Wall of the Berlin Wall: Two life paths between border protection and resistance

Wall of the Berlin Wall: Two life paths between border protection and resistance

A fateful meeting! 35 years after the fall of the wall, two men meet at the former border crossing near Helmstedt, whose life could hardly be more different. Peter Valdueza (63), once a border officer of the GDR, and Marc-Dietrich Ohse (58), a passionate critic of the system and participant of the Monday demonstrations, are now facing each other. Valdueza once defended the regime, while Ohse bravely took the grievances on the streets.

The moment is loaded with emotions. Valdueza tells of his "conscious decision" to go to the border troops. "I grew up in a workers' budget and was positive about the state," he explains, while walking over the concrete slabs of the former border crossing with Ohse. Ohse, on the other hand, felt dissatisfaction and was aware of the dilapidated conditions: "People go away, are gone. Somehow something has to happen now." The two men realize that they lived in completely different worlds in their childhood - Valdueza in the FDJ and Ohse as a pastor's son who never had to bend the group compulsion of the youth organizations.

confrontation with the past

The conversations become intense. Ohse, Valdueza asks how far he would have been willing to obey the orders. "Would you have shot?" is a question that Valdueza has kept busy. His answer remains unclear: "At that time I probably had a completely different way of thinking than today." In retrospect, he realizes that he was indoctrinated and admits that he feels cheated: "Socialism failed, everything that was told has been wrong."

Today Valdueza has fundamentally changed its attitude to the GDR and works for a security service in Hanover. Ohse, on the other hand, is proud of his role in the Monday demonstrations and sees the turn as the most exciting time of his life. "When does a state collapse and you helped?" This encounter is more than just a confrontation - it is a symbolic meeting of past and present.