3 words i need to try to push on friday night unity justice and freedom. What are these words mean for democracy. Reason and his torch we have different histories. Thats what makes us so diverse but we need a basic level of cohesion a country needs to stand together despite all its differences if youve heard. And im sure that we can only reach consensus and the same goes for the bundestag as well for me except the fact that different people have different interests and they have a right to pursue them in discussions of 2 police. What are the things that unite us. And who are we. That are stuck in berlin the political centerpiece of our state dedicated to the german people its symbolic of 2 states having come together but for citizens to come together and speak as one it takes political debate to mcluckie is an equal marker c. Is a great idea and its based on the notion that we might not all be the same but we are equal and we have the same rights yes. It suggests that we currently agree upon how we want to live together without anyone being allowed to dominate or walk all over others when in and on dont mean young but to make that happen we need a sense of belonging like fans at a football match. I didnt speak to us was. Written. By. Whether 954 or 2014 when it comes to football we are one people like a big family our sense of belonging comes naturally. Last. I knew tice all the unity also means people coming together in a cohesive society. And it means that everyone who comes here is a part of that society thats good yet. In 1905 at the end of world war 2 everyone in germany had to pull together. But then their solidarity was put to the test there were massive shortages of food and other essential supplies and hundreds of thousands of people start arriving from the eastern territories regions that had belonged to germany before it started the war. It was a mass exodus millions of refugees and displaced persons came from east and west prussia pomerania so lazy or was or didnt land and even as far as the regions of but not and transylvania. Place in some over 12000000 people looking for a new not. Playing. Couldnt possible one i was born and bred enjoying the war but it was after the war ended we had to leave. We didnt flee we were driven out of was in fact we were catholics and we ended up in the state of cheering and one year there everyone else was protestant we spoke a high german dialect i felt out of place in so many ways i could start my childhood and adolescence i always felt like an outsider like a minority the others were different and i didnt belong that if you have a niece who does a male. German society was not prepared for so many new arrivals. In east germany people driven from their former homes soon made up more than 24 percent of the population in the west it was about 16 percent. The small village of 1st time in southwestern germany. In 19817 year old monica fetim on arrived here with her brother and parents after a long and difficult journey from the east. The family had been forced to flee from so lazy. They have signed us to that apartment upstairs it had a kitchen in the bedroom is in the back there facing the street to sluff the men. But when they arrived what they experienced was far from any kind of culture of welcome. The woman who owned the house was adamant she did not want to take in a family that had children and she fought hard to keep them out. Of the flow to the time that the woman who lived there didnt want to have to put up with children she had no kids of her own and she didnt want any around. She started making a scene saying she wouldnt let us in that wed have to stay outside so we just stood there until the Police Arrived and forced her to take us in. And that set the stage for how we were treated afterwards to. Overflow time was no exception throughout the country millions of people needed to be resettled. The mosquitoes were forced on us and i know you often have 3 families living in a 4 room apartment most conflicts originated in the kitchen where they argue over who was allowed to use it when and who could use which foods. They were often fuelled by religious differences and the prejudice that prevailed was perhaps even greater than youll find today against muslims so its going but mostly more to. The former Primary School and all but for a time has been turned into a museum. Some of the children morning met here became our lifelong friends. Despite the rough start. To me guitar not near my 1st day at school was painful the teacher wasnt trying to be mean but she said now id like to introduce monica shes a refugee girl and shes going to read for us. But i didnt know how to read it all i could do was start or was it the hobby so of course all the kids started laughing at me again on the mac. But thank goodness my teacher realized what was going on. Now and she started giving me private reading lessons one and i tell myself that those kids will never laugh at me again. Integration can only succeed step by step from one person to another and it often starts with the youngest in society. These girls never experienced any of the tensions that marked the early stages of german unity and they grew up as part of a more solid community. Millions of displaced people and left behind everything they had the government did its best to help them start over. And into gaza and if a team of integrating all the displaced persons was a great achievement for everyone involved. But it was not as simple as it seems in retrospect. Today the entire effort is portrayed as a Great Success story and it is but it was also very difficult. And hard to come then germans unity was put to a new test after the war the allies agreed to divide germany into 4 occupations zones but as the Occupying Powers increasingly disagreed the cold war began. And left germany torn between east and west. In 1988 tensions escalated in an attempt to pressure the western allies the soviet union blocked off all access to west berlin in response several western countries led by the us started supplying the city by air this created a new sense of unity between west berliners and the United States the famous raising bombers brought supplies to west berlin until the blockade ended in may 1000. 49. Man 2 german states emerged on may 23rd the federal republic was established with conrad i dont know as chancellor. And on october the 7th the german democratic republic came into being with pete because president. Doesnt make that up if you want it is a cheap way to meet men bit. By the doj a start and at 1st both states claim to speak for all of germany because east germany backed by stalin claim to be the state that would unify the country. But the federal republic believed it at the superior system of governance kit and bonus oblique. Today and the unification would have simply meant the nixing east germany im sure knows that he did. In 1961 just 12 years after the 2 german states were founded east germany sealed off the last open part of its mortar the wall deep into germany has defied. German unity seemed further away than ever in fears of another war the world looked to berlin breathless as u. S. And soviet tanks faced each other along the citys border. West berlins mayor billy brunt tried to ease tensions. Heat. Island. Ill order right you cannot. Escape being from east germany had become a deadly endeavor. Ah thats an unsafe city in 1961 after hundreds of thousands have fled east germany the government sealed its borders in an act of self preservation. They imprisoned their own people because they had come to the very realistic conclusion that they couldnt make the rest stay otherwise the 1st. Germanys division created an unusual situation in the 1964 summer olympics in tokyo. In an effort to signal peace and unity the International Olympic committee had determined that an all german team was to compete neither state was happy with the ruling but they had no alternative and so a combined team of 370 athletes represented both east and west germany in tokyo. Their Team Included the famous swimmers from the gun from east germany and gun crime up from the federal republic all of germany was rooting for them. All that. At the 1964 olympics both men competed for germany but although they were in the same team they werent 18 any personal contact between the east and west german athletes was discouraged. In tokyo all german athletes stayed in the same building in the Olympic Village but were kept in separate floors. We swim in the same team so obviously we have to train together to practice the relay 100 offs. There must be at the back seat and we have been. There for sports officials told us to keep contact to an absolute minimum. Today and go by theres nothing else for you to discuss they said this of course that was just ridiculous. Im somewhat in the evening we pass each other in the hotel lobby and say lets meet in room 318 and everyone would show up there they even feel the battle but soviet champagne giving you shit registering your food. While the officials were trying in vain to keep the team apart from being under 13 silver medals sports fans throughout germany were elated. Of it but as usual its about. 4 years later at the 1968 summer olympics in mexico city began 10 kramer were back but on separate teams the Olympic Committee had recognized the separation of east and west germany but still obliged both states to enter under a single flying blind red and gold plus the olympic rings. Begun crema along with their teams who are now competing against each other. In the finals of the mens 4 by 100 meter freestyle relay. At the bottom you can see from vega and hes doing very well so far and the main 6 claim of west germany is looking strong as well like. In mexico or this is us in mexico city the 2 german teams were housed in separate buildings so it was difficult to keep up our old contacts. As usual. We had to be even more careful when we were dealing with the close enemies as our Team Officials constantly drilled into us so it doesnt look. They didnt refer to them as fellow athletes but as class enemies. Up to us and the. Oil. Drops so we couldnt meet like we didnt tokyo. The only time that we saw each other was at the pool. Room from a prof. Yet despite the strict separation the german teams not only shared a common flag but also a common anthem the same theme that was 1st played for the west german team at the 1952 olympics beethovens ode to joy. When. You see when i hear that music i still get goosebumps it always takes me back to mexico city. When we speak in mexico. Since the early 19 fifties west germany had been enjoying an economic boom in 1955 the 1000000 books bargain beatles rolled off the Assembly Line in the voice of school itself that i think its funny. That its the c. Vote to mom i thought as the economy continued to expand the industry needed more workers to keep up it soon became clear that germany didnt have enough people to fill all the new jobs that were being created and thats when they started recruiting workers overseas yes. It was a good deal for both sides. Germany got the laborers it needed mostly for unskilled positions and the Foreign Workers escaped unemployment at home. The guest workers arrived in west germany from all over Southern Europe from italy from greece spain portugal in turkey. But in 1965 west germany it brought on a total of 1200000. 00 additional workers. The one millionth guest worker to arrive was armando ordered biggest aside from portugal he received a new moped to welcome him but that didnt mean he was accepted into west German Society. To spout off his ear and it was a distinctly male migration most of the newly arrived workers were men who had left their families behind for a long time the idea was that they would work for a few years and then go back to. The v. W. Plant involved book began employing italian guest workers in 1960 to one of them was sort of tottering who was 20 years old at the time but it took years for him to feel at home in west germany. Rocco started out working on the Assembly Line. In piece work he and his west german coworkers turned out a huge number of beatles in the 1960 s. So i want to feel not seek out all 284 beatles came down the Assembly Line priest shift from. And a lot of people work to put them together because thats. Whats germanys economic miracle would not have been possible without these Foreign Workers an estimated 6000 italians worked at the board sport plant alone alongside their west german colleagues. But the italian workers were housed in a fenced off area outside the factory the german public wants to know as little as possible about them they remained isolated from the rest of society and cut off from any sense of belonging you know i know one does and i had a bed in one of those barracks there were 3 of the men in the room. I didnt know any of them at 1st its sort of a 4 of as we all had to get used to living together. On the weekends we were all there and had to share the 18 cooking plates with about 100 other people. On deployed to. The Foreign Workers were not intended to become part of west German Society later some of their family members started arriving adjusting to their new life was especially hard for the children. As gap was there were special schools for foreign children they werent allowed into the regular classrooms. He they called them coffee suitcase kids and right from the beginning education officials decided they should have their own classes where they would keep learning their own language so their family could pack up and leave it any time i play he does take me in coffee to have a good kind. During the 1970 s. The Living Conditions of the italian workers slowly improved. Practised his german and was the 1st foreigner to be elected to the w. s Workers Council to this day he enjoys the respect of his former coworkers italians and germans some like. Him you know. At the same time broke or made a german girl named hunted or. Young ones for the mess and break. Speed it was love at 1st sight. But when her father found out that she was seeing an italian guy he hit the roof. Not only should cock sure. He for better to go out. He grounded her screeched. But connor lauras mother defended the relationship and in 1964 the couple finally married. They moved into their very own apartment just like many other italians did at the time. It had been determined that they could stay they had become a key part of the economy. But another group of Foreign Workers and their families faced more prejudiced people from turkey most of them muslims. By the time the children arriving were allowed to apply for german citizenship they had already grown into adults and had kids of their own it was made especially hard for them to become part of German Society and take on positions of leadership the problems this caused echo on to this day. Just actual news of who for decades the west german governments have been lying to itself and calling these people guest workers. Secretly everyone knew that they were here to stay but no one dared think that led and some didnt want them to stay so the government made no real effort to integrate these people they didnt encourage them to learn the language or demonstrate any cultural openness at the same time many of the workers didnt seem willing to integrate themselves into society either at least not those from the 1st generation in the s. And. East germany was also recruiting foreign markers here they were called contract workers and they came in from cuba mozambique and many from vietnam by 989. 00 the total number of Foreign Workers stood at about 94000. Vietnam was a socialist sister state whose economy had been ravaged by years of war. Yet timmys workers were employed in the east german industry for 2 to 6 years they too were discouraged from staying on any longer their families were not allowed to join them women became pregnant were sent home at once. And did as there was a labor shortage of east germany starting in the 1960 s. And it got worse in the seventys and eightys. And. Thats because of the 1950 s. Hundreds of thousands of people had left the country of so the government brought in more workers from africa and vietnam of vietnam but they were kept separate from the local residents we didnt have much contact with them you can contact between. One true to arrived from vietnam as a contract worker in 1976 today she runs her own restaurant in the town a very good order in central germany but it took a long time for her to feel that she had become part of the local community. Even though she had loved east germany since she was a little girl. Except that as you listen i was 9 years old someone gave me a beautiful white flower dress that was made in germany i. Recall. That i just love that dress. And i thought that germany must be great because they had such beautiful dresses there. Newly arrived to be at timmys workers 1st had to get used to a new shopping experience. To master these into that is sam grammar do finish have a certain never see a claim for a demand. Take a look heres an example if you have babies secretly a comedy its a house and can top. It up if they miss the hour by snow 5 rations in enders i was sh. But isnt arjun. Went out 3 days to go outside for. In vietnam i was hungry all the time but when i came to east germany i saw that they had all kinds of food i was especially fond of chicken legs. Like this still. One was 18 years old when she came to east germany she was assigned to a Vocational Training program at a truck factory and said. She was a hard worker and studious later she became the only one in the graduating class who was allowed to continue on to university but when one finished her studies in 1981 the east German Authorities decided it was time for her to go back to vietnam 100 gapped best me a move they were so worried that we were planning to stay after we received our diplomas. And so they would book flights for us back to vietnam and simply told us when they were scheduled. They took us to the airport and only gave us our diplomas after we got into the departure area. One wants to us local news. One was one of many we had to meet workers who were ordered to leave no matter where they wanted to live. This government weve got there was a strange contradiction between the governments official policy of supporting the International Working class and their actual policy toward Foreign Workers. The authorities could have done and should have done a lot more to promote integration and a true sense of camaraderie instead foreigners were looked down on as competition that had come from abroad so its becomes and. In 1987 upon return to east germany she worked as a translator at a clothing factory and began to get older but to the local residents she was still a foreigner. Coming and i remember one incident to this day. I was at a market and wanted to buy some bananas. When i tried to pay the clerks that i couldnt so i asked her why and she said they were reserved for east german citizens only. One has experienced similar indignities over the years but shes determined to stay she took a big risk when opening a restaurant she wont let anything stop for. Today one also supports immigrants as they adjust to their new lives in German Society and is part of a network that promotes better understanding between germans and foreigners because it intercuts owns of consecration goes both ways the 1st foreigners who come to germany should be encouraged to feel at home here but. Im sure that 2nd german citizens should not have to feel like phoners in their own country both parts of the process are equally important and life was to. Nov 9th 1989 the end of the wall and the beginning of a new sense of unity after 40 years of separation germany could now set a course for political arena fixation. All along or marched asa is on another day and that checkpoint charlie everyone came together to celebrate that day the people of germany experienced a newfound sense of community. Too many felt like america. No one knew how long this excitement would last and then didnt really even matter. They shouted at us i was made a fire unification is one of the most amazing and Joyous Events in german history were grateful it happened but in spite of all or a few zeroes and we must also remember that during reentry cation serious mistakes were made and many people were left behind the few dimension of a good us. And i perceived the monday demonstrations continued some demanded immediate reunification. While others wanted east and west germany to remain separate. It was gov there was a growing disappointment over how many changes were taking place in the east but not in the west west German Family simply got a new postal code and thats it. But for east germans the thing stayed the same and that is it at least it soon became clear in the east germanys economy was in bad shape and would require fundamental structural reforms. Like this you dont know whats going to happen next and thats frustrating is your job just going to disappear or not. The growing uncertainty did nothing to promote any sense of unity. Its a bit to me and we were hoping for a bit more than this but we never would have expected that it would get this bad we have to pay 5 times more for goods from west germany with our income thats a bit much were human beings too just like those in the west. In july germanys Monetary Union went into effect 3 months later on october the 3rd 9090 it was followed by their formal political reunification. Germany was now one country again but the german people were still a long way from true unity and the politicians seem to sorely lack the necessary tact to bring east and west closer together with insisted that they could have introduced some of the positive aspects of east German Society into this new united country. Double have shown the people of east germany that at least part of the system had had value even if they had lived in a dictatorship there were still parts of the society worth preserving for the entire country yes that would have boosted their confidence and that in itself would have been so important that western society would have seen their lives improving 5 cities positive aspects carried over from east germany but they were denied that experience. The consequences of currency conversion and privatization in the Eastern States were disastrous the economy in the east declined sharply from 1902994. In 1906 more than 1300000 people were unemployed in the newly formed german states it was a major downside of the reunification process the consumer cooperatives were hit especially hard this is the cons are meant Department Store in leipsic known to the locals as the tin can it was a relic of east germanys past. Shortly before the currency change over the store started selling more and more western products to meet a sharp increase in consumer demand no one wanted to buy east german goods anymore. This forced many former east german manufacturers to cut production or shut down altogether in the consumer cooperatives had to deal with increased competition something they werent used to. Feel a lot of people thought their lives were state at the same mix that theyd have a new currency and be able to travel freely but they were wrong the mechanisms of the free market took hold because. Martine bagnet took on the difficult challenge of downsizing the consumer cooperatives was a painful process in 1990 about 200 of them were grouped into one Organization Today there are only about 30 laughed. Off the east german cooperatives had 230. 1000 employees but youre in 1993180000 of them lost of jobs lost the main problem was that the cooperatives had been left out of the unification treaties they were considered a gray area that could stand in the way of reunification cooperatives own their own buildings but the land the buildings were are now belong to the federal government if the cooperatives wanted to stay theyd have to pay a huge sum to the government becomes a mint was also affected but there was a loophole perignon fought long and hard lobbying politicians to reduce the girl. Always good comes in view we finally caught their attention with a Public Campaign that we put together packages of goods from our Member Companies and sent a package to each member of the bundestag and van. We also gave interviews for public broadcasters. Over time the pressure grew and the politicians to preserve more jobs. We ended up holding negotiations with the ministry of finance. And the result of that was we were able to reduce the original demand of 336000000. 00 marks to 12000000. 00 torch marks. For you and. And so after 6 years of hard work american was able to save a total of 4000. 00 jobs at 30 companies and those companies were now in good financial shape nevertheless many in eastern germany still felt disadvantaged. Tatts actually said there truly is economic inequality in former east germany households in the west have more than twice as much wealth as those in the east and pension levels are not equal with us whats more 80 percent of the Top Executive positions in the east are held by westerners it was a 21 and if you ask me situations like this are real threat to democracy to the far 50 democrats he just died and they have. Another serious threat to german democracy is enough for via in 1901 and while you are as valid a right wing extremists launched a series of attacks on immigrant workers and Asylum Seekers one year later a mob stormed refugee shelters in rostock at 1200. 00 spectators gathered outside a shelter and applauded. A number of Police Officers who responded to these incidents were injured fortunately no one was killed. As you know its a fact that he took a sheet of history has shown is that those who are disadvantaged or who feel disadvantaged or marginalized usually do not channel their anger into efforts to try and make Society Better just. To focus or instead they often take out their frustrations on those who are least able to defend themselves. Like Asylum Seekers and other foreigners they turned into scapegoats yes who developed sister in. Law in the late 1992 those opposed found their voice to respond as scorpions lead singer of cows minus said. It was Something Else and not by the guides muslims i mean it was not as if it was the stuff that. I saw as an unspoken for more civil courage to take action against racism and injustice. The frankfurt concert featured a well known german artists including the lyndon bad and modest mother of esther not me who all came with the same message anyone who lives here should feel like they belong. Heres demonstrations against you know for be it took place in major german cities protesters demonstrated certainly down with the victims of right wing terror. In may 9934 skinhead set fire to the house of a turkish family insulting and in western germany 5 people were killed and 14 others including several children injured. Its makes it out that it just thought that attack wiped out an entire family in just one fire. And it did not take place in eastern germany so to say that such incidents only ever occur in the east means were just fooling ourselves with our liberal society has a serious potential for racism and we need to call more attention to this problem some Political Parties are skillfully exploiting the situation yet speed up. Racism you know phobia and anti semitism manifest themselves in attacks against muslims jews refugees politicians and the media many who no longer feel represented in the political spectrum turn to far right political movements enter piggy to the patriotic europeans against the islam is ation of the occidental. Gun and this movement appeared almost overnight and mobilized a lot of people who took to the streets. Normally im all for movements that can move people like thats. But then it became clear where this organization was headed and who was controlling it here. Where it is now clearly directed by right wing extremists radicals islamophobia homophobes nationalists earned racists and thats a serious cause for concern is. This tense situation was made even more complex in 2015 with the arrival of hundreds of thousands of migrants many of them had fled conflicts in the middle east about 800000 sought protection in germany European Countries in the german public squabbled over our best to distribute all the new arrivals how could so many people be integrated into German Society. Others whats the matter when large numbers of people suddenly arrive in a given society it becomes a major challenge and a painful challenge when things change for the people who already live there mention that socalled but 04 year and other forms of intolerance are not the only threats to german social unity we now have to deal with a number of new challenges in a globalised digitalized world people are once again struggling to find their place in society. Many turn to social media to vent their worries. Vulgar remarks on the socalled social platforms have become increasingly commonplace while the vast majority silently watching news. But not brutal yard she refuses to stay silent on the monday when people lose their minds on line just because someone famous has expressed an opinion about something or maybe even just some ordinary person the whole thing makes me physically sick. I cant believe stuff like that can remain on. Line. Does so last in lets im 15 come. Later joined a group called h. B. And here i am here numbers try to take the edge off hate speech with fact based comments. And it goes on a fairly well what we do can get risky ive received notifications where people have threatened to write me. And not only in the comment sections but also in direct messages message can be done all. Still in britain to spend several hours every day trying to counter what she considers in human remarks when news broke about refugees drowning in the mediterranean she came across one particularly cynical comment now where fish not only contains plastic but also human flesh but his response was clear and measured what a disgusting comments these are human beings were talking about. This country sign if you disagree with someone you cant just shout at them or insult them or verbal abuse them. I believe that we should be much more civil when we engage with one another thats very important to me. Being here has grown to over 49000 members in 2017 the group was honored with the german grammar online award for its contribution to promoting constructive dialogue on the web. Unity means People Living together side by side without hatred or violence unity welcome social and Ethnic Diversity since 1949 it has been a cornerstone of german life as it will remain for generations to come. Gave. Eco india. The most basic human love. But more than 800000000 people worldwide dont have access to the substance clean water. Displacing the influx of. The deep dive into new solutions to protect the most important resource of the. Next d. W. The good chamber. A multiple sclerosis diagnosis. This neurological disease with countless variations is still not insurable. To people with m. S. Describe their daily lives and we discover how a healthy gut is especially important for m. S. Patients. Good shit in 30 minutes on d w. 2 your france dear antonio heres a see here year my 3 grandchildren sleep on troubled when i was in france is ages germany was split in 2 and remain divided for decades when your mother was born in 1969 the world was already 8 years old and you know my grandchildren were born after the wall fell born in a dream by. 3 generations one family on a journey through recent german and. During the living i knew the police were really. Starts november 6th on d w. This is deja vu news and these are our top stories prodemocracy protesters in hong kong have been defying police by attending an unauthorized march tensions are high after a prominent rally organizer and an activist handing out flyers were brutally attacked earlier this week. In levy