In the fine June weather, along the chain of lakes bordering their city, hundreds of East Berliners stripped to essentials and relaxed in the sun. They were not to remain undisturbed for long. Out of the blue appeared a steamer with huge loudspeakers mounted on its decks; it began cruising slowly off the beaches, barking Red propaganda at the sunbathers.
"Of course it's nice," wrote the Communist Neues Deutschland, explaining the purpose of the new Aufklärungsdampfer (enlightenment steamer), "to lie in the broiling sun and let the mind wander [but] amid the joy over peace it is all too easy to forget...
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