"DDR customs ... past revisited" Helmstedt by nighthawk

I was but a youngster when we, my friend and her parents, had to cross this border in order to get to West Berlin.
I was cautioned and told to behave but when I was called in into the customs office I forgot to put out my cigarette.
My friend signed at me to get rid of it but I, Dutch to the bone, just decided to refuse the signals.
The officers probably had a good day for they decided to ignore the fact I still got a cigarette burning and payed little attention to me.

Later on I learned the DDR officers of that time sure were not the kind of people to have fun with for we later on got tickets for not blinking....as if they got nothing better to do!

We saw little of the actually village because our driver was quite impressed by the fact that we were in DDR country....when we drove the highway he expected DDR police behind every bush along the road and I can tell you! we sure were sitting quiet in the back ....quite a task for two young girls of 18 years old!