theme thursday = traffic

this and last picture from:
Artists Interpret The Wall (1985)
from Checkpoint Charlie Museum


Compassion alone stands apart

from the continuous traffic

between good and evil

proceeding within us.

Eric Hoffer

click to enlarge (me, lower right)
The Wall, Berlin May 1990

Berlin Wall : 1961- 1989
Stopping Human Traffic
East to West and West to East

I was lucky enough to visit Berlin twice,
for a month each time, in '89 and '90
after the Wall came down.

To experience the first year, walking
in a field and being watched by a
person holding a rifle, was something
I'll never forget. Going through Checkpoint
Charlie and having to show a passport and
being asked questions, also not forgotten.

To see East Berlin while the Wall was up,
and to see how poor the people were and
the food that was being sold in their stores,
left another impression. Even more though,
was that some on the west side of the Wall,
thought they were better and looked down
on those in the east. Yet, they were all german.

Human traffic can be disconcerting sometimes.