English: This is one of several items I received in trade from Soviet soldiers. I worked the Berlin Duty train for 6 months somewhere between 1981-1984 while stationed at Andrews Barracks as a US Army MP in West Berlin. The duty involved security of the duty train travelling daily back and forth through East Germany (GDR) between West Berlin and Frankfurt, West Germany. The train stopped daily at the Soviet Marienborn Checkpoint as it was leaving the GDR to cross the border to Helmstedt, West Germany. It was this point that the train commander (usually a Lt from Transportation) got off and took all the travel documents into the Soviet checkpoint. It was for this brief 15 minutes that the Soviet soldiers standing guard on the train platform would approach the train and we would trade. I traded for belts, hats, boots, uniforms, and insignia. Some of the items I traded them were; Jack Daniels, Playboy/Penthouse magazines, and Zippo lighters. It was not uncommon to pull up to the bahnhof and have a Soviet soldier open his jacket and have 3-4 belts strapped around his chest for trade. The British and French duty trains also came through this checkpoint.