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INTERNATIONAL DESK
(Continued from page
27)
a thletes are world-beaters- winning more gold
medals in the 1976 Olympics than the U.S.A.!
Thc GDR is sensitive to the rather dowdy face it
presents to visitors. East Be rlín is at last being
restored to its prewar grandeur. When the city was
dividcd, most of the his torical bu ildings left standing
wcrc in the Eastern sector. Until recently, they were
bombed-out ruins. Now the churc hes, cathedrals and
Faces of East Germany- accepting the present,
ant icipa ting the future
museums around the central boulcvard- Unter
den
Linden- are
being complete ly restored in time for
the ci ty's 700th anniversary in 1987. In sorne ways
the East German capital is becoming a more
impressive city than what has been described as the
gaudy American suburb across the wall.
What incredible people the Germans are!
Surveying the pulverized remains of the T hird
Reich, sorne commentators prophesicd that it would
be at least 100 years before the G e rman nation
could recover sorne semblance of normalcy. Ye t , just
a gene ra tion or so later, the two Germanies have
come charging back, each to become the superstar
and showcase of its respective world.
The Reluc tant Rívals
How do the two Germanies regard each other?
They've had to maintai n a discreet distance. The
West Gcrmans worked hard to regain the trust of
the world after the war. The East Germans did not
have to concern themselves with that. They had to
accept that their existence depended on their
continuing as Joya! a llics of the Soviet
Un ion.
But times a re changing, and the Eu rope of today
is a diffcrcnt place to the Europe of 30 or 20 or
even five years ago. A new generation is growing up
in both Germanies. T hey do not have (nor should
they have) any feelings of guilt over a war that was
fought esscntially by their grandfathers. Most
Germans alive today have not known anyth ing but a
divided nation. The average man or woman is not
42
preoccupied with reunificat ion, although polls have
shown that most West Germans would like it.
Realistically they do not expect it anytime soon .
ll
is
a matter to be left to the politicians (who a re
becoming increasi ngly bold in talking about it). No
polls have been taken in the Eac;t, but there is every
reason to believe sen timc nts would be much the
same.
For now, the Germans seem to be able to live
with the fact that they a re a divided people. Eas t
and Wcst Ge rmans recognizc cach other and
exchange correet-and increasingly
cordial- diplomatic relations. The East German
economy receives much help from the Federal
Republic directly through loans, and less directly
through preferential trade arrangements. Thcre is
the occasional ftare-up along the tense border- but
overall the two nations coex ist as rather re luctant
rivals.
The Future
ll
was the Germans who pioneered the development
of guided missi les during the Second World War.
Their conque ro rs, helped by capt ured G erman
!
scientists, refined the art. The crude V-Is and Y-2s
~
launched from Peenemünde 40 years ago were the
" ancestors of the American Pershing 2 missi les that
NATO allies plan to locate on German soil- unless
arms cont rol negotiations with the Soviet Union
forestall their deployment. These missiles could
s trike deep into R ussian territo ry with pinpoint
accuracy.
T he Soviet Union realizes tha t such missiles pose
a far g reater threat than the armies o f H itle r or the
Kaiser ever did- a threat agai nst which a land
barrier offers no protection. Russia will have to
rethink its defense policy. What would R ussia be
willing to offer in exchange for a guarantee of
neutrality from her western ncighbors?
Time will tell. But it would not make sense for
Europe to be unified and neutra lized- and Germany
to rema in divided. Sorne degrec of unification will
take place. The two Germanies with their comrnon
lang uage, common history and common cu lture
would quickly work out the details.
ll
would not be
such a one-sided deal as we might at first think.
That "other Germany" must not be underrated.
Combined, East and West Gerrnany would be a
power to be reckoned with. As the nucleus of a
united Europe--a third world power- they would be
its most powerful cornponent.
Could such a dramatic change in the balance of
power ha ppen? Analysts and politicians on both
sides of the 1ron Curtain a re speculat ing that it
could .
Jcsus Christ didn ' t have to spccula tc. He knew
Europe's future. So that we, too, could know a nd be
prcpared, he revealed it through the prophecies of
the Bible. Few people realize that these prophecies
tell in advance the events now taking shape in the
heart of Europe that will soon rock this world to its
foundations.
-John Halford
The
PLAIN TRUTH