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5: CASE STUDY 2: THE CZECH/AUSTRIAN BORDER<br />
along the river fairly far into the woodlands had a much larger amount of<br />
graffiti in it than the structures at the stations. In fact there were few<br />
sections of the walls and the ceiling that did not feature writing by soldiers.<br />
The writing here also had a much wider spread through time with a lot of<br />
much earlier dates. This suggests that the hut in the woodlands were barely<br />
visited by higher ranking staff and therefore were considered more of a<br />
soldiers’ ´free zone´ where they could get away with a less strict behaviour.<br />
It also suggests that writing on the walls was generally not an accepted<br />
practice as there is a relatively small amount of writings on the walls in the<br />
dormitories, which could easily be inspected by higher ranking staff. The<br />
fact that the writing that we do find in the dormitories is of a later date, not<br />
too long before the border guard station was closed down in 1991, suggests<br />
that there was less importance placed on strict behaviour or that defying the<br />
rules had less consequences.<br />
Different sources – different stories<br />
Three pictures emerge of the border guards: the first of soldiers as defenders<br />
and keepers of the socialist ideals, the official line, which becomes clear<br />
from paintings, signs, the “propaganda room”, the orderly soldier that<br />
polishes his shoes; the second image being of border guards as young lads,<br />
the private line. Lads who cannot wait for the end of their two year service,<br />
as seen in the graffiti left behind, who have pictures of naked ladies on the<br />
wall and who, years later, reminisce about their time together on an online<br />
forum. But there is also the more brutal view from other sources, of guards<br />
shooting people trying to escape over the border. I cannot help but feel that<br />
the different images of the border guards clash in my head. On the one<br />
hand you have the brutal stories of border guards dragging people into the<br />
Czechoslovakian side of the border in order to arrest them, as well as<br />
pictures of those they killed and on the other hand you have the images of<br />
young men doing their military service counting down the days until they<br />
can go home, trying to entertain themselves best they can until that day<br />
comes. The different stories that emerge from the different sources do not<br />
match but are all equally valid.<br />
Today the area of the Podyji Park is mostly used for recreational<br />
purposes and to create a ‘utopia’ for animals and vegetation. The landscape<br />
we see today is the result of many different phases of history. Today a lot of<br />
emphasis is put on remembering the days of the area as part of Vranov<br />
Castle Park. The monuments from this part of the history has been restored,<br />
renovated and given a new lease of life. What material that has survived<br />
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