IAIN MacGREGOR
Q. IN YOUR EXTENSIVE INTERVIEWS WITH RESIDENTS OF WEST AND EAST BERLIN - SOLDIERS, OFFICIALS AND OTHERS - WERE THERE ANY RECURRING THEMES OF THEIR RECOLLECTIONS OF THIS PERIOD?
A. There was, naturally, a heavy dose of nostalgia. From those serving, or living, in West Berlin through the Cold War years they loved the city, the unique atmosphere it had as an ‘international oasis’ where young West Germans could flee to in order to escape conscription. I suppose the fact that it was surrounded by the imminent threat of invasion by the
