When I was 15 years old, my parents sent me to a riding camp in Germany. There I had a summer romance with a 18 yr. old boy who had fled East Berlin half a year before.

He swam the channel with two other friends. His friends were shot and killed, but he made it through the dark of the night. He left his family without a word of warning, in fear they could be punished for not reporting him. He worked as a stall boy at the riding camp, and attended a near by college for free.

West Germany provided very well for all those that fled East Germany.

There are thousands of similiar stories, and it makes one wonder why the heck so many East Berliners yearn for the time back. Still, those that wish the wall were back are way in the miniority.