate) and a "visa." By that time, my grandmother was already an adult. If she wanted to enter the GDR, she had to exchange a certain amount of money and spend it there. She wasn't allowed to take the money back. This was supposed to be for the "welfare of the GDR citizens." How could something like this be for the good of the people when their friends and relatives from the West were forced to buy what little they owned? My grandma remembers how uncomfortable she felt when she was led past empty tables in a restaurant near the Red Town Hall. She was treated royally, while people from East Berlin stood in line outside in vain and were told there were no tables available. Understandably, she didn't enjoy the food under such circumstances. Thank you for sharing this story with me, Grandma. I can hardly imagine how difficult it must have been for you not to see your best friend for so long. I'm glad you found each other again after the Wall fell.
