Cold War Crossroads: East and West Berlin

By W. D. Owen

The Cold War was a complex, high-stakes period in world history during which the slightest mistake by JFK or Khrushchev—or their underlings—had the potential to devastate millions of lives. A scary time, it was also a time of heroes, cowards, soldiers, and thieves. Cold War Crossroads follows the paths of four such individuals with their own stories and agendas. Over a three year period, the observant narrator details the respective Cold War experiences, from 1961 to 1989, of an American soldier, an American government employee, an East German dissident engineer, and an East German worker. Tensions are common in all sectors, underneath and over the Berlin Wall. Author W. D. Owen is no stranger to this time of upheaval. He spent four years of his youth in West Germany during the Cold War. An accomplished German linguist and scholar of German defense policy, domestic politics, and culture, Owen lived in or visited both East and West German sites over a span of fifty years.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: Jan 22, 2019
• ISBN: 9781483491899

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Owen

Copyright © 2019 W. D. Owen.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

ISBN: 978-1-4834-9190-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-9189-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018911781

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 01/03/2019

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to my many American friends who have indulged me and endured my publication efforts over the years. I’m grateful to them despite the passage of time.

I am also of course extremely grateful to my many dear German friends and family members, die Deutschen, from East and West.

Meine liebe Frau, Susan, Du bleibst mein Rückgrat und meine Beraterin vom Anfang bis zum Ende dieses Werk. Ich bin meinen vielen treuen deutschen Freunden sehr dankbar. Ihr habt Eure Erfahrungen und Herausforderungen mitgeteilt, sei es von der östlichen oder der westlichen Seite der Berliner Mauer.

I could not have done it without all of you.

THE AUTHOR’S OVERVIEW AND NARRATOR APPROACH

Four Characters—American and East German

Lieutenant Colonel Bill Hudson: retired US Army Officer

Herr Holger Mann: retired engineer and former East German dissident

Mr. Russell Myer: US government employee

Herr Jakob Kahn: retired factory worker and former East German citizen

Robert Jones’ Role as Narrator, Listener, and Characters’ Confidant

Robert Jones was a US federal employee who had worked in the Department of Defense and the Department of State. During his thirty-plus years of service, Jones also prided himself as a freelance writer who experimented with all types of projects.

Through various twists of fate during the decade following the fall of the Berlin Wall, Jones crossed paths with the four gentlemen who became his friends. Over the course of many months and face-to-face interviews, they all eagerly shared their Cold War experiences and tense moments on both sides of the Berlin Wall. These four individuals became the characters of this story.

A history buff, Robert was captivated and listened to their varied and sometimes overlapping stories of the period 1961–1989. His two American and two German friends imparted historical context and enriched their stories with personal perspectives that illuminated the differences of West-East Cold War ideologies.

Robert met his American compatriots, Bill Hudson and Russell Myer, as a result of his employment. He became acquainted with Herr Mann and Herr Kahn through family ties of acquaintances in the United States.

The Scene Is Set for Robert Jones to Visit the Story’s German Characters

In December 1995, Jones dropped by to visit his friends, Richard and Ann Bauer. He was warmly introduced to Richard’s German cousin, Maria, who was visiting for the holidays.

During their conversation, Maria explained how her Uncle Holger and Aunt Hannah, who were in East Germany, had been cut off and separated from their West German relatives until the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall.

Robert was intrigued by Maria’s comments; she piqued his interest with fascinating references to Holger and Jakob, Hannah’s husband. Since Maria would soon return to Germany, she agreed to reach out to her Uncle Holger in Berlin and her Aunt Hannah in Leipzig. She believed they might eventually correspond with Jones since he was a Cold War history enthusiast from the US.

Robert Jones’ Assignment to Germany—1996

Robert was on temporary assignment to the US Consulate in Frankfurt, Germany, when he realized he could have a one-of-a-kind opportunity with Maria Bauer’s relatives. He hoped to build on his superficial knowledge of the Cold War in West and East Germany by personally following up with Holger Mann and Jacob Kahn.

Fortunately, the US State Department’s German-language training enabled Robert to gradually befriend the two former East Germans and become increasingly immersed in their Cold War experiences. The kind and understanding gentlemen became Robert’s buddies as they shared their daily life experiences over nearly three decades of East German oppression. He quickly discovered that the background of his two German friends offered new insights and opportunities to compare and contrast Cold War experiences on both sides of the Berlin Wall.

While assigned to Germany, Robert became acquainted with Russell Myer, a fellow American and seasoned State Department expert. Russ spent his college years and most of his career with the US Defense Department and State Department in Europe.

Robert Jones Returns to the United States—1998

The Berlin Wall had been down for almost nine years and Robert had returned from his Frankfurt assignments. While participating in meetings at the State Department and the Pentagon, Robert met Bill Hudson. A retired Army Lieutenant Colonel, Bill sparked Robert’s growing curiosity regarding the Cold War from yet a different perspective, that of the military. In 1994, Hudson retired after twenty years of active-duty service, much of it focused on NATO and Western Europe. He did, however, continue as a Department of Defense contractor. Hudson was very likeable and made it known he was very passionate about his Army career and was proud to have been a Cold War Warrior.

It became apparent that Robert could now easily narrate the stories of the three men he befriended in Germany and the one Army veteran he met in the USA.

CHAPTER 1

Bill Hudson—US Army Officer

Berlin Crisis: 1961

Robert Jones’ Stories and Character Commentary as a Cold War Kid

Lieutenant Colonel Bill Hudson and I had unexpectedly encountered each other one afternoon on the grounds of Fort McNair, Washington, DC. We decided to retreat to the Navy Yard and participate in happy hour at the Officers’ Club (O’ Club). We chose to sit away from the bar so Bill and I could chat. Out of the clear blue, the retired Lieutenant Colonel suddenly insisted on telling me about his upbringing and life during the Cold War. He confided that his Cold War experiences had significantly shaped his outlook on life.

To set the stage—1961—Bill related how his parents, Jack and Grace Hudson, had talked frequently about the Berlin crisis as preparations began for Bill’s tenth birthday on July 31. Bill reached into his briefcase and handed me an old and faded letter he had penned to his uncle George in 1965. It focused on the tense days leading up to August 13, 1961.

Dear Uncle George:

It was the day before my birthday in July and my dad asked me to join him in the TV room for some games. The TV was switched on, and the Sunday morning news shows were being aired by the national networks. I clearly remember that my dad tuned into ABC News and the Issues and Answers program. Though I don’t recall much detail about the interviews and questioning of the various political personalities, I do remember the surprise expressed by my father over the Berlin crisis comments made by a well-known US senator.

My dad turned off the TV and rushed into the kitchen to report something to my mother, Grace. I heard him explain to my mother that the US-Soviet situation in Berlin was getting worse by the day. The senator had expressed his belief that the East German regime could take some drastic measures regarding their refugee problem. My dad emphasized that Berlin could become an explosive worry for the US and the Soviet Union alike. Only two weeks later did I understand what the senator had alluded to—East Germany.

Later on that Sunday afternoon, my parents decided to postpone my birthday party planned for the next day. As with most US citizens who followed current events, they feared that there would be developments in Berlin that could trigger emergency measures at the highest level of the US government. Uncle George, I was disappointed and even a bit angry that my fun-filled birthday party was about to be ruined by the 1961 Berlin crisis.

Your nephew,

Billy

We moved to another table on the other side of the O’ Club. Bill summarized how daily life in 1961 continued quite normally for the Hudson family and many other Americans. However, on the morning of August 13, nearly twelve hours after the news from West Berlin spread like wildfire through Europe, the breaking news in the US was broadcast as special reports on TV and radio. Bill repeated the historical events as the Berlin crisis had taken a turn for the worse and the Soviet sector of the city had without warning, been sealed off with barbwire and barricades. East Berliners were suddenly prevented from leaving the Russian sector to cross to the American-British-French sectors of West Berlin. The Berlin Wall was in the making.

I thought of my studies that referenced the Berlin Wall. As if we were sharing a common wavelength, Bill explained his recollections.

"Robert, many Americans could not fathom that modern-day East Germans could be walled in, nor could they identify with the risks that many East Berliners were taking to escape during the following weeks of 1961. As a kid, I watched in horror as news footage of escape attempts and shootings along the Wall were summarized in TV newsreels. The days since mid-August stretched into months as