Word: east
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...dramatic stampede of more than 14,000 East Germans into West Germany last week followed Hungary's decision to grant the refugees passage across its border with Austria. The ensuing crush marked the largest mass exodus from behind the Iron Curtain since the Berlin Wall was erected in 1961. True, the flow was a trickle compared with the hemorrhage of 3 million East Germans to the West between 1949 and 1961. But this time there was the remarkable sight of Hungary bucking its Communist ally to assist the East German refugees in their quest to begin new lives...
...East Germany responded to the crisis with maximal rhetoric and minimal action. It trained much of the heat on West Germany, charging it with an "attempt to destabilize" East Germany. But the East German media also raged against Hungary, accusing it of "trading human lives for pieces of silver," a pointed suggestion that Hungary had swapped the refugees for hard West German currency. Two days after the border was thrown open, East Germany charged that Hungary was in "clear violation of legal treaties" and demanded that it stop letting the refugees through. Budapest angrily dismissed the charges and asserted that...
...truth, it was the Soviet Union that was in a very difficult and very unusual situation. Hungary, along with Poland, is the most enthusiastic East- bloc supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms. Moreover, Gorbachev has pledged noninterference in East European affairs. At the same time, Gorbachev does not want to preside over the collapse of the Warsaw Pact. Moscow's unease may in part explain the arrival of Soviet Politburo Member Yegor Ligachev in East Berlin last week. Moscow said the trip was long planned, but there was little doubt that the presence of Ligachev, a hard-liner known...
...West German asphalt. In Passau, volunteers passed out candy and fruit to sleepy-eyed children, who must have thought they had awakened in the midst of a carnival. "I came for her," said a young father, hoisting his daughter into his arms. "She deserves more than a life in East Germany." The first signs were promising. Because Bonn acknowledges only one German citizenship, the refugees were automatically recognized as citizens and as such were showered with gifts and benefits. Mountains of donated clothes piled up at the reception camps, and the refugees received a minimum of $125 to cover immediate...
...chasing just 1,500 refugees. "I am swimming in offers," said Dennis Kiesewalter, 22, a roofer. "At home I was told about unemployment here." The outpouring of jobs probably startled some West Germans as well; the unemployment rate currently stands at almost 7%. The fact is, however, that the East Germans offer employers certain advantages that most natives do not. The newcomers, by and large, are mobile, are accustomed to working harder than many West Germans and are not finicky about getting their hands dirty...