My parents didn’t pick up the money. They didn’t want any handouts from the West. All they wanted was for their employment contracts and rent to stay the same. They found this Begrüßungsgeld (welcome money) degrading.
I, on the other hand, did pick up the money. But not after the fall of the wall, as most did, but already beforehand. My yearning for freedom, the freedom to travel, forced me to make the decision to flee. Even when I was a child we travelled a lot as a family to all countries you could travel to from East Germany without a visa. But at 24 I wanted to see more of the world.
In the summer of 1989 the time had come and my sister and I and our children fled to the West via Hungary. It was very difficult to escape, especially the many stations and emergency accommodation with the little ones. Back in Berlin, once we had collected all applications and the necessary stamps, we received the money.
But even shopping at the supermarket caused a total mental overload! Everything was so colourful! There were so many types of washing powder all of a sudden! And it was the same for all the other goods. I couldn’t make these choices. I left the shop again empty-handed. I was never interested in consumption. Western goods simply did not appeal to me, neither TVs nor cars. So I saved the money for something that really motivated me – for travelling. I took my first trip to Corsica in a friend’s car.
»I left the shop again empty-handed. I was never interested in consumption.«