Backlash Building Against Flood of E. Germans

The warm welcome that East Germans pouring through newly opened borders received in West Germany has begun to cool, and a new, darker mood is growing in this country. It extends from northern cities such as Hamburg to rural communities in southern Bavaria, but its focus seems to be here in West Berlin.

“The euphoria over the Berlin Wall opening up to East Germans is dying down,” a West Berliner said, “and the backlash is setting in.”

The reason for the backlash is evident: The newcomers are competing for jobs, housing and social benefits with West Germans.

“The situation could get quite nasty, because the resentment is building up,” one West Berliner said.

Reports from various parts of West Germany tell of the little Trabant cars of East Germans being trashed and even set afire, most recently in Hanover.

In Hamburg, a sign on a wall announced: “Wage Stealers, No Thanks.”

And a Hamburg social worker said: “We just do not know where to put the people any more. Our chances of finding them all accommodation are (very poor).”

Hamburg has rented ships, trailers and even a former sex shop to house the emigrants.

In prosperous Duesseldorf, Labor Minister Hermann Heinemann warned of “pampering” the immigrants from East Germany.

“People without work do not like to see immigrants being served up jobs on a golden plate,” he added.

In the port city of Bremerhaven, the mayor declared, “We are on the way to becoming a city of social welfare recipients.”

And in Bavaria, Social Ministry official Repert Sandfuchs complained, “I’m surprised that anything is still working.”

Others worry that the crime rate will go up with the influx of East Germans looking for work. They complain that the newcomers are shoplifting, a fairly rare crime in West Germany.

A farmer from the small village of Gundlfing drew laughs when he said, “Now I must lock up my chickens--and not just from the foxes.”

“The atmosphere has suddenly changed toward the newcomers here,” Bavarian official Dieter Doerfler said.

Other West Germans have been quoted in the press as arguing that East Germans should remain where they are.

Many believe it is no longer necessary for East Germans to emigrate. A recent poll by the Infas research institute showed that only 30% of the West Germans surveyed think East Germans still have a valid political reason for leaving their country--down from 58% before the Berlin Wall opened Nov. 9.

The crush of newcomers is especially noticeable in West Berlin. The national weekly magazine Stern ran a cover picture of crowds pushing into a West Berlin subway in a scene rivaling the packed Tokyo subway.

In West Berlin, city official Eckart D. Stratenschulte said in an interview that the expected backlash is already developing.

“West Berlin has 2 million people,” he noted. “And 2 million more East Germans came over last weekend. You can imagine what the streets and sidewalks looked like. Some West Berliners were outraged because it looked like the aftermath of a carnival. We had to shut down some subways because of overcrowding.”

Many West Germans who have apartments but want to upgrade them for their growing families find that the newcomers are given first priority for such apartments because they have no housing.

To deal with the influx, West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl has announced a multibillion-dollar emergency housing program. But while housing solves some problems, it does not necessarily find jobs.

Further, many West Germans are angry that the newcomers, as automatic citizens, are entitled to the same welfare, health and un employment benefits as those who have worked for 40 years and retired.

West Berlin, which has a 9.1% unemployment rate, compared to the national average of 7.3%, may be further troubled by the inflow of day workers from East Berlin.

Workers in West Berlin are supposed to register and be taxed. But workers from the East can take work, for example, as dishwashers, waiters and even construction laborers without registering. Paid in valuable West German marks, they can make as much in a few days in West Berlin as they would in a month in East Berlin.

The competition for jobs is not lost on West Berlin workers--particularly the 110,000 from Turkey and southern Europe who would be the first to feel the pinch.

“There are all sorts of irritations for West Berliners,” said Stratenschulte. “For instance, East Berliners are taking books out of our libraries, and college students can’t find books they need.

“And the other day in my neighborhood, the East Germans had bought up the entire milk supply.”