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And we all had to line up opposite from where the big wigs stood and my unit and obviously

I was in the first also so I happened to be positioned directly opposite the grand stunt

I remember actually you know like like absolutely directly opposite me was Egon

Keynes this is Cold War Conversations absolutely directly opposite me was Egonnez.

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In this episode, we welcome back Torsten, Belgium, a former East German army officer.

Torsten was part of the 40th anniversary parade of the GDR, which unknown to him at the time would be its last. He tells of the training

for the parade and he's meeting with Yasser Arafat, the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Torsten also shares how he heard about the unrest sweeping the country and his introduction to

anti-riot training. The episode ends with Torsten telling us about his gradual

realization that the country he had known his whole life was falling apart. Before we start, I'd like

to thank all our Patrions who donate monthly to support the podcast further and get access

to some exclusive extras.

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