Why eastern Germany still feels for Russia

A preserved part of the border between Thuringia and Bavaria, close to the old border between East and West Germany, near the village of Modlareuth, Germany. — Laetitia Vancon/The New York Times

WHEN Judith Enders was a young girl in the dying days of the old East Germany, she would walk her dog in the forest, where she would often encounter young Soviet soldiers fishing at the local lake.

“We couldn’t really talk and mostly communicated by gesturing, but we clearly liked each other,” Enders said, recounting how the soldiers – who were occupying her country – shared their catch with her dog and gave her little chocolates, whose wrapper featured the iconic Russian bear Mishka.