Several decades ago, our family moved for three years, from the US to West Germany, officially called the Federal Republic of Germany. My husband was with IBM in the US, and in Germany he worked at the IBM Research & Development Lab, in Boblingen, near Stuttgart. We rented a house in the village of Maichingen, about 20 kilometers from Stuttgart, the capital of the state of Baden-Wurtemberg. We particularly chose Maichingen rather than the cosmopolitan twin cities of Sindelfingen and Boblingen, because we wanted to experience German life, food, cooking, customs, and culture, immersed in a German community, with our children Lina, 11, and Vikram, 5 years old.

Reva’s version of traditional German Zwiebel Kuchen (Onion Pie): Bob-Friendly Vegan (Recipe included at the bottom of the post)

In the US we had taught Lina and Vikram to speak Marathi, so they were fluent in both Marathi and English, and Lina was also learning French. Our German neighbors, IBM colleagues, and friends, and the few Americans we met there, were rather impressed when all of us also learned to speak German in a very short time.

Lina & Vikram: First Volks March, 10 K                     D-Day Landing Beaches, Normandy

We traveled a lot during our three years there, with our children, to see and experience all the European countries, including Britain, a 2 week trip to Egypt, many ski trips to Switzerland, Austria, and Italy, and quintessential German experiences like VolksMarches, Fasching Festivals, European Football matches, and October Fests.

First Ski Trip, Dolomites, Italian Alps                       Lina & Vikram,Tower of London,

I would like to share an interesting experience from Fall 1979: our visit to West Berlin and East Berlin. My husband and I had kept our Indian citizenship, with Indian passports, and US Green cards, as at that time, there was no requirement or reason for us to get US Citizenship, and Lina and Vikram, who were born in the US, had US passports. We wanted to see East Berlin, and meet with East Berliners, and knowing about our proposed trip, Hans, one of our close German friends, arranged for us to meet his cousin, Johannes, in East Berlin. As we were aware and respectful of the ongoing political situation between West and East Germany, we communicated with the Indian Consulate, and the US Consulate, regarding our proposed trip, received assurances from each that it was safe, and so we felt confident about traveling to East Berlin. Hans had given us details about how we were to make contact with Johannes in East Berlin, in a way that would not put Johannes under suspicion, and also not require us to try and find a taxi in East Berlin to get to Johannes’ home.

On our flight from Stuttgart to West Berlin, as expected, we flew over the heavily armed border separating West Germany from East Germany, the German Democratic Republic. But one of the most surprising visual experiences for us was seeing the Berlin Wall, and realizing that it not only divided Berlin, but actually completely encircled West Berlin, and separated it from the surrounding East Germany territory! For three days we enjoyed visiting the many beautiful historic sites in the city. Several times during our sightseeing we were quite close to the Berlin Wall, the permanent armed divider – a very intimidating sight, with tall watch towers, heavily armed soldiers with weapons pointed directly at West Berlin, and several feet of barbed wires topping the wall on the East Berlin side.

Lina, Vikram & Reva, Check Point Charlie

We took a day trip to East Berlin,  crossing from West Berlin into East Berlin at the iconic best- known Berlin Wall crossing “Check Point Charlie”. We entered the building from the West Berlin entrance, had our passports checked, and then were ushered into a small waiting room that was “No Man’s Land” as the door to West Berlin side was closed. A door opened on the East Berlin side, several uniformed officials approached us, and asked to see our passports. That is when the tragic-comic sequence of events unfolded as we showed them our Indian passports, and Lina and Vikram’s US passports and also our West German resident visas and ID cards. Their reaction was startling and discomfiting as they announced in German “This is impossible, this is not allowed, this is not legal! There cannot be a family where the parents are Indian citizens, the children are American citizens, and they say they are living in West Germany”. As we spoke fluent German, we understood everything they were saying, and we attempted to explain that we were indeed a family, that the children were indeed our own children, and that it was all legal. This continued for quite a while with no discernible progress, and this impasse resulted in a higher official being called to continue the interrogation. Finally, he approved, and it resulted in each of us being given the required one-day visa to enter East Berlin, so we paid the mandatory 25 West German Marks/person to be converted into 25 East German Marks/per person. We were pretty relieved at this point, and thought that it would be smooth sailing from then on! Well we did not know what lay ahead – the officials insisted that the children had to be separated from us, as they had to be processed through the US citizens entrance, while we had to be processed through the Indian citizens entrance. At that point I took a stand saying that I would not let my minor children be separated from me – either they let my children come with me, or that they let me go with my children, but that we were NOT going to be separated!

Well this led to another higher level of official to be called, everything was again presented to him in German by the officials, and again by me in German, and when he politely and courteously explained the rules to me in both German and English, I explained to him in both German and English, that I understood the rules, and understood him, but that I would like him to understand me – a mother, yes with an Indian passport, who would NOT be separated from her young children, albeit with US passports. At that point “an immovable object”, the might of the East Berlin officialdom, met an “unstoppable force” a Mother! Suddenly “the clouds parted”, and he said something about “Raj Kapoor” and Indian Movie Films, and “did we know Raj Kapoor, and the 1950s blockbuster Bollywood film “Awara”, and my husband very quickly said “Yes, yes, we are big fans, and we understand that Raj Kapoor is very popular in East Germany, Eastern Europe, and in the Soviet Union”. Well at that point our East Berlin visas were quickly stamped, I was processed through the Indian citizen entrance, and then allowed to go with Lina and Vikram through the US citizen’s entrance, while my husband was processed through the Indian citizen’s entrance, and all four of us met on the East Berlin side of Checkpoint Charlie! It was indeed quite an intimidating sight, with watch towers, gun toting armed soldiers, and several feet of barbed wires topping the wall.

Hans, our West German friend, had arranged for his cousin, Johannes to meet us with his car at a particular time, on a particular East Berlin street, that was two blocks away from the official crossing at Check Point Charlie. Because of the obstacles we had encountered at the crossing, it was well past the time we were supposed to rendezvous with Johannes and we did not see anybody on that particular street. The fall-back plan, in the event of a delay, was for us to rendezvous with Johannes at a different street in the opposite direction, as it was not advisable for Johannes to be seen lingering near the Berlin Wall. As we approached this alternate street, he was to be parked, peering into the open hood of his car and looking sideways for us, as he had been given a description of us- an Indian couple with two children, although we would not see him. We were to walk by without slowing down, then look at a map, talk to each other about some museum we wanted to see, and then walk back. He was to then close the hood, try and start the car, and then get out, and raise the hood. That was the signal for us to quickly get into the car, and we did, and he drove off with us.

At his apartment there were 5 people including his wife, brother and wife, and a close friend. We chatted very casually in German about the weather, the recent ski trip we had taken, the delicious cakes and cookies they had set out, while he wrote several notes to us saying “there are cameras and microphones everywhere in our home, I am on the black list because, while I am engineer, I also do investigative journalism”. We had a very intense and informative discussion,communicating via written notes, shielded from the cameras, while verbally chatting away in German about innocuous topics such as Indian Bollywood movies, sports, food, etc. Each note was immediately burned by Johannes, cupping his hand lighting cigarettes from time to time.

It was soon time for us to leave, and we asked Johannes to drive us to a particular museum, so he would not be observed driving in the vicinity of the Wall. We spent several hours in the museum, bought post cards, knick-knacks, souvenirs, cookies, candies, ate lunch in the café, trying to use up our 100 East German Marks. We strolled on the famous, elegant and beautiful centuries-old “Unter Den Linden Boulevard” and saw several iconic buildings and palaces, many in ruins, and then made our way to the Check Point Charlie crossing point. This return crossing was quite uneventful, we deposited our remaining East German Marks into a “bank box” for which we were given a “receipt” to be used on a future visit within one year. For our re-entry into West Berlin, all four of us we were officially processed together, through the same control gate, and we emerged into the free and welcoming atmosphere of West Berlin, deeply moved and affected by our experiences.

 
 

Vegan and Gluten Free Zwiebel Kuchen (Onion Tart) Serves 4 – 6

(Traditional Zwiebel Kuchen has bacon, bacon fat, cream, and wheat flour pastry crust with lard. Instead of these ingredients I use cashews, tofu, almond milk, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, liquid smoke, and shredded potatoes for the crust)

Ingredients:

• 5 -6 large sweet onions thinly sliced
• 3 cups shredded potatoes
• 1 packet silken tofu (400 g) drained well
• 1 – 1½ cups plain unsweetened almond milk
• ½ cup raw cashews
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1½ tablespoons caraway seeds
• 1½ tablespoons olive oil
• 1½ – 2 tablespoons liquid smoke (a hearty robust flavor)
• 3 teaspoons nutritional yeast
• 1½ teaspoons garlic powder
• 1½ teaspoons cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper (I omit as Bob is allergic to pepper)
• 1½ -2 teaspoons salt to taste
• Olive oil spray

Procedure:

1. Shredded Potato Crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9-10 inch round pyrex baking pan with olive oil spray. Season the shredded potatoes with salt, and press with fingers into the prepared pan. Press the potatoes into the sides and bottom to make a smooth crust. Spray lightly with olive oil spray. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes until the crust is light brown/golden. Remove the baking dish from oven.
2. Onion Filling: Heat the olive oil in a large heavy bottomed pan to high heat, and add the sliced onions, caraway seeds and cumin seeds. Stir often to allow the onions to brown, and then to caramelize. Reduce heat to low medium, stir often to prevent burning, but let the onions caramelize for 10-15 minutes. Add salt to taste.
3. Vegan Cream Sauce: Soak cashews in warm water for about 45 minutes, drain well and grind in a food processor.
4. Drain tofu, and add tofu, milk, garlic, nutritional yeast, vinegar, black pepper, salt to the cashews in the food processor.
5. Grind until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Use spatula to make sure all ingredients are well mixed and creamy.
6. Fill the baked crust with the onion filling.
7. Pour the cream sauce over the onions, use spatula to spread the sauce all around covering the onion filling to the edges of the crust.
8. Bake in 350 degree oven for 35-45 minutes until the topping is light brown/golden. (Bake 5-10 minutes longer if the topping is still white)
9. Remove from oven and set on a cooling rack for 5-10 minutes
10. Slice into 8 pieces and serve hot

Serve with roasted Brussel Sprouts, fresh Grape Tomatoes, and Banana Oat Bars!