E. Germany Said to Punish Defectors
East Germany’s Communist authorities have refused to allow an 11-year-old dog to be reunited with its owners, who went to West Germany to visit relatives and refused to return, a newspaper reported.
The mass-circulation Bild Zeitung tabloid said Wednesday that East German officials had turned down a request to allow Elsa, a Boxer, to rejoin Gerd and Brigitte Bornschein.
The couple stayed in Duesseldorf rather than return to their home in Jena, where they had left the dog in the care of a relative, the newspaper added.
The dog has refused to eat because it misses the family, it said.
The report quoted officials of West Germany’s office of Inter-German Relations as saying they have interceded on behalf of the family.
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