But then Halle’s allotments came to the rescue. Like millions of others, Mr Diaby’s future was uncertain. But then the Berlin Wall fell and the secure if not often monotonous world of communist East Germany suddenly fell apart. Mr Diaby studied chemistry and remained active in student politics as head of the International Student Committee. It was in Halle that he met his future German wife, Ute, who was studying agriculture. It was Martin Luther King who brought me to Halle,” he admits with a smile. “I wanted to go study at a university I thought was named after one of my heroes.
