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/Speaker: Berlin breathes a sigh of relief that the headhunters in
West Berlin and Bonn are finally being stopped. Just two days ago, they
tried to abduct the teenager Klaus Purschke from Leopoldstrasse in
Berlin-Lichtenberg to West Berlin by car. In this way they hoped to get
hold of his father, a senior engineer at the Treptow electrical
equipment factory. Kidnapping methods like this must be stopped once and
for all. That's what a resident of Leopoldstrasse told our reporter this
afternoon.
/Reporter: I'm here right next to the 23rd school at
Leopoldstrasse 17. There's also a kindergarten down here, and one of the
tenants of the building is Mr. Schulz. Mr. Schulz, you will excuse me if
I disturb your Sunday rest today. What is your opinion of the latest
measures taken by our government today to protect our republic?
Mr.
Schulz: From my point of view, I welcome these measures because a stop
has finally been put to this abusive use of the open border of West
Berlin, which allows or has allowed even underage children to be abused
for political purposes.
/Reporter: Yes, and now that the borders
are only open to the peace-loving citizens of West Berlin, something
like that will probably not happen again so quickly.
/Mr. Schulz:
We certainly hope so, because we are of the opinion, not only mine, but
also that of every decent citizen of the German Democratic Republic,
that these measures, which are in force as of tonight, are measures that
protect our citizens, our children, our entire development in the German
Democratic Republic.
/Speaker: Horst Lübeck and Hans Ruden took
their microphones to some of the hot spots in the capital of the German
Democratic Republic.
/Woman: I work at the ticket counter at
Friedrichstrasse station.
/Reporter: And what do you think about
the measures taken by our government with regard to West
Berlin?
/Woman: Well, my opinion is that it could or should have
happened much earlier, let's say, so that there can finally be peace and
quiet here in the city. It wasn't tolerable anymore.
/Reporter: So
here's the line 82, terminating at Ostbahnhof and now heading towards
Lindenstraße. We would like to know your opinion on the latest measures
taken by our government?
/Streetcar passenger: It's fine, the way
it is now is right. They should have done this much earlier. Now they've
put a stop to it. They [West Berliners] should come over [and] come and
work for us, we need plenty of people to work, we don't have enough
people. That's how it looks.
/Reporter: Well, and maybe the
conductor too?
/Conductor: I'm of the same opinion as my colleague
here. It should have been done a long time ago so that peace and quiet
can finally prevail. That the drama will finally stop, that the eternal
agitation will finally come to an end.
/Reporter: At the Oberbaum
Bridge in Berlin. Many pedestrians pause, take a look and then see that
the traffic here is running smoothly. If you can cross the border to
West Berlin, well, it's pretty quick. You too have been watching for a
while, and what is your opinion of the measures taken by our
government?
/Pedestrian: So far, I can only say that the measures
are justified. It's fortunate that this situation with the D-Mark
speculation has ended. It's not just that the illegal border crossers
have finally been dealt with, but that tough measures have been
taken.
/Reporter: Yes, that's one side of it, but then West Berlin
was and still is also a hotbed of war provocation.
/Passant: Right,
the hotbed of war propaganda. And I welcome the fact that the measures
taken by our government have finally put a stop to it.
/Reporter:
There are also some older workers here, may I also ask you for your
opinion? What do you think of the measures taken by our government in
relation to West Berlin today?
/Mr. Fischer: We wholeheartedly
welcome the measures taken by our government and are convinced that
further measures will follow, which will ultimately lead to the swamp in
West Berlin being drained once and for all and the disruptive activities
against our German Democratic Republic being finally
eliminated.
/Reporter: Yes, could you tell us your name and where
you work?
/Mr. Fischer: I'm an employee and my name is Fischer,
Willi. I've looked around a bit and can see that traffic is completely
normal. There are a few curious people who want to see how it all works
here, but otherwise one can say that people are showing understanding
for this measure.
/Reporter: Yes, you're here in company, maybe
we'll ask your colleague too, what do you think?
/Passant: I think
the same thing as Mr. Fischer, who just spoke. Actually, it's a real
Sunday atmosphere here today, everything is going on as normal. I also
welcome the measures and am naturally interested in how people are
passing by here. The West Berliners seem to like coming
here.
/Reporter: And quite a lot of them do.
/Passant: Yes,
yes, and they come here quite happily and seem to feel quite at home
here.
/Reporter: Some workers at the electrical equipment works in
Treptow.
/Worker: Yes, we've generally been waiting a long time for
something to happen, yes. And then, thank God, it's
happened.
/Reporter: And of course that fills you with joy, one can
virtually read it on your face.
/Worker: But of course, we were
waiting for something to happen. It couldn't go on like
this.
/Reporter: Of course I'd also like to ask you for your
opinion.
/Worker: Well, I'm particularly pleased that we're showing
a different kind of force today than before, because I've been
politically organized since 1927. Think in particular of the fact that
before '33 and afterwards, we demonstrated for our goals armed with a
walking stick at most. Today I was pleased when I went to work in the
morning to see that the workers' and peasants' state had also provided
some tanks to show that we are prepared to use all means to secure our
peaceful path. Because we know that the German fascists only had respect
for those who faced them with equal strength, and I think they
understand this language very well. And I also believe that the
class-conscious workers realize that when we send in the tanks, it does
not threaten peace, but on the contrary, it secures peace. If the
working class had been able to mobilize like this in 1933 or '39, we
would certainly have been spared the Second World War and for this
reason I am pleased about the measures.