1998
The 2nd World War is over - the 1000 year old empire disintegrates after 12 years. On 8 May 1945 the world celebrates Germany's unconditional surrender. After breathing a sigh of relief about peace, a new struggle for survival follows. Hardly anyone can imagine today the indescribable misery, the extent of human suffering in the immediate post-war period. "The German", it was said, "does not hope. He starves and freezes. In the chaos of these years people think only of heating and food, of coal and potatoes. The food card becomes the most important document, but it only secures starvation rations. The black market becomes the dominant phenomenon of that time. It becomes clear that the Germans in East and West did not lose the same war. Currency reform and a social market economy are introduced in the West; the communist Soviet model is imposed in the East.