East and West

My view: How I see Germany today!

Germany has changed over the last decade a lot. I remember when I was younger that German people were different compared to now. Basically nearly everybody had a job, spent his holidays in other countries and the people had enough money to live a comfortable life. Unfortunately the German economy has turned down. Today we have many unemployed people and it is very difficult for many of them to find a new job. As a consequence the people who still have enough money don't want to spend it, those with little money cannot live as they had done before. Whenever you meet people they all complain about the current economical situation. The overall atmosphere is very negative. Even young people like me worry about the future. We will find it more difficult to get a good job, earn enough money and live a comfortable life compared to my parents` generation. Germany is politically a strong country within the EU and is well-respected in the world. However, if we do not make major changes in our social welfare system we will end up as a problem country inside the EU.

How I see Germany as a Polish immigrant!

For me Germany is a very rich and powerful country. People live very comfortable, even if they do not have a job. Here you can survive easily because the state takes care of everything. In Poland if you do not work you will not have money. Our country is very proud of its history and Polish people are proud of the country. What I do not understand about Germany is that the Government lets so many foreigners into the country although Germany has many unemployed people. In some parts of Krefeld and other cities foreigners are in majority. I could see a lot of problems between them and Germans. I think that the Germans live a luxury life, like to drink beer in pubs, still complain about everything and are not very happy. Let them go to Poland for some months, then they will come back more happily. In May Poland will become a member of the EU and many Polish people hope that this will improve there standard of living. Polish people are hard-working and do not complain so easily. I believe that many will come to Germany and do all the jobs the Germans do not want to take.

The differences between Poland and Germany today!

After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the change from communism to capitalism Poland has changed a lot. Many people cannot understand the system of capitalism and therefore many of them cannot find a job. The Polish industry is very old, none-effective and cannot compete with the high-tech industry countries in the west. The Polish infrastructure is very poor, cities are in a bad shape, there are no highways, only poor country roads. Like in east Germany you find high-rise buildings in the larger cities where a ghetto situation can be found. The crime rate is very high, many young people take drugs and drink alcohol. The black market can be found everywhere because people try to survive. Compared to Germany Poland is still a second-world country and hopes to boom up after being a member of the EU.

Bartosz Dabrowski and Christopher Klein

In general, Germany is one of the richest states in Europe. That is why many people from other countries immigrate to this country. In Germany there is no need to work very hard for your money, if you compare it with Poland. Namely there you earn only half as much money for the same work as in Germany. The reason for this is the weak economic situation. Communism prevented the development of economy and the consequences still entail poverty.

I myself grew up with many foreigners in Germany and I noticed that many of them were prejudiced towards Germans. Often it was being said that Germans are skinflints, bad companions, beer drinkers and that they are smug. I came across many more stereotypes of that kind. I was young and I did not think about it, but today I can say, that I do not agree with this bias. Actually, there is a conflict between the poor and the rich, not between foreigners and Germans. Many people do not want to admit that they envy somebody for something, so they create some bias, just to make themselves seem better than them.

In my opinion, if you come to Germany as a foreigner, at the beginning you live in a different society, but later you can change it, if you work hard enough. And that is the main point, the difference between Germany and Poland is, that in Germany there are many societies, divided among the classes, a class society, and in Poland you can only find one class, the poor one.

Alexandra Piotrowska

If you asked people for a place they would like to go to most of them would not answer "Poland". Instead they would mention cities in Italy, Spain or America, for example. The two reasons for this reaction are ignorance and prejudices. Certainly Poland is not a rich country ( high unemployment: 2001 17.4 %) but people still undervalue the offer of many sights with which Poland belongs to one of the most important cultural countries in Europe. It is, for example, famous for its historical buildings in Warsaw or Krakow. Only Warsaw already offers many possibilities for visiting museums like the National Museum, the Technical Museum or the Archaeological Museum. Also worth seeing is, among other things, the salt mine near Krakow but the concentration camp of Auschwitz is probably one of the generally-known places in the country. Also famous personalities like the composer Frédéric Chopin came from Poland. Some people are not conscious of the culture sights and so prejudices about Poland and the Poles still exist, like I mentioned in the beginning. When Germans hear the name "Poland" they often just think of a poor and soiled country which includes black markets and citizens who are criminal and are coming more and more to Germany to find work. To change these thoughts people have to get to know the country better. People who travelled to Poland often mention the beautiful cities and Nature. On the first of may Poland will belong to the European union and I think it is a possibility to bring the country nearer to some Germans.

Tanja Birk

East and West Germany!

I am a 16-year-old girl and I live in Krefeld, where I was born as well. In my whole life, I have not really noticed if there are problems between west and East Germany. But if you are confronted with all the prejudices, you realize that there are many jokes and stupid talks against East Germans.

A friend of mine comes from East Germany, she knows about all the prejudices and does not agree with them, which I do neither. I do not think that it is necessary to divide Germany again by making bad jokes and encourage prejudices against west or East Germany.

In my life I have never been against East Germans, although I am from West Germany, and I did not really think about the fact that anybody comes from the east or west of the same country.

Jasmin Beging

I am a 17-year- old girl and I was born in the GDR in 1986.I came to West Germany when I was six years old. West Germany was strange and different from where I came from. In East Germany I lived in a small village in the federal State of Mecklenburg - Pomerania. There was a big difference between my old life yesterday and my new life today. I did not know about prejudices against the east in the first years in Krefeld. But when I grew older I heard the jokes about the east and the prejudices like: East Germans are all farmers, they are slow in thinking and something else.

When I hear people saying these things about my home, it hurts me very much. Although I have lived in Krefeld for 10 years, my real home is the east, where I come from.

Julia Beck