The Wave of Fear E-Book

Otto von Gehr

• Herausgeber: KUUUK
• Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Seitenzahl: 190

Beschreibung

In this mainly autobiographic report of an escape made by an “average joe”, the reader finds himself in the midst of something, where many brave people have lost their lives in previous attempts: Germany’s Death Strip. Living by the motto of “anything goes, I have got to make it to a better life”, Otto von Gehr describes how he made his big move, to escape from the communist East-Germany to the promising wonders of the West. In a moment of desperation, spontaneity and total craze, he decides to leave the DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik; translation: GDR, German Democratic Republic), make history and change his life for the better, not knowing what grave dangers lie ahead. In his description of an unprecedented and dramatic escape, the author tells his view of day-to-day life in East-Germany, its routines, advantages and major disadvantages from the author’s point of view are named and told. If Otto would not have made his escape, this book would not be in existence to date. Many tried to escape Communism and many died along the way. Checkpoint Charlie, doubtlessly the most famous border control point at the Berlin Wall, reported 1393 people that died trying to cross the border within the years of 1945-1989. It is an exceptional and unprecedented case in the Western world, where people of essentially the same nation, have been shot, killed by explosions or simply disappeared through the STASI, trying to cross a more or less symbolic border between fundamentally different politic systems THE AUTHOR Otto von Gehr was born in a small, countryside town in North-East Germany. Besides his obligatory job, he focused on a wide range of martial arts such as Judo and Sambo Combat. After his successful escape to the West, he has now returned to his region. Today Otto is an active mixed martial arts teacher as well as being engaged as a violence prevention coach. He owns and operates his own sports clothing label and further entrepreneurial projects that provide him with a tight and busy schedule. “The Wave of Fear” is his first book.

Leseprobe

INFO | TITLE

Otto von Gehr

THE WAVE OF FEAR

My Escape from the GDR

Literary and Authentic Report

SUMMARY

OF THE BOOK

In this mainly autobiographic report of an escape made by an “average joe”, the reader finds himself in the midst of something, where many brave people have lost their lives in previous attempts: Germany’s Death Strip.

Living by the motto of “anything goes, I have got to make it to a better life”, Otto von Gehr describes how he made his big move, to escape from the communist East-Germany to the promising wonders of the West. In a moment of desperation, spontaneity and total craze, he decides to leave the DDR, Deutsche Demokratische Republik (translation: GDR, German Democratic Republic), make history and change his life for the better, not knowing what grave dangers lie ahead.

In his description of an unprecedented and dramatic escape, the author tells his view of day-to-day life in East-Germany, its routines, advantages and major disadvantages from the author’s point of view are named and told.

If Otto would not have made his escape, this book would not be in existence to date. Many tried to escape Communism and many died along the way. Checkpoint Charlie, doubtlessly the most famous border control point at the Berlin Wall, reported 1393 people that died trying to cross the border within the years of 1945-1989. It is an exceptional and unprecedented case in the Western world, where people of essentially the same nation, have been shot, killed by explosions or simply disappeared through the “Stasi” (state security service), trying to cross a more or less symbolic border between fundamentally different politic systems.

THE AUTHOR

Otto von Gehr was born in a small, countryside town in North-East Germany. Besides his obligatory job, he focused on a wide range of martial arts such as Judo and Sambo Combat. After his successful escape to the West, he has now returned to his region. Today Otto is an active mixed martial arts teacher as well as being engaged as a violence prevention coach. He owns and operates his own sports clothing label and further entrepreneurial projects that provide him with a tight and busy schedule. “The Wave of Fear” is his first book.

IMPRINT

Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek: The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the internet at http://dnb.dnb.de

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, radio, television, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Cover Design: Idea and Copyright © Martina Stodczyk.

Cover Photo: Copyright © Carmen Ciupke.

Translation from German into English: Sebastian Hühne.

Editing of the English Edition: Phil Higgs.

ISBN E-BOOK 978-3-939832-48-5

First Edition (English Edition): April 2012

First Edition (German Edition) was August 2008.

Königswinter near Bonn (Germany)

K|U|U|U|K – Der Verlag mit 3 U

www.kuuuk.com

All rights reserved [Copyright] © KUUUK Verlag—[email protected] and © Otto von Gehr—[email protected]

DEDICATION

This book is for my children.

I love you with all my heart and am looking forward to many more years together.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

EPILOGUE

Map of the Escape

Prologue

My name is Otto, Otto von Gehr. It is the year 2008 and I will be 40 in a few days time. Out of nowhere it takes a hold of me. What is it? I cannot say. I cannot name it, cannot describe it, cannot put my finger on it. Whatever it is, it forces me to put these words on paper.

I cannot escape its grasp, thus I have no choice but let this force to run right through me. It is taking me on a journey. A journey? But where to? Thoughts are shooting through my brain, tumbling around, hindering me from focusing. I attempt to visualize, attempt to clarify exactly what it is that makes me rage on the inside. Breathless, I am moving through a thick layer of fog. Again I try to focus but once more I fail. It is like a never-ending, ever growing maze of thoughts with no way to the core.

But suddenly, gaps are appearing. The fog thins, rays of golden light are flooding the area and a path appears, it shows me the way out of this dilemma. Slowly, I can make out the first few pictures, of what really once was. They are still dancing around, coming closer! Just to leave me again as quickly as they came. Suddenly this mixed mass of memories comes to a stop and begins to move towards me as one. Slowly I begin to understand. These are my memories, memories of a long forgotten past that has forced its way to the surface of my conscience.

I can see my daughter, my son, success, failure, the escape, the GDR, young love, school, my mother and my father. Now it definitely has become a journey, a journey back through time, right to the core of my life, my past and my soul.

It is the night of the 22nd of September 1988 around 11 pm. Theoretically it should be an Indian summer, a sort of last resort for the warmest of all seasons. You know, those last few really cozy, warm nights, when you can still spend the evenings outside in a T-shirt and shorts, just before autumn comes around to cover the world in rain, with less inviting nights.

Yes. It definitely is one of those less pleasant nights. It’s raining, it’s freezing and the sky stays is void of any stars. What on earth am I doing here? Is this really worth it? Is this so-called “freedom” really worth risking my life for? What is freedom anyway? What lies ahead of me? Can I even make it at all? What if they shoot to kill. “Gunfire, Death, D-E-A-T-H” my mind is racing, my heart pumping like there’s no tomorrow. Quickly this feeling turns into cold and hard fear. Fear of the unknown, the indefinable. Maybe it’s not that cold after all. Maybe it’s just me.

Yes it is me! I cannot turn my back on it, cannot escape, cannot run and hide. It hits me like a tsunami. An enormous and powerful wave extinguishing everything else in its path. This wave of emotions is takes my breath away. It tightens my throat, my heart is pounding rigorously. I cannot breath, it is as if I am trapped under ice, with no means of escape, no exit in sight. I try to take a breath but no air will reach my lungs. They are already full and incapable of taking in anymore oxygen. I become nauseous, my eyes are wobbling around in my skull and it becomes faster and faster and faster. It is the most horrific feeling I have ever had. I can feel my stomach cramp ... and slowly, very slowly I can feel it reaching its climax. From my toes, to my stomach and finally in my head. It is right there, just waiting to crush me from above. For a second I try to fight, fight off this monstrous wave of fear, but then it breaks right above me.

Suddenly silence surrounds me. Here I am again, right where it all began. I can feel the damp earth beneath my feet, and I know, it is fear, pure fear as primal as our instinct to survive. It has finally buried me with all its might, this wave, “The Wave of Fear.”

Chapter 1

I was born and raised in a dreamy, small town in the wonderful state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, in East-Germany. Here, time was just that little bit slower than anywhere else, making life quiet and a lot more enjoyable. It should be said though, that life in the GDR was just like this anyway. Slow, but not so enjoyable on a large scale. The GDR was a country of boyscouts, planned economy, the SED (main socialist party in the GDR) and “agricultural production companies”. It was a country without unemployment, lots of sports, very little crime and the aspired “production goal of the people” has always been achieved. Yes, in this aspiring and inspiring nation I was born in the 1960s.