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My personal experience
y
family, who comes from Bessarabia,
after the 2nd World war were divided between West Germany and East Germany.
I lived in West Germany and different times I had possibility to go and see my maternal grandmother and my relatives that lived in East Germany.
Following I will tell you my experiences of that trips, but before doing it I want to illustrate the situation of Germany in that time.
End of the II World War
division of Germany and Berlin in 1945
The 2nd World War ended in May 1945 with the defeat of Germany.
Just before the end, during the conference of Yalta was decided the division of Germany and Berlin among the 4 allies, Soviet Union, United States of America, United Kingdom and France.
My relatives, like many other Germans that lived in Bessarabia from over 125 years, had to leave their homeland in 1940 to be resettled in Wartheland (today: Poland).
1946 - postwar period
women after a hoard expedition
From there, in 1945, they had to run away toward west due to the advance of the red army. In this exodus my maternal grandparents remained in Saxony-Anhalt (DDR), while those fatherly, desired to reenter in the places of their origins, they went to Württemberg.
Other relatives instead settled in Est Berlin, Northern Germany or emigrated in America.
The situation in the est part occupied from the Soviet
families and friends separated by barbed wire
Initially to citizens of Berlin was freely permitted to circulate among all sectors, but with development of the Cold War their movements were limited; the border between East Germany and West Germany (in the slang then called the wall) was closed in 1952 and attraction toward the western sectors of Berlin for the citizens of East Germany increased. Around 2,5 million Germans of the east "passed" to west between 1949 and 1961.
P.S.: I would have pleased if you send comments and suggestions. You can use my guestbook here. You can find more articles in German or in Italian.
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2007 - 2018
