(Commentary by John Rodden, professor emeritus) If you want to impress an acquaintance from western Germany with your German language ability – and frighten an elderly eastern German – try out this mouthful: Stacheldrahtsonntag. Yes, that’s one of those typical seemingly endless multisyllabic German words. But it’s a lot more than that. Translation: “Barbed Wire Sunday.” Most Germans know what it means – and every German over the age of 65 cannot forget the day it happened – and where he was and what she was doing.