Chapter 361 - 6: Prelude to the Collapse of East Germany

Chapter 361: Chapter 6: Prelude to the Collapse of East Germany

"When does it take effect?" he asked, trying to keep his voice calm.

"It already has! Just now!" Laszlo said. "All the checkpoints on the border have received orders—they’re no longer stopping East Germans from crossing. Werner, this means..."

"I know what it means. Laszlo, listen. From now on, cease all operations immediately."

"What?"

"Cease all operations," Werner said slowly, deliberately. "The border is open. The East Germans can just drive across; they don’t need us anymore. Our business is finished."

"Then what about..."

"Destroy all the evidence," Werner said. "The warehouse in Budapest—burn all the paper records. Maps, documents, ledgers—don’t leave a single sheet. Terminate the lease on the house immediately. Erase every trace."

"Understood." Laszlo paused for a moment. "Werner, the money we’ve made these past few months..."

"Your share is more than enough," Werner said. "From here on, history will take care of the rest. Our part in this is over."

After hanging up, Werner stood and walked to the window.

Outside the embassy across the street, the crowd erupted in cheers.

Clearly, they too had heard the news of Hungary opening its border. They were also waiting—waiting for the West German Government’s formal acceptance, for a legal travel permit, for a definite future. Hungary had opened an escape route, but what they wanted was West Germany’s helping hand.

****************

On the afternoon of September 30th, West German Foreign Minister Genscher made a surprise arrival in Prague.

As the news spread, the square outside the embassy was instantly packed with people.

Werner was still at the window of the office building across the street. He held a pair of binoculars, his eyes fixed on the embassy’s second-floor balcony.

At five in the afternoon, Genscher appeared on the balcony.

He wore a dark suit, his expression serious. Below, a dense sea of people looked up, completely silent.

Genscher picked up a megaphone and began to speak.

"My dear countrymen," Genscher’s voice boomed across the square, "I have come today to bring you good news. After negotiations with the East German and Czech governments, the West German Government has decided..."

He paused. The square was utterly silent; everyone held their breath.

"...to take you home."

The moment the words were out, the crowd erupted in a mix of cheers, sobs, and laughter. People hugged each other. Some fell to their knees; others threw their heads back and laughed at the sky. An old woman fainted and was carried away for medical attention. A young father lifted his child over his head, and the child giggled.

Werner lowered his binoculars and leaned back in his chair.

He could hear the immense wave of sound from outside, surging like an ocean tide.

Separated by a wall.

He stood on this side of the wall; they stood on the other.

Werner lit a cigarette and smoked it slowly.

Heinz burst into the office. "Damn West Germans! Buying off traitors! Shameless!"

Werner ignored him.

He just sat there, watching the sky outside the window.

He was reminded of the documentaries he had seen in his past life: the autumn of 1989, all of Eastern Europe in turmoil, the Iron Curtain collapsing, history at a turning point.

The sun was setting, dyeing Prague a golden hue.

****************

That evening, special trains arrived in Prague. More than four thousand East Germans who had been waiting in the city for asylum boarded, bound for West Germany.

But the trains couldn’t go directly to West Germany. According to the agreement, they first had to return to East German territory before continuing on. The East German Government had insisted on this to save face, to ensure these people were "officially" departing East Germany.

Werner boarded one of the trains. His mission was to "supervise" these people’s return to East Germany and their subsequent "official departure."

The train crossed the border between the Czech Republic and East Germany, entering East German territory.

The carriages were packed. Luggage was piled everywhere, and the cries of children rose and fell. The air was thick with the smell of sweat and palpable tension.

Werner sat in a corner of the dining car, looking out the window.

The train slowly pulled away, leaving Prague behind as it headed for East Germany.

Night fell, and the scenery outside the window gradually blurred.

Around midnight, the train crossed the border from the Czech Republic into East German territory.

The people in the carriages grew quiet.

They knew they were now on East German soil. In theory, as "traitors," they could be arrested at any moment, though they also knew the West German Government had promised to see them to safety.

At two in the morning, the train pulled into Dresden station.

Werner stood in the gangway between carriages, looking out the window.

He saw hell.

The platforms at Dresden station were crammed with people. Thousands of East Germans, having heard that the refugees from Prague would be passing through, had all rushed here. They wanted to storm the trains and go to West Germany with them.

But there were also police on the platforms. Several hundred officers, armed with batons and shields, formed a human wall, blocking the crowd.

The two sides were in a standoff.

Then, the conflict erupted.

The crowd began to charge the police line. The police raised their batons, swinging them into the people. Tear gas canisters flew through the air, and white smoke billowed out. Screams, shouts, and the dull thud of batons hitting flesh blended into a single cacophony.

Werner saw a young man struck down by a baton, his head bleeding profusely.

He saw an old man get pushed to the ground, where he lay still.

The refugees inside the train saw it too. Someone pounded on a window with their fists, shouting, "Let them on!" Some were crying; others turned away, unable to watch.

But the train didn’t stop.

It slowly pulled away from Dresden station, leaving the chaos and bloodshed behind.

Werner leaned against the wall of the gangway connection and lit a cigarette.

"Mr. Betelich?"

He turned to see Peter standing there, his face pale.

"Did... did you see that?" Peter’s voice trembled.

"I saw," Werner said.

"Those people..." Peter choked up. "They just want to be free. What did they do wrong? Why are they being treated like this?"

Werner didn’t speak. He just looked out the window at the passing East German villages, factories, and farmlands.

This was the land that had nurtured these people, and it was the land that had imprisoned them for twenty-eight years.

But now, everything was changing.

The train continued west, passing through one East German city after another.

At every station, a similar scene to Dresden unfolded—crowds, police, tear gas, blood.

All of East Germany was in turmoil.

At four in the morning, the train finally crossed the border into West Germany.

The carriages erupted in cheers.

People cried, laughed, and embraced. Some began to sing; others knelt on the floor to pray.

"We’re finally out." Peter stood beside him, tears streaming down his face. "Finally... we’re out."

Werner patted his shoulder. "Live a good life."

"What about you?" Peter looked at him. "Are you really going back?"

"I have to," Werner said. "I still have family over there, and... some unfinished business."

The train pulled into the station of the first city in West Germany.

The platform was crowded with West Germans holding banners that read, "Welcome Home."

The East German refugees disembarked, and the West Germans greeted them with flowers, food, and hugs.

Werner did not get off the train.

He sat in the dining car, watching the laughter and tears outside his window.

A little over an hour later, the train turned around and began its journey back to East Germany.

Werner was the only passenger on board.

The return trip was quiet. There was only the monotonous, dull clatter of the wheels against the tracks.

Werner leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.

He knew this was only the beginning.

’The Prague embassy incident is just the prelude to East Germany’s collapse. After this will come the Leipzig demonstrations, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the disintegration of the entire country.’

The turning point of history was just over a month away.