since some of the property expropriatedrnby the GDR was previously expropriatedrnby the Soviet oecupiers and beforernthat by tlie Nazis. With questions ofrnownership often up in the air, Westernrncompanies are reluctant to invest in thernEast, which has come to be seen as anrnarea where Western companies can sellrntheir used cars and discount items, notrnas a place where thev should invest inrnnew- plants.rnThe responsibility for new investmentsrnrests largely with the so-calledrnTreiihand or Trustee Commission, whichrnis selling off the property of the formerrnEast German state to the private sector.rnUntil recently, the Treuhand gave Westernrncompanies preference over Easternrnbuyers, even when the Western companiesrnoffered less. These companies regularlyrnpromise to retain most of the indigenousrnwork force; they just asrnregularly ignore these promises. Therncurrent head of the Treuhand estimatesrnthat 20 to 30 percent of the jobs “guaranteed”rnby the new owners have simplyrnbeen eliminated. And even the firstrnhead of the Treuhand, Detlev Rohwedder,rncomplained that Western businessmenrnbehaved “like colonial officers” inrnthe East. Rohwcdder has since been assassinatedrnby a West German terroristrngroup, the Red Army Faction. The ‘I’reuhandrnsold one Eastern firm to a Westernrncompany for the price of one mark,rnabout 70 cents. Even though this dealrnhas since been revoked, resentment overrnit persists in the East. A joke circulatingrnin East Berlin has the punchline: “Thern’I’reuhand, or: Can’t we sell it to you forrnless?” No one laughs, however, at arnstatement uttered bv a character in RolfrnHochhuth’s latest plav, Wessies inrnWeimar: “Whoever docs what Rohwedderrndid shouldn’t be surprised when hernis shot to death.”rnCultural and academic institutions,rnonce heavily subsidized by the GDR, arernfacing hard times. Many theaters andrnorchestras are closed, while cynics noternthat money is somehow available tornopen as a museum part of what remainsrnof Hitler’s bunker. At the HumboldtrnUniversity in East Bedin there used tornbe 11 professors of American Studies.rnTen have been let go and replaced withrnprofessors from West Germany; the 11thrnis from the East but is two years awayrnfrom retirement. His successor has alreadyrnbeen named. He, of course, isrnfrom West Germany. The college ofrnveterinary medicine at Humboldt wasrngenerally recognized as being superiorrnto that at the Eree Universit- (EU) inrnWest Berlin. It was originally decidedrnthat Humboldt would keep its departmentrnand the EU would close its. Butrnthe decision was later reversed bvrnBerlin’s city administration, whose headrnis a former president of the El’.rnNinety percent of women were employedrnin the former GDR; by Marchrn1992, the percentage was down to justrnover 62 percent. Academic women overrn30 are particulady disadvantaged whenrnfaced with the prospect of “retraining”rnor “learning a new skill.” These phrasesrnare all too often euphemisms for descendingrnthe social ladder, so that arnwoman with a degree in economics “retrains”rnto become a secretary and arnwoman with a Ph. D. in philosophyrn”continues her education” as a floral arranger.rnToday women who apply forrnjobs are asked what they plan to do ifrntheir children become ill. Earlier thisrnwas neer a reason for being refused employment.rnThere are unsubstantiatedrn(but widely believed) rumors thatrnyoung, childless women in the East arernundergoing sterilization to increase theirrnhiring chances. It is a fact that sincernreunification the birthrate in East Germanyrnhas been cut nearly in half.rnThe colonization of the East by thernWest is perhaps felt most intrusively inrnthe little things of everyday life. A fewrnexamples: all the signs indicating rightturn-rnon-red are being taken down. ThernWessies say because of safety concerns.rnThe Ossies believe because it was theirrninvention. Milk was collected fromrnmothers in the GDR who had morernthan they needed and provided to mothersrnwho did not produce enough of theirrnown. The centers that collected thisrnmilk have been closed bv order of WestrnGerman health officials. Even WestrnGerman doctors have objected to thisrndecision. The environmental policy ofrnthe GDR was a catastrophe in most areas,rnbut in one field East Germans werernleaders: the collection of bottles forrnreuse. Most collection centers havernbeen shut down and replaced by recyclingrncenters. Even though reccling isrnless efficient than reuse, reuse was Eastern,rnand so it is gone.rnChancellor Kohl, who initially saidrnthat with reunification “no one wouldrnbe worse off and many would be betterrnoff,” now finds himself an object of derisionrnin the East. Ossies no longer sayrnthey are lacing colonized, thev sa thcvrnare being “Kohl-onizcd.” All but one ofrnthe governors in the former GDR arernWestern imports from Chancellor Kohl’srnparty who recently lost elections or neverrnbefore held governorships. Ossies sayrnthey are being governed by second- orrneven third-rate politicians who could notrnsucceed in the West but are consideredrngood enough for the them.rnIt was primarily Kohl’s ChristianrnDemocratic Union (CDU) that lost thernBedin communal elections held in May.rnThe CDU received only 14 percent inrnEast Berlin. Easterners feci they havernno spokesmen for their interests amongrnthe established political parties. A recentrnpoll showed that 65 percent agreernwith the statement that the existing partiesrndo a poor job of representing EastrnGerman interests and indicated that arnfurther 14 percent feel the parties dornnot represent their interests at all.rnSeemingly interminable delays haverncome about since the decision was madernto moe the capital to Berlin from prosperousrnand provincial Bonn, far from therndaily problems of the East. Alreadyrnskeptical Ossies are convinced that thernmove will never take place, that EastrnGermany is to become the Sicily ofrnNorthern Europe, the permanently underdevelopedrnpart of the country.rnIf these problems continue to be neglectedrnby the parties in Bonn, Germanyrnfaces an explosive situation. The lastrnpresident of the State Council of thernGDR warned that massive and longtermrnunemployment in the East has ledrnto a resignation that is waiting to be mobilizedrnand could lead to violence, possiblyrneven civil war. The neo-Nazis inrnthe East arc undoubtedly present andrndangerous, but they hac not vet maderntheir strength felt at the polls. The’ receivedrnless than 5 percent of the Mavrnvote in East Bedin (compared with 10rnpercent in West Berlin). Their dangerrnlies not in the polling booths (or at leastrnnot vet) but rather in their potential forrnviolence, particularlv against refugeesrnfrom the economic collapse in EasternrnEurope and the Balkans. The recent riotsrnin Rostock and other cities are an indicationrnof the explosive situation thatrncurrently exists in the former GDR.rnOssies are beginning to resist beingrntreated as second-class citizens. Universityrnstudents in the city of Halle havernbegun celebrating “East-culture” withrn”East-parties” where they play “Eastsongs.”rn”lb my horror,” sas best-sellingrnauthor Giinter de BruMi, a dissident inrn38/CHRONICLESrnrnrn