Chapter 402: The East German Reaper

In the months that followed, similar scenes played out time and time again.

Opel wanted to acquire the car factory in Eisenach. The workers organized a protest, unfurling a banner at the factory gate that read: “We are not commodities!”

Werner went. He used the same method—first firing the bureaucrats, then launching the ABM program and stripping away the social facilities. The workers eventually agreed. Werner received twelve percent of the company’s shares and the distribution rights for its auto parts.

Nestle wanted to build a chocolate factory in Dresden, which required the local government to approve the land and permits. Local officials, fearing a public backlash, hesitated to grant approval.

Werner went and told the local government, “You approve the land, and I’ll talk to the residents.”

He then promised to prioritize hiring local workers and to donate a children’s library to the community. The residents agreed, and the local government breathed a sigh of relief. Werner secured the exclusive distribution rights for Nestle’s chocolate in East Germany.

Unilever wanted to acquire a soap factory but ran into a complicated ownership dispute. The factory had originally been owned by a Jewish family, was confiscated by the Nazis, and was later nationalized by the East German Government. Now, the descendants of the Jewish owners were demanding the property be returned. The East German Government refused to recognize their claim, and the privatization agency didn’t dare touch this hot potato.

Werner went. He spent two months tracking down the Jewish descendant and negotiated a private settlement with him in Vienna. Werner paid to acquire his ownership claim and then sold the factory to Unilever. Werner pocketed the difference and also secured the distribution rights for the soap in East Germany.

Metro wanted to open a supermarket in Berlin and needed a large number of warehouse workers and stockers.

Werner referred laid-off workers from car and textile factories to them. He also helped Metro train the new employees, familiarizing them with the shopping habits of East German consumers. Metro gave him the title of logistics consultant and paid him a handsome annual consulting fee.

Siemens wanted to set up an after-sales service center in East Berlin and needed skilled repair technicians.

As it happened, Werner had a group of laid-off technicians from an electronics factory. He sent them for three months of training and then recommended them to Siemens as a package deal. Siemens gave him a human resources agency contract, paying him a commission for every employee he referred.

Every time, Werner was the indispensable “door-opener.”

By the end of 1990, Werner held shares or distribution rights in over a dozen companies, spanning auto parts, food, daily chemicals, retail, building materials, and home appliances.

His Werner Trading Company employed over a thousand people, most of whom were workers laid off from state-owned factories.

The several Labor and Structural Development Companies under his name took on numerous ABM projects, placing thousands of workers who needed a transitional period. His Werner Public Welfare Fund took over the kindergartens and clinics of more than a dozen factories, employing hundreds of nurses, preschool teachers, and doctors.

His wealth snowballed, growing larger and larger.

But he never flaunted his wealth.

What he needed to do was accumulate, position, and infiltrate, all slowly.

‘Wait until this chaotic transition period is over, until East Germany has fully integrated into West Germany, until everyone has forgotten the antagonism and hatred of the past—’

‘Only then will I surface, becoming that “successful East German entrepreneur,” that “bridging figure of the unification era.”‘

‘For now, I just need to keep being that “door-opener.”‘

‘Useful, inexpensive, and inconspicuous.’

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

「Friday, August 31, 1990.」

Werner sat in his East Berlin office, watching the television screen.

On the screen was the international conference center in Bonn. The camera slowly panned across the hall, which was adorned with the flags of the Two Germanys.

The black, red, and gold tricolor of West Germany hung side-by-side with the East German flag bearing the hammer and compass, but everyone knew that the East German flag would soon vanish from history.

At five o’clock in the afternoon, the signing ceremony began.

West German Minister of the Interior Wolfgang Sch?uble sat on one side of a long table, and East German State Secretary Gunter Krause sat on the other. The two men picked up their pens and signed their names on the thick document.

The Unification Treaty.

It stipulated that at midnight on October 3, 1990, the German Democratic Republic would formally accede to the Federal Republic of Germany.

Applause erupted from the television. The reporters’ camera flashes went off one after another, like fireworks at a funeral.

Werner lit a cigarette and took a deep drag.

‘Forty-one years.’

‘From 1949 to 1990, the German Democratic Republic existed for forty-one years.’

‘And now, this country was about to disappear.’

“What are you thinking about?”

Anna’s voice came from the doorway. She walked in carrying two cups of coffee and placed one on Werner’s desk.

“Thinking… about whether I should prepare a eulogy,” Werner said.

“For whom?”

“For East Germany.” Werner pointed at the television. “At midnight on October third, it will cease to exist. Maybe I should say a few pretty words to express my condolences.”

Anna sat down on the sofa and crossed her legs. “You’re not the sentimental type.”

“I’m not,” Werner admitted. “But I am an East German. At least, I was.”

On the television, Sch?uble was giving a speech.

He called it a “great moment in German history,” said “the wounds of division have finally healed,” and that “we will work together to build a unified, democratic, and prosperous Germany.”

The pretty words sounded moving.

But Werner knew that for many East Germans, this wasn’t “healing”—it was “amputation.”

On the TV, the two representatives stood up and shook hands, and the camera flashes erupted in another frenzy.

The host announced in an excited voice, “Ladies and gentlemen, a historic moment! The Unification Treaty has been officially signed! Germany is about to be reunified!”

Werner turned off the television.

He stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the street below.

East Berlin had completely changed.

The streets were full of West German cars, the shops full of West German goods, and the billboards full of West German brands. The old East German signs and legacy storefronts were disappearing one by one.

Just like the country itself.

‘Thirty-three days left.’

‘In thirty-three days, the German Democratic Republic would be wiped off the map.’

Werner would complete his transformation from “East German official” to “German businessman.”

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

Werner was wide awake at three in the morning on October 3, 1990.

He lay in his hotel room in West Berlin, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Anna was still fast asleep. She was lying on her side, one hand resting on his chest. Werner gently moved her arm, got out of bed, and walked to the window.

Berlin was still sleeping. Forty-one years of division would be erased today by a single treaty.

“Can’t sleep?” Anna’s voice came from behind him.

Werner didn’t turn around. “Just thinking about things.”

“What things?”

“About the past.” Werner lit a cigarette. “When I started out as a Black Market dealer, I only had thirty Marks to my name.”

Anna walked over, wrapped in a blanket, and hugged him from behind. “Now you have thirty million West German Marks.”

“They’re just numbers.” Werner exhaled a plume of smoke. “I’m thinking about the ones who didn’t live to see this day.”

Anna was silent for a moment. “Krupp?”

“And Vonke, and Eva.” Werner flicked his ash. “When Eva died in Munich in 1986, she still thought the Berlin Wall would stand there forever.”

Anna’s voice softened. “Her son, Hans, told you she passed away peacefully.”

“Yeah.” Werner recalled the words Hans had relayed to him—how in her final days, his mother would often sit by the window watching the sunset and would suddenly ask about winter in East Berlin, about the old streets. “She had Hans tell me, ‘Thank you for giving me and my son a future.'”

“Will her son be at the celebration?”

“Hans said he would.” Werner turned to face Anna. “Ever think about it? If we’d made different choices back then.”

“Nothing to think about.” Anna raised an eyebrow. “The ones who stayed all chose their own path.”

Werner smiled. “What are you planning to wear to the Brandenburg Gate today?”

“That black suit I bought yesterday.” Anna walked back to the bed. “And you?”

“A dark blue suit.” Werner stubbed out his cigarette. “Margaret said a lot of West German business tycoons will be there. I need to look the part.”

“You already look the part.” Anna lay back down on the bed. “Der Spiegel is calling you a driving force of the unification process now.”

“That’s because they don’t know how many weapons I used to sell.”

At five in the morning, the sky began to lighten. Werner washed up and put on the dark blue suit. Anna was up too, putting on her makeup in the bathroom.

“Where’s Felix?” Werner asked.

“My mom has him.” Anna looked at him through the mirror. “A seven-year-old isn’t suited for this kind of event.”

“True.” Werner straightened his tie. “When he’s older and I tell him about today, he probably still won’t understand.”

“He’ll understand.” Anna finished applying her lipstick and turned around. “The history books will tell him that on October 3, 1990, Germany was reunified. As for how his dad clawed his way from the East German Black Market into the West German business world, well, that won’t be important.”