The Fall of the Berlin Wall

By   |  November 9, 2009

BerlinWall1Today is the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.  The event has special meaning for me since I was living and working in Berlin when it happened.  I had been there for over a year when The Wall came down, and I stayed for almost a year afterward.

This photo shows a portion of The Wall that stood in front of the Brandenburg Gate.  I was at that exact place many times before November 9, 1989 both on personal time roaming around the city and while escorting official visitors.  In the days and weeks after November 9, I stood on top of The Wall at that location numerous times.  It was somehow significant to be able to do that without the risk of being shot at.

I won’t belabor the historical details of what happened and how it happened.  That’s voluminously documented and readily available to anyone who’s interested.  Beyond all that, the event is personally very important to me because of where I was and what I was doing at the time.

Because of post-war international arrangements, members of all four Allied powers had free access to all parts of the city.  That meant that American, British, and French soldiers, official civilians, and their documented dependents could cross into East Berlin and travel freely anywhere within the city limits.  Crossing the city limits and thereby entering East Germany, however, would result in being detained and causing an international incident.

Aside from a limited number of crossings into West Berlin by Soviet military personnel, often including a visit to our PX for a little shopping, there was very little official traffic coming into West Berlin from East Berlin. Seems the authorities over there were a bit concerned that the number of crossings into the West would exceed the number of return crossings back into the East.

American, British, and French military personnel and their families were encouraged to cross into East Berlin as often as they wished in order to continually exercise the right to do so.  The only requirement was for military personnel to be in uniform.  The only crossing point we could use was Checkpoint Charlie, and while we had to stop at the East German entry point, they weren’t allowed to prevent us from entering or take our documents.  We went frequently for dinner in the evening (there were actually a couple of good restaurants), for shopping, and for just driving around and seeing things.  The contrast between life on our side of The Wall and life on the other side was striking, to say the least.

BerlinWall2This photo is of the formal ceremony in which the Checkpoint Charlie building was lifted off the street and removed, following speeches by high-ranking dignitaries.  I was an official guest, on the left side of the center aisle in the second row, about three people in from the aisle, standing in front of a French officer wearing a flat-topped kepi.  You could see the back of my head if it hadn’t been covered by a uniform hat. 

I had many opportunities to meet and talk to both officials and average people in the East.  Almost without exception, the average East Berliners I talked to wanted desperately to have the freedom and advantages of living in the West.  Even officials, East German and Soviet, were not happy with their lives compared to what they could see across The Wall.

I was one of those responsible for anticipating something as significant as The Wall coming down.  I can say for certain that none of us saw it coming, although we watched events in the eastern countries as they developed, particularly including the visit of Gorbachev to East Berlin in October 1989 and the comments he made at the time.  Anyone — government official, journalist, or whoever — who says he anticipated the fall of The Wall is taking extreme liberties with the truth.

I’ve always regretted that I was out of town on a business trip the day it happened.  I watched the events unfold on TV in a hotel room in Washington, kicking myself for not being there personally.  I got back on November 11, and in the days that followed I personally hammered many pieces off The Wall.  I went home with a box containing about 30 or 40 pieces, most of which I gave away; the rest I’ll keep forever.  I even scored big points when I was in Saudi Arabia by having a piece of The Wall sent to me and presenting it to my counterpart, who was a Saudi general.

The discussion about what caused the collapse of the Soviet empire, symbolized by the fall of The Wall in Berlin, will go on for a long time.  Leftists will forever deny that Ronald Reagan had any significant part in it, giving most or all of the credit to Mikhail Gorbachev.  Those on the right will claim the major credit for Reagan, acknowledging the contributions of Gorbachev.  Personally, I don’t much care.  The important fact is that ugly barrier between freedom and totalitarianism collapsed, and most of the world is better off as a result.

(This article was also published at Opinion Forum.)

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