Klein, George F.

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]VIANUSCRIPTS 39A Strange FriendshipGeorge F. KleinAN experience I shall never. forget came about at an insigni ficant.·spot on the German and Soviet Zone of The Austrian border.commonly called "The Iron Curtain" or "The EasternmostOutpost of Democracy."During a four-year tour of Europe with the United States Army,my unit was assigned the mission of border patrol-a routine duty,twenty-four hours a day, of patrol and observation of "The IronCurtain" and surveillance of Russian troop activity. It was duringa patrol that I met Ivan, a Russian officer of rank equivalent to mine.The Russians had previously ignored us, although at times theirofficers were fairly congenial to American officers in saluting andin passing small talk back and forth. But Ivan, a new replacement,was strictly a nonconformer.The first day that I met I van I casually greeted him in the Germanlanguage, sensing he would understand me. Ivan, standing on hisside of the border at poker-rod attention, said nothing but glared,expressing deep hatred. This action on his part was rather rude, andI quickly vowed to make him change his nasty habit. Although Ivanhad been saturated with the Communist doctrine of extreme hatredfor "Capitalists" and their representatives, I was determined to breakthis hard shell and find a streak of hidden humanity that I was sureI van still possessed. I later conceded that this vow was to be a com-plicated task.For many days I made frequent trips to Ivan's location, trying tofind a possible solution for my task. My first attempts at friendshipwere futile. I offered him cigarettes, candy, and food but receivednothing but refusals in the form of blank stares. I finally gave up thismethod of changing his attitude and turned in search of other possi-bilities.The men in my unit, sensing my situation, began making commentsabout Ivan's actions and habits in their daily observation reports. Itwas my responsibility to secure all reports for items requiringimmediate action and then forward them to higher headquarters. Ialso had the opportunity to study Ivan without being so obvious.Report after report contained almost all of his actions in very de-scriptive form only to reveal him as a staunch military puppet of theCommunist regime. I-Ie was there for one purpose: to command thefanatical and mechanical soldiers uncler him with an iron hand untilthey were to be unleashed upon the free worlel. Although the reports40 MANUSCRIPTS/were discouraging, I discovered from a slight hint in one that I van hadacquired and become quite fond of a small puppy. This discoverywas to be the key to success. I decided that I should entice the pupover to our side, revealing to Ivan how kind an American could beto animals or humans.Selecting a choice piece of meat from our mess I proceededdirectly to Ivan's location. Upon arrival I found Ivan near thecrossing point and playing with his pup. I threw a small piece ofmeat across the dividing stream, hoping the pup was hungry enoughto eat it. IVIyidea began to work. The pup ate it and was waiting formore. I tossed the remaining portion at my feet, and the pup, with-out hesitation, plunged into the stream and was immediately on myside gulping the meat down. The Russian sentries near by wereastonished to see me feed such a large piece of meat to a mere dog,for their rations were very meager. My generosity was hard forthem to understand, ancl, as I had hoped, they began to realize thatwe were not the type of people they had been led to believe we were.Their rigid training was broken.I continued to return each day with a meal for the pup. Russiansand the pup were waiting each day to see what tasty morsel the pupwould receive. One day as I was feeding the little mongrel I suddenlyglanced at Ivan and caught him smiling. Being caught off guard,Ivan suddenly blushed like a child caught with his hand in a cookie jar.Ivan and I became strange friends from that momentous day on.Each time I visited the area we would each stand on our own sidesof the demarcation and exchange a few 'words about the weather orsomething unimportant and very often take turns tormenting andplaying with the pup. The pup, having a grand time, could not possiblyhave realized, as he ran back and forth between slavery and freedom,that he played a great part in world diplomacy. He had very possiblyaccomplished what diplomats have been trying to for the wholeuniverse.A year has passed since I left Europe, and I have often recalledIvan and his pup, feeling that I accomplished the task I had set outto do. Now, I often wish that I had made my task a little moredi fficult by trying to entice Ivan to default and surrencler himselfto the Unitecl States for political asylum. Someday we may meet againunder other circumstances, should Russia decide that the time is ripefor further aggression and murder. However, from my experiencewith Ivan I learned that no one is without the basic human feelingsof kindness and friendliness. No matter how hard they may attemptto mask them they will eventually come forth.*

A Strange Friendship

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A Strange Friendship

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