Readers write in with personal experiences of 1949 and 1989

The following comments reflect the views of DW-WORLD.DE readers. Not all reader comments have been published. DW-WORLD.DE reserves the right to edit for length and appropriateness of content.

60th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift

I was a teenage girl who had lost my father. My mother was very poor and caring for four children when the blockade started. We had so little to eat among the five of us that I most often slept in a fetal position to alleviate my hunger pangs. I thank the Allies for giving us the meager heat and food that we had. In 1953 I met the love of my life. He was an air-traffic controller at Tempelhof. We married on Dec 3, 1954. I made maybe 25 trips back to Berlin before and after my mother died. My husband, Bob Akard, and I returned to Berlin for our 50th wedding anniversary which was hosted by the Allied Museum on Clay Allee. Many of our memories are now permanent items in that museum. The Tagesspiegel did a nice article about the event in 2004. I am now facing the biggest crisis of my life with a major cancer operation. I plan to live through this as I did the bombings of Staat Mitte in 1944-45 and the Soviet blockade of Berlin. I will recover if it is God's will and I will be back to Berlin in the near future. Ich liebe Berlin. -- Trauthcen Akard, US

Suspected Nazi prison camp guard deported to Germany

Israel, which has the most thorough intelligence system in the world, found insufficient evidence to convict Demjanjuk. Why is Germany not letting sleeping dogs lie? This man, guilty or not, has gone through enough for his age. If he is guilty of war crimes, God will judge him. -- Eberhard, Canada

Klaus Meine: "The world was changing before our eyes"

I just read your interview with the front man of "Scorpions" and I am really feeling great. I belong to the first generation of those changes in an eastern country (Albania), and trust me when I say it was incredible to see how the world we dreamt suddenly become a reality. "Forbidden idols" like "Scorpions"led us towards freedom and democracy with just a few words. "Wind of Change" meant so much for all of us. It is amazing to see them still around supported by millions of fans all over the world. -- Elton Malaj, Albania

Fiat reported to have plans to shut down German Opel plant

Unfortunately job losses are going to occur whoever takes over Opel and it sounds like the Magna offer is a better deal for Opel and its workers rather than Fiat. However it is GM in the US that will decide this matter and not the German Government. -- Stuart John Pearson, US

Germany says US data on Guantanamo inmates insufficient

It is very strange for the US to be trying to get other countries to take the people it is releasing from Guantanamo Bay. How can it be safe for some other country to take them if they US for some reason does not want them? The German government is right to refuse. -- Philip, US