Russian magazine
Russenmagazin (from Russian : магазин = shop, shop) was the slang term in the GDR for sales facilities of the group of the Soviet armed forces in Germany , which were intended for their army members and their families. These stores of the military trading company "Wojentorg" were mostly located in larger garrison towns near the barracks and were also accessible to GDR citizens, who were not preferred as customers, but were tolerated and food and consumer goods, often Soviet-made , for GDR -Mark could buy.
These shops were popular with young people because they sold tobacco and alcohol to anyone without asking. Until the mid-1980s, Soviet sales staff there often added the stschjoty, a Russian version of the abacus for everyday use.
In addition to the “Wojentorg” stores, there were also the “Speztorg” stores of the HO specialty trade, occupied by German saleswomen, near the Soviet barracks . Since 1987 the specialist trade has been operating under the name VEB Spezialhandel Taucha .
Modern saga
The “Russenmagazin” was also the scene of a modern legend widespread in the GDR . A GDR couple should have bought a large, hand-knotted carpet (an item that was almost never available on the market) in such a shop for little money. It was only at home, when the carpet was rolled out, that it noticed that there was a huge portrait of Lenin in the middle .
swell
- ^ Rolf Wilhelm Brednich : The chicken with a leg in plaster , Munich: Beck 1993, ISBN 3-406-37391-7 . Story No. 124: The Surprise Carpet .
- ↑ The Chicken with a Leg in Plaster of Paris, Latest Legendary Stories from Today . CH Beck, 2000, ISBN 978-3-406-45987-0 ( google.de [accessed on January 20, 2018]).
See also
- PX Store (American Army equivalent)