The NYTimes has an excellent series of articles commemorating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. I was only seven years old when this happened, but can still remember watching the news reports showing Berliners attacking the wall with sledgehammers as they were sprayed with firehoses. What an amazing moment in history. I’m looking forward to visiting the city, hopefully next month.
Günter Schabowski, a member of the East German Politburo, was designated to announce the new travel regulations at a news conference in the late afternoon. I had no way of filing to the paper from East Berlin, so even before he finished I rushed back to get through Checkpoint Charlie ahead of the mob of newsmen. All through the evening there were reports that people were gathering at checkpoints on both sides. As midnight approached, I was writing away in my room at the Kempinski Hotel in West Berlin when there came a knock on the door. It was Victor Homola, my translator from East Berlin.
“I’m busy, Victor,” I snapped.
“But, Serge…”
“Not now! Not now…”
Wait! Victor was an East German. He was not allowed to cross into the West!
He’d never been to the West! And it was midnight.
“Victor, what on earth are you doing here?”
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you, Serge. The wall is open!”
Related posts:
- Berlin: The Berlin Wall East Side Gallery Along the banks of the River Spree runs a 1.3km long section of the wall that divided East and West Berlin for 28 years. This particular part of the wall, the longest stretch still standing, is now home to the East Side Gallery, which hosts over 100 paintings by artists...
- POTD: The Brezhnev / Honecker kiss on the Berlin Wall This one of the more amusing panels you will see at the Berlin Wall East Side Gallery. It is a reproduction of a Berlin Wall graffiti painting titled “My God, help me to survive this deadly love” that depicts an actual kiss that took place between Soviet Leader Leonid Brezhnev...
- POTD: Checkpoint Charlie Sign This is a copy of the famous sign that once stood at Checkpoint Charlie, a border crossing between East and West Berlin during the Cold War. The checkpoint remained in use until October 1990, when Germany was reunified. Checkpoint Charlie remains a major tourist destination, however, and a replica of...
