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With Dean* and David Heller Candid Camera in East Berlin x >yy ,• < ’*:" ' ’•'•■' ;• :■*•• • ••\••• •:. • / JSfr* mfWngm oKunee^v .*3j*4 S {#* ■ ■nil) f S ■P^ T Ufi a ; Ws* i \ ■ ST , ";m^ ! ' ■*.* p jfl iP\ % BBS^r JjjH£ . ~ : '-' ' l, ‘ Bum '•’ . &$ - ' w> .4, ifeb ■Bfo^*,. SKKIMi THE SIGHTS - The Hellers are shown in Marx-Engels Square In East Ber lin. site of most of the Communist demon - strations in that still war tom city. Behind them is the famous and still beautiful Berlin Not many writers and jour nalists are going into tension filled, Oommunist-held East Berlin these days. With border shootings becoming common place. with the arrest of for eigners as “spies” and their sentencing to long prison terms becoming somewhat rou tine. not many care to volun tarily cross the line between the free world and the Iron Curtain. Two who did cross the Iron Curtain into East Berlin re cently were a husband-wife writing team from Silver Spring. Deane and David Hell er. The Hellers spent seven hours in East Berlin observing the people, snapping candid photographs, visiting stores and public buildings. “The really unusual thing about it,” they said, “is, that contrary to the almost universal practice Formal Wear COMPLETE Uv • Tuxedos • Full Dress llWlH* Cutaways Hull formal wear ;|jj|*RENTAI and SALE jpK| ACCESSORIES Blarrt I alan's Rockville Center ■P PO. 2-6726 PROFESSIONAL DRY CLEANING LAUNDRY —SHOE REPAIRS CENTER CLEANERS DRI-VIN CLEANERS Kadnrflta CN> 32* Hntiw< Dr. 2*l H WJt. P* Mrfi.n mock next to co-or L BUT’S Electrical Service, Inc. 304 Stonestreet Avenue I PO. 2-2185 Phones: OL 2-9158 k k COMMERCIAL INDUSTRIAL kk RESIDENTIAL r IERMITES j" 1 nn j Pest Control ! | 10541 Mfiwour Ut AWL 949.JJ33 * Cathedral, partially destroyed during the bombing of Berlin. A small chapel is open to the public in the historic church, the rest is still in ruins. of those who still do cross! over, we did not have an East Berlin guide. We insisted upon going entirely on our own .. . I to get our own look at what is happening in East Berlin. The Silver Spring writing team, whose latest book is “The Berlin Crisis.” a paper back which carries a foreword written by no less a person than Konrad Adenauer. Chan cellor of West Germany, freely admitted that they were “highly nervous” about their adventure. ‘The things you see are hardly reassuring.” they grinned. First, there’s that big forbidding sign. ‘You are leav-j ing the American Sector."' Then, on the American side 1 of the border they warn you: j ‘we can't do a thing for you ! if you get into trouble over there.' Then when you do cross the border, there are per- j haps 30 East German soldiers, armed with machine guns, or I even more menacing with ri- i fles with drawn bayonets on them.” The officer in charge on thef East Berlin side of the border: gave them a fairly “hard; time,” the Hellers reported j though he was "correct and po-! lite." “He insisted on looking at j our money. When he saw that we didn't have any East marks only West marks and Ameri can money, he was satisfied. He didn't speak English very well and we knew only a few words of German, so it took quite a while. Our camera bothered him. He wanted to know how many pictures we wanted to take—and what of. Deane said the only German number over ten we knew was “Neunzehn”—< nineteen >. We knew that because it was the number of the bus that went by our hotel. He seemed startled, that he had picked this particular number, but said “0.K.” Then he asked if we didn't want a guide. We said no . . . we wanted to see East Berlin on our own and make up our own minds about it He kind of gulped at that, but must have decided we didn't look like spies, because he waved us on in.” - ? - Taking pictures in East Ber lin is a tricky proposition, the Hellers report. “Take tlte wrong thing by mistake —and you're likely to wind up being charged as a spy." they say. “It's against the law to take pictures of the wall, the bor der check points, military per sonnel. or even of ruins re maining from the second world war. We decided to act like tourists. We had a big guide book. wore dark glasses, car ried a map of Berlin ... which we busily studied whenever soldiers carrying machine guns got too interested in us. which was frequently . . . and strictly minded our own busi ness. We didn't talk with any. one other than officials or waitresses, taxi-drivers and people we'd naturally meet ... only a week before several peo- : THE \ l MOURNING : : AFTER I * "Ew get tfret ewtul ’let down’ * j after yoe've bought * J that new car?" * J TAfo II bet yea did! You know a a ♦ goe—” "Goo, if I'd * J only gone to MARK MOTOR * J CO. to chock thoir prices! a a And. couldn't I havo bought a e the beautiful Comet for tho * J seme or less then I paid J a for this 'Plain Jane' car. and a a bow will the sorvico be???" a a OX, chock MARK for prices a a on the new 1942 Comet. What a { a plea sent surprise eweits you, £ * and what fine service!!! a a MORE FROM MARK J | Mark Motor Co. 1 2lO HUNGERFORD DR. * * (ON THR IT-PASS) a ReckviOe. Md. HA. 7-7311 a MERCURY COMET ENGLISH FORD 2xixnxiXlXkti.lXXlXi.il* pie had been sentenced to two years in prison for allegedly trying to persuade East Ber liners to try to escape to West Berlin.” The Hellers wandered for miles in East Berlin. "We were as conspicuous as if we had two heads,” they report. “Ev erybody knew immediately that we were Americans. The effect upon different people was amazing. East Berlin is a police state . . . you see armed soldiers everywhere . . . and there was fear in the eyes of most of the people as they quietly sought to avoid coming near us. But quite a number went out of their way to smile, as if to let us know that their sympathies were with the west. One little lady—about 70— who obviously hadn’t seen an American in months, laughed delightedly and clapped her hands as we went by.” The Silver Spring writers re port many impressions from East Berlin: “One is the extent of the ruins.” they said. “Even after all these years, the dev astation is incredible. In some areas, it gives you the impres sion of a city abandoned by the ancients, thousands of years old. You are astonished to see human life.” However, now the East Ger- : man authorities have appar-j ently decided under the spur of competition from the West, to “do something” about the ruins, the authors of ‘The Berlin Crisis” report. “Con struction is everywhere in East Berlin,” they noted. Stalin Alice, the “propagan Do Your Laundry The EASY Way THE SIGA OF QUALITY SMACE 1877 3 Cycle Automatic Dual Cycle Dryer WASHER | • Dries All Fabrics rtfr'n i • Fluff Cycle f" # Soak Cycle * Choice of Temp. i| “ * • Delicate Fabrics • Convenient * J • Regular Fabrics Linf Tra P 1 |P J • Filters Lint L ' From the famous M SPINDRIER B to the newest Automatics Witt Famous Washer - Dryer Combo WRINGER WASHER * o lb '°* d SPINDRIERS SALE SPECIAL completely automatically. Priced As Low As 10 lb. Capacity only Spireletor Wash r*2BB *139 *ll9 House of Service - OLNEY ELECTRIC CO. Ph. WH. 6-6606, Olney, Md. SP. 4-4556 i| SENTINEL' cotracr? M Mi£ 10 Thursday, Oetobar 19, 1961 da street” of the Communists is not especially impressive by American standards, the Hell ers reported, but they were im pressed by the H. O. (govern ment-owned) food stores. “In our opinion, the drabness and material-scarcity problems of life in East Berlin seem to have been much overplayed in the press,” they said. “Of course the stores in East Ber lin don’t compare with those of West Berlin, but there seems to be plenty of food and prices were low. They don’t have ap pliances like television sets, but their food stores seem like a not-quite-first-class American supermarket. Much better than we expected. The Hellers also expressed surprise at the large number of well-dressed persons they encountered in East Berlin. ‘There were plen ty of shabbily-dressed people . . . after all, East Berlin is a working class district . . . but at least half of the people were as well-dressed as you’d find on Pennsylvania ave.” The Hellers tried to buy I some items at the H. O. Super- 1 REUPHOLSTER SOFA OR 2 CHAIRS SLIP COVERS Pick-up and delivery CIMi 2 pieces, sofa and chair. Including labor and mi- |BQ K7 9 terial. ww spring* and “* large selection of mater filllnc where necear>. irp ... . . rtp 3-year guarantee. al—plain and floral. UF HOFFMANN Rt.MMSHING. CABIXETM AKING. ANTIQUE HRS TORINO* CORNICES. DRAPERIES. NO JOB TOO SMALL OR TOO LARGE. EASY CREDIT TERMS. 3447 18th Street, N.W. CO. 5-7300 market they report, but the cashier refused to take their money. ‘Theoretically west marks are supposed to be in terchangeable with east marks in East Berlin,” they said. “But when we put down the west marks, the cashier seemed to be badly frightened. Perhaps she thought we might be with the police or spies or some thing. Anyway, she refused to take the west marks. It was very embarrassing. We apol ogized and left hurriedly. We didn’t have the same trouble at a restaurant, or with a taxi driver or at the world famous Pergammon Museum, which is in East Germany.” Several people approached the Hellers to buy cigarettes, they report. “We didn’t sell them any, but we did give them some,” they said. The Silver Spring husband wife writing team admit to be ing “genuinely impressed” with two things in East Berlin—the “magnificent” Pergammon Mu seum, which contains some of the world’s greatest treasures of ancient art and sculpture, and the “very striking" Soviet war memorial in Treptow Park. Lip-reading Class Set A lip-reading class for deaf adults will meet at 7:30 p.m. October 24 at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School. It is spon sored by the county’s adult edu cation division. < J MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS RENTED • Clarinets • Flutes • Violins • Cellos * Trumpets • Trombones • Saxophones * And Others - NO NEED TO BUY - But, if you do desire to buy we will apply your monthly payments toward your purchase. LOW MONTHLY RATES- All Rental Instruments Meet School Specifications #FOR COMPLETE DETAILS Please Contact: Music & Arts Center BETHESDA TWINBROOK 7901 Wisconsin Ave. Shopping Center OL. 2-1725 | GA. 4-9660 NUCLEAR AGE NEW YORK (UPl)—The Edt* son Electric Institute has pub lished a nuclear supplement to its comprehensive glossary of electric utility terms for the convenience of the industry.