Free Republic

Silke Gawenda's hometown has its charms -- ramparts and timbered houses from the Middle Ages, and quiet streets lined with linden trees. A little too quiet for the bright 18-year-old, who is counting the days until high school graduation so she can leave Wittstock for college in the more prosperous west -- joining an unprecedented exodus of young women from what used to be communist East Germany. "Wittstock is so dull, I just want to get out of here," said the 18-year-old with a blond ponytail and blue eyes, who wants to study graphic design. "There's no future here for...