A Trip to the DDR - "The Journey of my Life"
Introduction: Looking for old Friends
The Beginning
On September 19th 2016, the DDR Museum received a message via Facebook. It came from an Ethiopian man, who wanted to share his story with the World.
Shimelis Haile Aga was a 14-year old child, when he visited the DDR for four months. A few years before, due to the civil war in Ethiopia, he was sent to an ethiopian children camp. Since the country was already supported by the USSR due to the war against Somalia, the children in the camp got the opportunity to join delegations to represent their country in summer camps in different sister states. Shimelis was chosen to visit the DDR.
The Journey of his Life
Shimelis visited the DDR in 1987. There, he found himself thrown into a whole other world from what he was used to. From his childhood education, he was suspicious against Germans and confused considering all the things, that were different from his home. The trip held many premieres for him: The first time in an airplane, the first white people he ever saw, his first kiss and many other first times accompanied the journey of his life.
The DDR was the first and only country Shimelis has ever seen outside from Ethiopia. He is still drawn to Germany, that kept being a big part of his life. He educated his children about the German history and they followed the big events since then, such as the fall of the Berlin Wall or the soccer world championship.
The Shout-Out
For the last three decades, Shimelis kept the memory of his former friends he met in the DDR in his mind. Now, he is calling for them:
In the next ten weeks the DDR Museum publishes a new episode of the blogseries every tuesday. Every episode will be published in German and English. This series will take you on a journey with a young boy, who faced fear and confusion into a land and time that are long gone.
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