no man's land resource pack

By Aisha Khan

29 April to 7 MayUK Premiere

West Yorkshire Playhouse and Theater an der Parkaue, Berlin

No Man’s Land

Teacher Resource Pack

West Yorkshire Playhouse / No Man’s Land / Resource Pack

Contents

IntroductionThe Borderlines Project Page 1

The Play

The Production: Interview with writer Aisha Khan Page 3

The Themes Background information: Berlin Page 4Background Information: Eye Witness Reports Page 6BORDERLINES theme Page 11

Practical Exercises: The BORDERLINES Theme Questions on Borders Page 14Borderlines Phrases Page 15

Practical Exercises: The Play Scene Work (pre-show) Page 17Character Profile (post-show) Page 20Moments of the Past and the Future (post-show) Page 21Perspectives (post-show) Page 21

Practical Exercises: The Style (pre-show)Eye-Witness Report Page 22Improvisation Page 22Scenic Montage Page 22

Reviewing and Reflecting Page 23

Appendix Page 24Eye Witness Reports – German language version


IntroductionThe Borderlines Project

In September 2009 an innovative and exciting project between two theatres – West YorkshirePlayhouse in Leeds and Theater an Der Parkaue in Berlin – began. Funded by the Federal CulturalFoundation’s Wanderlust fund, and inspired by the 20th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the project sought to explore borderlines: political, historical, social, geographical and personal.

The partnership included 4 strands; a young people’s exchange, a staff exchange, a production exchange and a final co-production into which all of the research material and experiences of the previous elements would feed.

In October 2009 young people from First Floor at West Yorkshire Playhouse visited Berlin to create a piece of theatre inspired by the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, addressing the notion of historical and political Borderlines. In April, WYP held the reciprocal visit by the group of youngpeople from Berlin at First Floor in which young people addressed the idea of personal, emotional and psychological borderlines. In both visits the participants from Leeds and Berlin worked with staff from WYP, TAP, a British playwright and a German Director.

The co-production No Man’s Land is written by British playwright Aisha Khan and directed by German theatre director Lajos Talamonti. The production features both German and British performers. No Man’s Land will be performed in both Theater an der Parkaue and West Yorkshire Playhouse in April 2011.

This resource pack includes information about the play and themes investigated during the project.

Creative Education at West Yorkshire Playhouse

The Creative Education programme offers a range of activities to enhance a school visit to the theatre and to deepen students’ understanding of the creative process. For No Man’s Land, we are offering Theatre Days linked to creative writing on Thursday 5 and Friday 6 May and workshops relating to the style of the piece by arrangement. Please do get in contact to find out more.

If you have an idea for a project or you would like to talk to us about connecting to your work in school please get in touch.

Jessica FarmerCreative Education [email protected]

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The PlayNo Man’s Land by Aisha Khan

Kitten’s been caught busting up garden sheds. Viktor’s caught in his memories of escaping East Berlin. And Little Houdini is just trying not to get herself caught.

Brought together in a back garden in Armley, these three have to try to fit together their stories of the past and dreams of the future. All while dodging Kitten’s long suffering Youth Offending Officer. A mysterious, time-travelling, border crossing play of fantasies, friendships and jigsaw puzzles.

Performed in English and German with surtitles.

Director Lajos Talamonti

Designer Angelika Wedde

Lighting Designer David Bennion-Pedley

Dramaturgy Alex Chisholm & Anne Paffenholz

Casting Director Kay Magson

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Interview Aisha Khan – Writer

What was your process in writing this play?A lot of thinking!

How did you come up with the characters and the stories? With most plays I have a spark of an idea, usually of a character in a situation. For No Man’s Land, I was to some extent, led by the theme of Borderlines and everything that it represented or could represent.As well as this I was working not only with West Yorkshire Playhouse but with Theater an der Parkaue, a theatre based in Berlin, a city with its own distinct history and culture and peoples. From there it wasa case of finding a story and finding characters that were best served to tell a story that would be relevant to both audiences in Leeds and Berlin. Viktor and Kitten were two of the characters that I created quite early on and then it was a case of exploring how they could be pushed together in a dramatic and interesting manner.

What interested you most about the Borderlines theme?I was interested in the idea of crossing borders, both geographically and psychologically. So the questionsI was asking myself were ‘What happens when a person, for whatever reason, makes a move from one country, city or town to another? And what happens when individuals, of all ages, are made to question their actions and take responsibility for them?’

What has excited you most about this project?More than anything, a collaboration between two very distinct theatres, lends itself to a production that incorporates the skills and talents of these two theatres. It’s exciting to know that my script and the directors vision have come together to produce a thrilling and memorable piece of theatre.

How did you become a playwright? I was very bookish as a child and every now and again would scribble something in a notepad. As a teenager I discovered I was good at writing dialogue, and after having a play produced whilst at college, and feeling quite thrilled about seeing something I’d written being voiced by actors on a stage, I knew this was what I wanted to do. A few years down the line, working as an English Teacher I had my first real break, as they say, and as they also say, the rest is history. So over the years I have been lucky enough to have written for both theatre and radio.

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Background Information: Berlin

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Berlin is the capital city of Germany. It is a vibrant, cultural city with a great diversity of residents and districts and around 3.4 million residents.

Following Germany’s defeat in World War II, Germany was divided into 4 sections each of which was occupied and controlled by one of the victorious allied powers. The American, British and French zones made up West Germany and the Soviet and Polish zones formed East Germany. This was also the case in Berlin, which although situated in East Germany, was split in the same way. The very different governmental ideologies between the Soviets and the Western Allies led to vast differences between the way in which East Germany and West Germany were ruled. East Germany was restructured according to the Soviet socialist model whereas West Germany was developed under the influence of Western democracy.

In the first years that followed the separation of East and West Germany, passing from East to West and West to East was possible through a successful application for an ‘interzonenpass’. Early on the border between East and West Germany was closed leaving just the border between East and West Berlin open. Through crossing the border from East Berlin to West Berlin many East Germans left the East for West Germany through Berlin. This eventually led to the closing of the Berlin border and soon after the erection of the Berlin Wall.

Timeline(Source: http://www.dailysoft.com/berlinwall/history/berlinwall-timeline.htm)

May 8, 1945World War II is over and Berlin is divided into 4 sectors:the American, British, French in the West and the Soviet in the East

October 29, 1946 A 30 day valid Interzonenpass is required to travel between the sectors in Germany

June 23, 1948 Currency reform in Berlin, Berlin is divided into two different currency zones

June 24, 1948 Begin of the Berlin blockade

June 25, 1948 Berlin Airlift begins

May 12, 1949 End of Berlin blockade

May 24, 1949 Federal Republic of Germany is founded (West Germany)

September 30, 1949 End of Berlin Airlift

October 7, 1949 German Democratic Republic is founded (East Germany)


Background Information:Berlin

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May 26, 1952 Border between East and West Germany and between East Germany and West Berlin is closed. Only the border between East and West Berlin is still opened

June 17, 1953 Uprising of East Berlin building workers against the imposition of increased working norms, suppression by Red Army tanks

November 14, 1953 The Western Powers waive the Interzonenpass, the Soviet Union follows but East German citizen need a permission to travel to the West

December 11, 1957 Leaving East Germany without permission is forbidden and violations are prosecuted with prison up to three years

August 13, 1961 The Berlin sectorial border between East and West Berlin is closed, barriers are built

August 14, 1961 Brandenburg Gate is closed

August 26, 1961 All crossing points are closed for West Berlin citizens

June 26, 1963 President J. F. Kennedy visits Berlin and says: ‘Ich bin ein Berliner.’ (‘I am a Berliner.’)

December 17, 1963 West Berliner citizen may visit East Berlin the first time after more than two years

September 3, 1971Four Power’s Agreement over Berlin. Visiting becomes easier for West Berliners

June 12, 1987 President Ronald Reagan visits Berlin and urges Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall

September 10, 1989 Hungarian government opens border for East German refugees

November 9, 1989Berlin Wall is opened

December 22, 1989 Brandenburg Gate is opened

October 3, 1990 Germany is reunited


While listening to the news on the radio on Sunday afternoon, I was completely startled. I even became nauseous. East Berlin sealed off! Just four days earlier I had lived there. Together with my ex-husband in Köpenick. I had separated from him in the week before the Wall was built. I had moved with him there,but soon returned to Charlottenburg, my home district. Had I delayed my decision to leave him just a few more days – who knows what would have become of me.

In the summer of 1961 nobody was expecting the SED government to get serious. No one could have imagined that what Walter Ulbricht had indirectly announced would actually happen. The sentence: ‘Nobody intends to put up a wall.’ In West Berlin we simply didn’t take it seriously.

That evening I drove with friends to Bernauer Straße. The atmosphere was oppressive. There were many people there, standing dumbfounded, looking at the barrier of barbed wire and soldiers. Many people were crying, waving to relatives. I, too, had an aunt in the East. It never crossed my mind that I wouldn’t see her again for years.

We were all very emotional on this evening. But we were still certain that the whole commotion would be over soon. Even now with the city divided in two. No one thought that the division would last almost three decades. On August 13 no one was able to foresee how painful the reality would be.

Until gradually everything became more radically sealed off. And suddenly they had built a real wall. Piece for piece. When the Wall and watchtowers were built, it became even more oppressive in the city.

Sometimes we had the impression that the victorious powers had agreed on the action beforehand. I was scared. Scared of another war. I had a packed suitcase under my bed filled with everything I might need. Just in case. In case my family and I had to flee. The memory of the war was still very vivid to me. That is why nobody seriously wanted the Western Allies to march off and tear down the barricade.

The Wall had decisive consequences for my family and me. At the time of its construction I was working for a tailor. Although the economic wonder had by now reached West Berlin, my wages were very low. I was paid 40 marks per week. My father worked for the Reichsbahn (railway) that had belonged to the GDR, so he received half of his salary in East currency. Shopping in the East was a less expensive alternative for us. Before the Wall was built I used to exchange my German marks for East marks so that I could buy bread, meat and sausage in the East. Of course the selection was meagre there. But I never considered that I was taking something away from the easterners.

It was commonplace in Berlin to take advantage of the economic inequality. There were also bordercrossers from the East who worked for low wages in the West and continued to live for low rent in the East. They were better off with their West money than other residents in the East. But many westerners resented that they worked for less money than the westerners. They said ‘the bordercrossers are taking our jobs away.’

Shopping trips to the West were not without risk. They were illegal. I had to watch out for the random checks by the People’s Police.

Even clothing, fabric and shoes were cheaper in the East. The selection was considerably worse, but less expensive. That is why I often purchased fabric for sewing. Although I often went to the East I had littleto do with people there. The two societies had by then grown completely apart. There were extreme differences due to the poor economic situation in the East. The West was enticing, and the refugee camps in West Berlin were filled to the brim in 1961.

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Background Information:Eye Witness Report 1


All that was over in August 13. My family now had to manage with a little less. In the factories and businesses in the West, the colleagues from the East were suddenly gone. Bad news came every day. The newspapers were filled with reports of escapes. A friend of mine worked in a factory close to the Wall Reinickendorf. A part of the Borsig factory was located there in the East and the wall around the property grounds suddenly became the border. Everyday my friend saw workers climbing over the barbed wire fence. For a long time there was even a hidden door in the factory wall. Former colleagues from the East came through it undetected. All of a sudden they showed up at work and said ‘I’m staying in the West!’

Although my family and I were worse off, and although the future was uncertain, I never thought about leaving Berlin. We would not have left because of the threatening situation. Most of the West Germans were more scared of the East regime than we in Berlin who were directly affected by it. The SED government had to close the gap to West Berlin, otherwise the GDR would have bled to death. Even years later, I never had the feeling of being locked in.


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It was a Sunday. The month was September. The year 1961.

And we are there now.

The cars pulled into the small street, turned left around the corner, then right, driving too fast before stopping short. We jumped out. The groups all jumped out of the cars and everybody was given instructions.

There was our building. Tall and old and silent.

The building on Bernauer Straße that could no longer be entered from Bernauer Straße doesn’t belong to us. We could only enter our building from the rear. A corner house. And from there to the next corner house Bernauer Straße was black by the Wall which ran along the line of the building fronts since the sidewalk is already the West.

The Wall was already one month old and still looked very new.

Barbed wire obstacles strung before it. Watch guards watched us.

We rushed into our building. One group for each apartment. An old Berlin building with a wooden staircase and awkward high steps, and shabby walls with crumbling paint and plaster. The strong odours from cooked cabbage and the washroom hung permanently in the air since the days of Kaiser Wilhelm.

We hurried up the stairs. Our First Man led the way. ‘Five steps,’ he said. A hundred men climbed the stairs of the building. It yawned and creaked under our heavy feet, but it still slept. As we reached the half landing before the top of the stairs we heard ringing and knocking three flights below, heard voices and the shuffling of feet. I waited for the big scream. But the big scream never came.

Now we had arrived. Now we had reached our people, we stood in front of their door.

Our First Man’s sleeve covered the name on the door as he rang. Persistent and shrill. As if he had pressed his entire body against the bell.

Then he turned his head and with a nod designated four of us.

‘You all go to the window,’ he said.

I pushed my way to the front, I wanted to be able to see everything perfectly (standing by like a member of the press!).

‘Open up,’ someone yelled, banging on the door with his fists.

Fists also hammered one flight below. The building woke up.

I was excited about everything and felt tremendously curious.

The door opened timidly. Our First Man rammed his foot in the door. How does he know how to do that? I would have to practice that first. That’s why I am not a First Man.

An old man stood in the corridor wearing a wrinkled pyjama top and clinging to his pants with one hand. Black pants; apparently he hadn’t had time to button them.

He looked tired.

And we had already pushed him aside and thrust our way into the first room where the door stood open.

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Two of us immediately positioned ourselves at the window.

The man now stood in his living room. He looked bewildered, standing on his old bare legs next to the table. We had placed him there. Not roughly, but with firmness. After all, he was an old man. About sixty. With lots of grey strands over his gaunt face. He didn’t speak. What should he say? What did I expect?I hadn’t said ‘good morning.’ Nobody had. And he didn’t say ‘please come in’.

In the doorway leading to the bedroom an old lady appeared with dishevelled grey hair, and just as gaunt as her husband. She wore a pink slip and held a smock in front of her body with both hands, but didn’t put it on. The other two walked by her and positioned themselves in front of the bedroom window.

It all smelled stuffy.

Nothing. They both stood silent. They stood there as if our First Man had just told them ‘You can stay here, good day.’ (…)

Who were our people? I would like to have known their history. Did the woman go to work over there every morning? Was she a cleaning lady or a sales lady, one of the thousands of seamstresses? Did she wrap chocolate on a production line or assemble relays? Or was her husband a border-crosser? Or both? Had they thought about it or were they just satisfied because they were well off when they earned four times as much money? Until this August it had been possible to wring out a floor cloth and to get paid four times as much for it, if the drops of water came from a faucet in the West.

But from the looks of their room, they didn’t earn a lot of money. Was it in the bank? For their final days that had already begun?

I would like to have known something about these people whose furnishings I got to know in detail. Who were they? What had they done the last forty years? Or not done?

It made perfect sense that the young people of the next generation should come to their home on a Sunday morning to evacuate their apartment and help them move; that they not only carried away furniture, but also asked questions. The Wall down there and us up here, that was the price they had to pay for such things as 1945, 1939 and 1933. They were handed a bill written in the old fashioned script of 1919 and they paid it without a word. Were they always so quiet?

I lifted the radio onto my right shoulder and looked out the window again. Next to the radio car was now a small bus out of which cameramen crawled. They began to set up their equipment on the street.

On my way out I took along another cardboard box filled with pillows. On the stairwell, on this dirty steep old stairwell I was at once overwhelmed by a sense of being alone. And all at once I again felt ashamed of everything I had done here. And I thought: it’s a good thing nobody sees or knows you. (…)

Somebody had placed a ladder on the other side of the Wall and was standing on it with a camera. On our side of the Wall, caught in his blind spot and not seen by him, an officer was fumbling with a fog candle until he got it going and threw it over the wall where it quickly amassed into a grey cloud of smoke that enveloped the man on the ladder.

Why did we make the fog curtain? Why didn’t they? The wind blew about and dispersed the cloud. The sun had settled on a sunny Sunday and now its rays hit the city, light, warm and soothing.

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But whoever stood here had to work hard to imagine that families were now swimming or lying in the sun. In both parts of the city. (…)

The man with the ladder who was taking photos not for later but for tomorrow’s paper had placed his ladder at a respectful distance and was taking advantage of his telephoto lens.

Our people threw fog candles again, a bunch all at once, but too early, because one came back to us over the wall in high curve, someone had reacted fast and now it was lying in the barbed wire obstacle and only now did it start to give off a muffled bang and set off smoke, forming a grey veil between the buildings. A light breeze passed over the streets, it came from the north but behaved like a west wind, blowing the grey fog towards us. And even when it dispersed and was no longer visible, it still permeated our noses and irritated and burned the mucous membrane until tears came. Encouraging words don’t help with fog. I had gotten my share and left the building coughing. It didn’t help much, my eyes watered and I rubbed them red. I had swallowed American tear gas once before when we demonstrated about Korea in front of the military building and I was unable to establish any difference, except one, and it was not unimportant: the American tear gas had been intended for me, but this time, it was not. Why were my eyes and throat burning? This was our own tear gas.

We stood close together in the foyer of the building and looked at each other through teary eyes.

The People’s Policemen, guard of courtyards and exit roads, blew their noses and cursed the clumsiness of the thrower. Finally the air cleared up. (…)

There was still enough to do in the apartment. The beds had to be taken apart. The bedding had already been removed, fortunately, I wouldn’t want to touch that support mattress again. That was a dirty business. The beds cracked and creaked as we lifted the spring board and unhooked the sideboards. Shattered dreams and a few memories.

With the major housecleaning there is less cause for sentimentality. Wasn’t this a major housecleaning?

The man came back. He had been to the new apartment. It wasn’t far from here. Brunnenstraße. But in a side building, no more fifth floor view. But it did have the advantage of only two flights of steps.

He came back to announce the birth of a new apartment where he had already left his measuring stick behind.

From: Heinz Knoblauch, ‘Stadtmitte umgestiegen’, 1982, new edition 2002Divided City – The Berlin Wall; p.20/21

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The Themes:Borderlines

BORDER RESEARCH: Exploring and Representing BordersDr Jane Wilkinson, University of Leeds

The ‘border’ concept

A border is essentially where one thing ends and another begins: it is the line or space between two or more different entities. When we think of borders we often think first of the lines on maps demarcating the countries of the world, or of the fences, walls, signs and crossing points which mark these dividing lines on the ground. However, a border can separate or demarcate all kinds and sizes of spaces, from homes and gardens, to towns, regions and continents. Furthermore, a border need not be a physical or geographical line at all, but can also be an imagined or perceived line between, for example, different cultural, social or ethnic groups living within the borders of one country, or even one town or city. This kind of perceptual border might manifest itself in noticeable differences between cultural traditions or languages, and it will move and shift with the groups it separates. Border scholars Hastings Donnan and Thomas Wilson (1999: p.107) therefore define all borders as ‘markers of difference’.

Precisely because they ‘mark difference’, borders, both physical and perceptual, are often sites of tension and conflict. The contestation of geographical borders is the cause and consequence of many wars and the division of once unified communities. The heavily guarded border dividing East and West Germany and East and West Berlin between 1949 and 1989 is often seen as an archetypal example of a conflictual border. Its presence symbolised the fundamental and apparently irreconcilable differences between the ideologies of the regimes on either side and also created and cemented differences between the two populations; differences which could not be dismantled as rapidly as the border itself when Germany was reunified in October 1990. As Kari Laitinen (2003) explains, it takes time for social, cultural and psychological borders to be removed or ‘reimagined’, and in some cases the removal of physical security borders can serve to reinforce mental and emotional borders, a process evident in the well-documented ‘Mauer im Kopf’ (‘Wall in the mind’) syndrome still present in contemporary Germany. Psychological or mental borders can, of course, also be present where there has never been a physical border between people of different ethnicities, cultural or social backgrounds, religions, political groupings or generations. These borders are both the reason for and the manifestation of conflicts and misunderstandings between these different groups.

However, as the lines at which different countries, regions or cultural groups meet, borders are also points of contact. Geographer Anssi Paasi (2001: p.17) writes that ‘boundaries also mediate contacts between social groups, and not only separate them’, while Julian Minghi (1994: p.90) defines borders as the ‘interfaces’ between nation-states or social groups. What is important here is that most borders, physical or psychological, can be crossed in some way and that border crossings can result in cooperation and even in the mixing of ideas and cultural influences to create new, ‘hybrid’, border spaces. Barbara Morehouse (2004: p.31) argues that borders can become ‘transformational’ spaces, ‘when individuals or groups actively take advantage of the in-between space to remove themselves from conflictual or contradictory situations for the purpose of reconciling or removing those conflicts or contradictions.’ Borders are therefore spaces full of creative potential.

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Borders in the BORDERLINES project

This project explores the concept of the border on multiple levels, including those outlined above. The physical or geographical border is present first and foremost in the border between Germany and the United Kingdom. All participants in the project travelled between Berlin and Leeds, many of them for the first time, thereby negotiating the airport passport and customs controls that are often viewed as synonymous with borders. The journey between Germany and the UK was also represented in Theater an Der Parkaue’s production Die Kindertransporte, staged at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in February 2010, which told the stories of German-Jewish children evacuated to the UK to escape Nazi persecution in the 1930s. The second physical or geographical border explored in the project is the Berlin Wall. The first Borderlines workshop in Berlin in October 2009 marked the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Wall by taking this border as its thematic focus. The young people from Berlin and Leeds explored the city together, seeking physical and psychological traces of this once so present border.

The cultural, social and psychological borders between different groups and communities were the focus of the Leeds workshop in April 2010. The Leeds participants took their visitors from Berlin to places in the city which they associated in some way with borders. This workshop also introduced the theme of temporal borders between past, present and future with its final production depicting a ‘post-apocalyptic world’ and combining several types of borders in an interactive journey into the future. At the start of the performance the audience physically and psychologically crossed the border between the space of the present and the space of the future, passing passport control en route, and guides/border guards had to approve entry to each of the performance spaces or zones.

Throughout the project, the participants have encountered and crossed numerous cultural and psychological borders, the most obvious being perhaps the language border between German and English. As an international collaboration, the project is officially bilingual, with most written documentation available in both German and English and with both languages featuring in the final production. However, as some of the Leeds participants do not speak German, the dominant working language of the collaboration has been English. The young German participants in particular have therefore overcome a significant language barrier in order to communicate, write and perform in a foreign language, but the English participants have also learned some German and have developed communication skills in their own language to suit the border setting of the project. Interestingly, the young people seemed not to encounter many other cultural or psychological borders or barriers in their interactions, quickly finding shared interests in, for example, music, film, television or fashion.

In sum, the Borderlines theatre project successfully created a transformative border space in which the dividing lines between countries, languages, cultures, social groups and past, present and future were explored, crossed and, in some cases, removed, and from which a hybrid theatrical space and a new cross-border play emerged.

Dr Jane Wilkinson is Lecturer in German at the University of Leeds. Her research interests include the topic ‘Border cultures and border theory’. She started observing the Borderlines project in November 2009.


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References:

Hastings Donnan and Thomas M. Wilson (1999). Borders: Frontiers of Identity, Nation and State.Oxford: Berg.

Kari Laitinen (2003) ‘Post-Cold War Security Borders: A Conceptual Approach’, in Eiki Berg and Henk van Houtum (eds). Routing Borders Between Territories, Discourses and Practices. Aldershot: Ashgate, 13-33.

Julian.V. Minghi (1994) ‘European Borderlands: International Harmony, Landscape Change and New Conflict’, in Carl Grundy-Warr (ed.). World Boundaries Volume 3: Eurasia. London: Routledge, 89-100.

Barbara Morehouse (2004) ‘Theoretical Approaches to Border Spaces and Identities’, in Vera Pavlakovich-Kochi, Barbara J. Morehouse and Doris Wastl-Walter (eds). Challenged Borderlands: Transcending Political and Cultural Boundaries. Aldershot: Ashgate, 19-39.

Anssi Paasi (2001). ‘Europe as Social Process and Discourse: Considerations of Place, Boundaries and Identity’, European Urban and Regional Studies 8, 7-28.

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Practical Exercises

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Exercise 1: Questions on Borders

To try to generate as much discussion around borders as possible, try this active brainstorming session. Hand each student a stack of post-it notes. Ask the group the following questions one at a time and give a limited amount of time to write down their immediate thoughts and post them up on the wall. Feel free to add your own questions to the list below.

What borders are there? Can you think of other words for borders? In what sense are borders positive or negative? When do borders help? When are borders necessary? What sort of people live within borders? In what way are people defined by borders?What are your borders?What borders have you overcome?

The outcome of this exercise can be used as a starting point for discussion and debate and for practical work. We suggest leaving this brainstorm up for the duration of your work so that the students can refer back to some of these ideas and filter them into other work.

Exercise 2: Borderlines Phrases

Stage 1As a whole class make a list of as many phrases relating to ‘borders, boundaries, limits’ as possible.Alternatively you can use the list that we have created in English and in German.

Stage 2Split the class into small groups of 4 or 5 and ask them to choose one of the phrases which appeals to them. Next ask them to create a tableau or still image which represents this phrase – this could be a naturalistic, emblematic or abstract image. On showing back each image, without disclosing the phrase, talk through the audience’s impressions:

What can you see?Is this representation negative or positive?Have you any idea which phrase this tableau could be a representation of?What is the impact of this physical representation?

Stage 3: ExtensionAsk each group to choose another 2 phrases and to create tableaux which represent them. Ask them next to develop these three starting points into one theatrical moment through finding a way of moving between the three images and adding sound and/or words.

West Yorkshire Playhouse / No Man’s Land / Resource Pack Page 15

take sides

beyond the borders

hit a wall

bound to secrecy

draw a line

moving the goalpost

down to their level

know your place

think outside your reality window

thinking outside the box

blue sky thinking

broaden your horizons

building a barrier

knocking down walls

breaking barriers

draw a line in the sand

knowing your boundaries

reaching a ceiling

sitting on the fence

testing my patience

overstep the mark

don’t push your luck

mark your territory

make a mark

bordering on insanity

bound / constricted by society

Practical ExercisesResource: Border Phrases in English


Alles hat seine Grenzen ==> There is a limit to everything. / Everything has its limits.

seine Grenzen kennen ==> to know one’s limitations

Sein Ehrgeiz kennt keine Grenzen ==> There’s no limit to his ambition.

an ein Wunder grenzen ==> verging on a miracle

Nach oben sind keine Grenzen gesetzt ==> The sky is the limit.

Grenzen setzen ==> to set boundaries

Schaden begrenzen ==> to cut one’s losses

grenzenlos ==> boundless, unlimited

Er ist grenzenlos eingebildet ==> He thinks no end of himself.

in Grenzen halten ==> to keep within bounds

jemanden an seine Grenzen treiben / führen ==> to push s.o. to his limits

bis an die Grenze(n) gehen ==> to push the envelope

Es gibt Grenzen dessen, was man ertragen kann ==> There’s only so much you can take.

sich (hart) an der Grenze des Erlaubten bewegen ==> to sail close to the wind

den Rahmen sprengen = zu viel sein, über etwas hinausgehen ==> to go beyond the scope of something

im Rahmen bleiben = innerhalb der gesetzten Grenzen (tolerierbar) bleiben ==> within limits / within reason

jemanden in seine Schranken (ver)weisen = jemandem seine Grenzen aufzeigen ==> to restrain someone

Ende im Gelände = vorbei sein, an die Grenzen stoßen ==> to reach the limit

jemandem auf die Pelle rücken = zu nah kommen, eine Grenze überschreiten ==> to crowd s.o. / to pester s.o.

jemanden in die Schranken weisen = jemandem deutlich seine Grenzen zeigen ==> to tell s.o. where the limit is

Du gehst mir auf den Sack. = jemanden in Ruhe lassen sollen, eine Grenze überschreiten ==> to get on s.o.’s nerves

Practical ExercisesResource: Border Phrases in German

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Practical ExercisesThe Play

Exercise 1: Scene Work (Pre-show)

Stage 1In groups of three read through Scene 3 of No Man’s Land. In these groups discuss what you have read, guided by the following questions:

What ‘facts’ do we learn about the characters, their relationship to one-another and their situation in this scene?What do the stage characters think of each other? How do they behave? Why do they behave in this way?

Stage 2Using what you have discovered, bring this scene to life.

Stage 3Show back to the rest of the class:

How did other groups interpret this scene?• As a whole group what are your expectations of what will happen in the play? •

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Scene 3Viktor’s garden – the next day. Wednesday.

From off – the sound of a lawnmower. It fades out as –

Kitten enters wearing well worn gardening gloves and carrying a bucket full of cut grass.

Viktor appears in the kitchen and walks into the garden. He picks up the plate with the now non existent sandwich – looks to Kitten and returns to the kitchen with the plate.

Kitten stops and looks over at him, he continues to bag up the garden waste.

Viktor returns, he stands and watches, Kitten can feel Viktor’s eyes on the back of his neck.

KITTEN I’m doing it properly.

Beat

VIKTOR How long are you going to be here?

KITTEN Til about five.

Kitten stops tidying and turns to look at him.

VIKTOR No. When do you finish? (Beat) When do you finish coming round?

Kitten gets back to work.

KITTEN When I’ve done all my hours.

VIKTOR (Looking about the garden) There isn’t that much that needs doing.

Kitten shrug. He tips the grass cuttings into the black bin bag. Viktor comes over to Kitten.

VIKTOR It’s my garden.

KITTEN I’m only doing what I’ve been told to do.

Beat

VIKTOR What’s your name?

Kitten ignores Viktor, and knots up the bin bag.

Well?

I’m talking to you.

Kitten looks at him belligerently

KITTEN What’s it to you?

VIKTOR You’re in my garden. I have a right to know whose wandering about in it.

KITTEN I’m not really wandering am I? (He shakes the bag at Viktor).

Beat. Viktor, furious, shakes his head. Kitten puts the bin bag by the wheelie bin.

VIKTOR I want that sweeping up. (Points to the grass on the ground)

Practical ExercisesResource: Play Excerpt

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Kitten looks at the grass then at Viktor.

KITTEN No.

VIKTOR What?

KITTEN I’m not doing it.

Viktor grabs the broom from beside the shed. There is a knocking – off. It stops. Viktor holds the broom out to Kitten

VIKTOR I want that sweeping up.

More knocking.

KITTEN Your door. Someone’s knocking.

Viktor listens. More knocking.

He leaves the broom leaning against the table and hurries inside – he walks through the kitchen and off.

Kitten watches him disappear, he goes over to the jigsaw, looks at it and nicks one of the pieces, shoving it into his pocket.

GARDEN – Enter Carole.

CAROLE You all right there?

KITTEN (Startled) Yeah. Yeah. Sound.

CAROLE On your own?

KITTEN No. (Smiling) He’s gone to let you in.

CAROLE (Half heartedly) Oh hell. (Walks into the kitchen) Viktor.

Viktor appears in the kitchen.

Kitten unties the black bin bag, and drags it over to the grass cutting on the ground.

CAROLE (Charming) Viktor.

VIKTOR Best to come straight to the back door. I have told you.

CAROLE I know.

VIKTOR My legs aren’t as good. This knee – (He indicates)

CAROLE Well, we should get you sat down, shouldn’t we?

Beat

VIKTOR What do you want?

CAROLE I’ve come to see Michael.

VIKTOR He’s a pest. They all are. Layabouts.

Practical ExercisesResource: Play Excerpt

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Exercise 2: Character Profile (Post-Show)

Choose the character(s) that most interest you and create a character profile based on your answers to the following questions about the chosen character.

Chosen Character:_______________________________________________________

Attitude: how does the character see the world?

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Development: does the character change during the course of the play?

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

What are the character’s interests?

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Describe the character’s relationship with the other characters in the play.

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

What does the character wish for in their future?

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Does the character have a secret? What is it?

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

What limits or restricts them in their life?

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________


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Exercise 3: Moments of the Past and Future (Post-Show)

In small groups of four or five choose a character that interests you. Using everyone in the group, create two theatrical moments:

Moment 1: a time in the character’s life before the story of the play has started • Moment 2: a time in the character’s life after the story of the play has ended•

This time could be:a cross-roads• a difficult time• a happy time •

The moment that you create could bea soundscape• a tableau• a movement piece• a text• a monologue•

Exercise 4: Perspectives (Post-Show)

This exercise could be run with each of the characters as the focus. Here’s an example using Kitten.

Stage 1Ask the group ‘who is part of Kitten’s life?’ Ask the group to hold the roles they have suggested e.g. Kitten’s Mum, Carol, Kitten’s friend etc. The students can think of characters mentioned in the play and other people who may be in Kitten’s life. Use a flip chart to record their answers.

Stage 2Ask the students to think about what their character thinks about Kitten. Ask them to come up with a couple of sentences that describe what they think about him.

Stage 3Place chairs in a circle and ask the students to stand behind a chair and one volunteer to stand in the centre in-role as Kitten. You may like to introduce an element of costume for Kitten. Ask the students, now in role, one by one to speak their text, summarising their view of Kitten

Development

Now, ask the group, in character, for thoughts and feelings about Kitten – you could begin this by posing questions such as ‘Mum, what do you think is Kitten best quality?’ ‘Victor, what did you think about Kitten when he first came to the house?’

Encourage the characters to interact and ask the student playing Kitten to respond to questions other characters pose or comments they make.


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Use research material provided and / or the Internet.

Exercise 1: Eye-Witness Report

As a class read through the eye-witness report in this pack. Check meanings and references. Split into smaller groups and ask the students to read through a second time, this time looking specifically at the following:

Is there anything in the piece that immediately stands out?•

Are there any words that are repeated throughout?•

Are there any images created within the text?•

What feelings are described?•

Using the outcome of the discussion above and the text as inspiration rather than ‘a script’, ask the students to create a scenic presentation.

Exercise 2: Improvisation

Ask the students to sit as an audience and then ask for a volunteer. Give the volunteer a topic – we have listed suggestions below. Now ask them to improvise a monologue without disclosing the theme to the audience.

being in prisonmy generationthe ideal worldan escape story

Ask the audience to feedback:

What did they think the monologue was about? • What was the impact of the improvised monologue?• How might this be developed into performance? •

Exercise 3: Scenic Montage

Working in small groups, ask the students to choose one of the characters from the play. The task is to create a scenic montage which integrates a selection of the factual research material in this pack and your knowledge of the chosen character in the play. Encourage the students to include a variety of theatrical devices such as monologue, soundscapes, tableaux and movement.

Practical ExercisesThe Style

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Reviewing and Reflecting

Practical Starter

Split the class into small groups and ask them to create freeze frames of three key moments from the play – it doesn’t have to be a direct copy it can be a representation of the part that they liked.

Show to class and use as a starting point for class discussion.

Questions

Performance In what ways is the story told in performance?In what way is the scenic action affected by the use of monologues in a more documentary style? What impact does this have?What sort of skills do the actors need to employ to portray their characters?Do you think they are successful? Were there special moments of performance that you remember?

CostumesWhat do the costumes tell you about the characters?What do the colours and materials used say about them?

Set Design Describe the set. What does it make you think about? How do you respond to the surrealistic quality?

Technical questions How does the video enhance the action on stage? How do music and sound enhance the action on stage?What role does music play for the characters on stage?

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AppendixEye Witness Report: (German Language Version)

Aus: Heinz Knoblauch, »Stadtmitte umsteigen«1982, Neuausgabe 2002Geteilte Stadt – Die Berliner Mauer; Seite 20/21

Der Tag war Sonntag. Der Monat war September. Das Jahr war 1961. Und nun ist es so weit.

Die Wagen rollten in eine kleine Straße, bogen links um die Ecke, dann rechts, fuhren bis zuletzt schnell und stoppten kurz. Wir sprangen hinunter. Aus allen Wagen sprangen die Gruppen und wurden eingewiesen.

Dort stand unser Haus. Hoch und alt und stumm. Das Haus in der Bernauer Straße, das man nicht mehr von der Bernauer Straße aus betreten konnte, weil uns die Bernauer Straße nicht gehört. Wir konnten nur von hinten in unser Haus. Ein Eckhaus. Und von ihm bis zum nächsten Eckhaus sperrte die Mauer die Bernauer Straße entlang der Hausfluchtlinie, denn der Bürgersteig ist schon Westen.

Die Mauer war schon einen Monat alt und sah noch ganz neu aus. Vor ihr lagen Stacheldrahthindernisse. Wachtposten sahen uns an.

Wir beeilten uns, in unser Haus zu kommen. Für jede Wohnung eine Gruppe. Ein altes Berliner Haus mit Holztreppen und unbequemen hohen Stufen, mit abgeschabten Wänden, von denen Farbe und Putz abbröckelte. Fester haftet der ewige Geruch nach Weißkohl und Waschküche, der schon zu Kaiser Wilhelms Zeiten hier eingezogen war.

Wir hasteten die Treppe hoch. Unser Erster Mann führte uns. »Fünf Treppen«, sagte er. Hundert Mann bestiegen ein Haus. Es gähnte, es ächzte unter unseren heftigen Füßen, aber es schlief noch.

Als wir auf dem vorletzten Treppenabsatz ankamen, hörten wir es zwei, drei Treppen tiefer klingeln und klopfen, hörten Stimmen und Füßescharren. Ich wartete auf den großen Schrei. Aber der große Schrei kam nicht.

Nun waren wir angelangt. Nun standen wir bei unseren Menschen vor der Tür. Sein Ärmel verdeckte das Namensschild, als unser Erster Mann klingelte. Anhaltend und schrill. Es war, als ob er mit dem ganzen Körper auf der Klingel lag.

Dabei drehte er den Kopf und teilte mit einem Nicken vier von uns ein:»Ihr geht an die Fenster«, sagte er.Ich drängte mich nach vorn, ich wollte alles ganz genau sehen. (Ich stand also dabei wie ein Pressevertreter!)»Aufmachen!« rief einer und hämmerte mit den Fäusten gegen die Tür.Fäuste bummerten auch eine Treppe tiefer. Das Haus erwachte.

Ich war erregt und gespannt auf alles, fühlte unerhörte Neugierde. Die Tür öffnete sich zaghaft. Unser Erster Mann stellte sofort seinen Fuß dazwischen. Woher kann einer das? Mit mir müsste man das erst einüben. Daher bin ich kein erster Mann.

Im Korridor stand ein alter Mann in einer zerschlafenen Pyjamajacke, der mit der einen Hand seine Hose festhielt. Eine schwarze Hose; er hatte wohl noch keine Zeit gehabt, sie zuzuknöpfen. Er sah müde aus.

Und schon drängten wir ihn beiseite und schoben uns in das erste Zimmer, dessen Tür offen stand. Zwei

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von uns stellten sich sofort vor das Fenster.

Nun stand der Mann in seinem Wohnzimmer. Er sah verwundert aus, auf seinen alten kahlen Beinen neben dem Tisch. Wir hatten ihn dort hingestellt. Nicht grob, aber mit Bestimmtheit.

Er war doch ein alter Mann. Etwa sechzig. Mit vielen grauen Strähnen über dem hageren Gesicht. Er sagte nichts. Was sollte er sagen? Was erwartete ich? Ich hatte nicht: »Guten Morgen« gesagt. Keiner hatte. Und er nicht: »Bitte, kommen sie herein.«

In der Tür, die zum Schlafzimmer führte, erschien eine alte Frau mit grau zerzaustem Haar, ebenso hager wie der Mann. Sie trug einen rosa Unterrock und hielt vor dem Körper einen Kittel mit beiden Händen, ohne ihn anzuziehen. An ihr vorbei gingen die anderen zwei und stellten sich vor das Schlafzimmerfenster.

Es roch alles unausgeschlafen.Obwohl es ganz still war, bat unser Erster Mann um Ruhe. Dann holte er einen hektographierten Bogen aus seiner Tasche und begann den Inhalt abzulesen. Er tat alles mit äußerster Korrektheit.

Er las den beiden alten Leuten Satz für Satz vor. Ich weiß nicht, ob sie alles in der Aufregung verstanden – »im Zuge der Maßnahmen zur weiteren Sicherung der Staatsgrenze der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik« – aber sie begriffen, dass hier und heute, jetzt und sofort. Anfangen. Los geht’s.

Und sie hörten und begriffen, dass wir gekommen waren, um sie und all ihr Hab und Gut abzutransportieren. Dass sie noch heute in einer anderen Wohnung leben würden, mit neuer Anschrift und neuen Schlüsseln, dass sie von jetzt an sämtliches Hab und Gut einpacken sollten und sich nicht mehr den Fenstern nähern, dass sie Ruhe und Ordnung bewahren und sich unseren Weisungen nicht zu widersetzten hatten.

Er las immer noch. Das war richtig so, denn unsere beiden Menschen hatten ein Recht darauf, alles erklärt zu bekommen. Ich wartete auf den Schrei der Frau, wartete auf Tränen, auf Zusammenbruch, auf jammernden Protest.

Nichts. Die beiden standen stumm. Sie standen, als ob unser Erster Mann gerade zu Ihnen gesagt hätte: »Sie können hier wohnen bleiben. Guten Tag.« (…)

Wer waren unsere Leute? Ich hätte gern ihre Geschichte gewusst. War die Frau jeden Morgen dort drüben arbeiten gegangen? War sie Putzfrau oder Verkäuferin gewesen, eine der über zehntausend Näherinnen? Packte sie an einem Band Schokolade ein oder montierte Relais? Oder war ihr Mann Grenzgänger gewesen? Oder beide? Hatten sie sich dabei etwas gedacht, oder waren sie bloß zufrieden, weil es ihnen gut ging dabei, wenn sie das vierfache Geld nach Hause brachten. Bis zu diesem August konnte man einen Scheuerlappen auswringen und dafür den vierfachen Lohn kassieren, wenn die Wassertropfen aus einem Hahn im Westen stammten.

Aber ihre Zimmer sahen nicht so aus, als ob eine Menge Geld verdient worden wäre. Lag es auf dem Konto? Für die alten Tage, die bereits begonnen hatten?

Ich hätte gern etwas von diesen Leuten gewusst, deren Einrichtung ich bis in die Einzelheiten kennen lernte. Wer waren sie? Was hatten sie in den letzten vierzig Jahren getan? Oder unterlassen?

Es war folgerichtig, wenn die folgende Generation zu ihnen ins Haus kam, am Sonntagmorgen, um die

Appendix

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Wohnung auszuräumen und mit ihnen umzuziehen, dass sie nicht nur Möbel trug, sondern auch Fragen stellte. Die Mauer dort unten und wir hier oben waren Teile einer Rechnung, auf der solche Positionen wie 1945, 1939 und 1933 standen. Und in alter Schrift 1919. Als diese Rechnung auf sie zukam, bezahlte sie schweigend. Warten sie immer so still gewesen?

Ich hob den Radioapparat auf die rechte Schulter und sah noch einmal aus dem Fenster. Neben dem Funkwagen stand jetzt ein kleiner Bus, aus dem Kameraleute krabbelten und ihr Gerät auf die Straße stellten.

Ich nahm im Gehen noch einen Pappkarton mit, in den Kissen gestopft waren. Auf der Treppe, auf dieser mistigen steilen alten Treppe überkam mich wieder das Gefühl des Alleinseins. Und ich schämte mich wieder über alles, was ich hier tat. Und dachte: Wie gut, dass dich keiner sieht und kennt. (…)

Auf der anderen Seite der Mauer hatte jemand eine Leiter aufgestellt und stand dort mit einem Fotoapparat auf den Sprossen. Für ihn im toten Winkel und von ihm nicht zu sehen, hockte auf unserer Seite der Mauer ein Offizier, der an einer Nebelkerze fummelte, bis er sie in Gang bekam und über die Mauer warf, wo sie sich alsbald in eine graue Wolke verwandelte, die den Mann auf der Leiter einhüllte.

Warum machten wir den Nebelvorhang? Warum nicht die anderen?Der Wind zerblies den Nebel und verteilte ihn. Die Sonne hatte sich für einen sonnigen Sonntagentschieden, nun trafen ihre Strahlen diese Stadt, hell, warm und beruhigend.

Wer aber hier stand, musste sich mit Gewalt vorstellen, dass es Familien gab, die baden fuhren und sich in die Sonne legten. In beiden Teilen der Stadt. (…)

Der Mann mit der Leiter, der seine Fotos nicht für später, sondern für die Morgenzeitung machte, was dem einen sin Uhl…, hatte seine Leiter in respektvoller Entfernung wieder aufgestellt und nutzte die Möglichkeiten des Teleobjektivs.

Unsere warfen wieder Nebelkerzen, gleich mehrere, aber zu früh, denn eine kam in hohem Bogen über die Mauer zu uns zurück, da hatte einer schnell reagiert, und nun lag sie im Stacheldrahthindernis, und erst jetzt gab sie den dumpfen Knall und verqualmte, zog zwischen den Häusern den grauen Schleier zu. Ein leichter Wind, der durch die Straßen wehte, von Norden kam, aber sich wie ein Westwind benahm, blies den grauen Nebel auf uns zu. Und wenn er sich auch auflöste dabei, unsichtbar wurde, so drang er doch in unsere Nasen, und das reizte und brannte die Schleimhäute, bis die Tränen liefen. Zureden hilft bei Nebel nicht. Ich bekam meine Portion ab und lief hustend in den Hausflur, das half nicht viel, ich musste weinen und rieb mir die Augen rot. Ich hatte auch schon amerikanisches Tränengas geschluckt, als wir vor dem Militärgebäude wegen Korea demonstrierten, konnte aber keinen großen Unterschied feststellen, nur den, und er war nicht unwichtig, dass mir die Portion vom amerikanischen Tränengas zustand, diese hier aber nicht. Wieso brennen mir Augen und Kehle? Es ist doch unser Tränengas.

Wir standen im Hausflur ziemlich dicht und sahen einander mit nassen Augen an. Die Volkspolizisten, Wachtposten für Hof und Abfahrtstrecke, schnäuzten sich und fluchten über das Ungeschick des Werfers. Dann wurde die Luft wieder rein. (…)

In der Wohnung war noch genug Arbeit. Die Betten mussten auseinander genommen werden. Abgezogen

Appendix

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waren sie schon, zum Glück, aber ich mochte nicht einmal die Auflagematratzen anfassen. Es blieb ein schmutziges Geschäft. Die Betten knackten und quietschten, als wir die Federböden abhoben und die Seitenbretter aushakten. Auseinander gezerrte Träume und ein paar Erinnerungen. Bei einem Großreinemachen ist man weniger sentimental. War es kein Großreinemachen?

Der Mann kam zurück. Er hatte die neue Wohnung angesehen. Nicht weit von hier bis dahin. Brunnenstraße. Aber Seitenflügel, keine Aussicht mehr wie aus dem fünften Stock. Stattdessen der Vorteil von zwei Treppen.

Er kam, die Geburt einer neuen Wohnung anzuzeigen, in der er seinen Zollstock zurückgelassen hatte.

Appendix

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Als ich am Sonntagnachmittag die Nachrichten am Radio hörte, bekam ich einen großen Schrecken. Mir ist regelrecht schlecht geworden. Ost-Berlin abgeriegelt! Vier Tage zuvor hatte ich dort noch gewohnt. Zusammen mit meinem Ex-Mann in Köpenick, von dem ich mich genau in der Woche vor dem Mauerbau trennte. Ich bin ihm damals hinterher gezogen, doch sehr bald wieder zurück in meinen Heimatort Charlottenburg gegangen. Charlottenburg liegt im Westen. Hätte ich den Entschluss, ihn zu verlassen, ein paar Tage hinausgezögert – keine Ahnung, was dann mit mir passiert wäre.

Niemand hat doch im Sommer 1961 damit gerechnet, dass die SED-Regierung Ernst macht. Niemand hat sich vorstellen können, dass das passiert, was Walter Ulbricht indirekt angekündigt hatte. Den Satz: » Niemand hat die Absicht, eine Mauer zu bauen « haben wir in West-Berlin nicht für voll genommen.

Abends fuhr ich mit Freunden zur Bernauer Straße. Die Stimmung war bedrückend. Viele Menschen standen dort, guckten fassungslos auf die Sperren aus Stacheldraht und Soldaten. Viele weinten, winkten ihren Verwandten. Auch ich hatte eine Tante im Osten. Dass ich sie erst Jahre später wiedersehen würde, dieser Gedanke kam mir nicht in den Sinn.

Wir waren alle sehr betroffen an diesem Abend. Trotzdem waren sich alle sicher, dass der Spuk schnell vorübergehen würde. Auch jetzt, als die Stadt endgültig in zwei Hälften zerschnitten wurde, dachte niemand an eine Teilung, die fast drei Jahrzehnte dauern würde. Keiner ahnte am 13. August, wie schmerzhaft die Wirklichkeit sein würde.

Bis allmählich alles immer radikaler abgeriegelt wurde. Und plötzlich eine echte Mauer errichtet wurde. Stück für Stück. Mit dem Bau der Mauer und dem Bau von Wachtürmen wurde es bedrückender in der Stadt. Manchmal hatten wir den Eindruck, als wäre die Aktion zwischen den Siegermächten abgesprochen gewesen. Ich hatte Angst. Angst vor einem erneuten Krieg. Unter meinem Bett stand ein gepackter Koffer, gepackt mit dem Nötigsten. Für alle Fälle. Falls meine Familie und ich mal abhauen müssten. Die Erlebnisse des Krieges steckten mir noch in den Knochen. Niemand wollte deshalb in Berlin ernsthaft, dass die West-Alliierten losmarschieren, um die Sperren niederzureißen.

Der Mauerbau hatte für meine Familie und mich einschneidende Folgen. Damals arbeitete ich in einer Schneiderei. Obwohl das Wirtschaftswunder mittlerweile West-Berlin erreicht hatte, war mein Lohn sehr gering. Ich bekam nur 40 Mark die Woche. Mein Vater arbeitete bei der Reichsbahn, die der DDR gehörte. Die Hälfte seines Lohnes bestand daher aus Ost-Währung. Einkaufen im Osten war für uns immer eine preiswerte Alternative gewesen. Vor dem Mauerbau tauschte ich D-Mark in Ost-Mark, um im Osten Brot, Fleisch oder Wurst zu kaufen. Natürlich war das Angebot dort mager. Dass ich den Ostlern etwas wegnahm, kam mir aber nicht in den Sinn. Es war üblich in Berlin, die wirtschaftlichen Unterschiede zu nutzen. Es gab auch Grenzgänger aus dem Osten, die für wenig Lohn im Westen arbeiteten, weiterhin aber billig zur Miete im Osten wohnten. Mit dem Westgeld waren sie besser gestellt als die anderen Ost-Bürger. Weil sie für weniger Lohn als die Westler arbeiteten, waren aber auch viele Westler sauer. Denn sie sagten: » Die Grenzgänger nehmen uns die Arbeitsplätze weg. «

Einkaufsreisen in den Osten waren nicht ungefährlich. Denn sie waren verboten. Ich musste vorsichtig sein und mich vor Stichproben der Volkspolizei in Acht nehmen.

Auch Kleidung, Stoffe oder Schuhe waren billiger im Osten. Die Auswahl war zwar wesentlich schlechter,

AppendixEye Witness Report: (German Language Version)

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aber eben preiswerter. Oft haben sie deswegen dort Stoffe gekauft zum Schneidern.

Obwohl ich häufig in den Osten ging, hat mich wenig mit den Leuten drüben verbunden. Die zwei Gesellschaften hatten sich längst auseinander gelebt. Es gab extreme Unterschiede wegen der schlechten wirtschaftlichen Lage im Ostteil. Die Kleidung war dort sichtbar schlechter. Der Westen lockte, die Flüchtlingslager in West-Berlin waren 1961 zum Bersten voll.

Mit dem 13. August war alles vorbei. Meine Familie musste noch kürzer treten. In den Fabriken und Geschäften des Westens fehlten plötzlich die Ost-Kollegen. Jeden Tag gab es nur noch schlechte Nachrichten. In den Zeitungen waren nur noch Berichte über Flucht.

Ein Freund von mir arbeitete in einer Fabrik nahe der Mauer in Reinickendorf. Dort stand im Osten ein Teil der Borsigwerke, deren Geländemauer plötzlich zur Grenze gemacht wurde. Täglich sah mein Freund, wie Arbeiter den Stacheldraht überkletterten. Es gab sogar lange Zeit eine verborgene Tür in der Fabrikmauer. Durch die kamen unbehelligt ehemalige Ost-Kollegen. Standen plötzlich wieder an ihrem Arbeitsplatz und sagten: Jetzt bleibe ich im Westen!

Obwohl es meiner Familie und mir schlechter ging, obwohl die Zukunft ungewiss war, habe ich nie daran gedacht, Berlin zu verlassen. Wegen der bedrohlichen Lage wären wir nicht weggezogen. Die meisten West-Deutschen hatten mehr Angst vor dem Ost-Regime als wir direkt betroffenen Berliner. Die SED-Regierung musste das Loch »West-Berlin« zumachen, sonst wäre die DDR ausgeblutet. Auch Jahre später hatte ich nie das Gefühl, eingesperrt zu leben.

Appendix

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no man's land resource pack

Documents

berlin page

play page

reflecting page

improvisation page

appendix page

borders page

borderlines theme page

borderlines phrases