Panhandling by Soviet Soldiers in East Germany Told
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WEST BERLIN — Soviet soldiers have been appearing recently at rest stops on East German highways asking travelers for bread, chocolate and cigarettes, a newspaper reported Sunday.
The Berliner Morgenpost, a West Berlin newspaper, said the soldiers’ appearances at autobahn rest stops were the result of drastic price rises in East Germany after the July 1 economic merger of the two Germanys.
Prices also rose at Red Army commissaries, the newspaper said.
To make the event less embarrassing, the newspaper said, one soldier had a 1-mark piece in his hand to offer as payment.
Requests have ranged from bread and other types of food to chocolate, cigarettes, soft drinks and beer, the newspaper said.
One driver from Potsdam, at a rest stop near East Berlin, called the soldiers “really poor devils who acted like slaves.”
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