Do you remember the “night the world changed forever”? That’s what they say about November 9, 1989, when the Berlin Wall fell 25 years ago, and brought together one-time enemies to change the course of modern history. But what happened on August 13, 1961, a date that caused decades of suffering and untold tragedy to come for all Germans in the East and West alike?
As we gear up to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Fall of Wall, we must consider the why and wherefore of its construction in the first place. Leading up to October 9 and November 9, let us honor those who lost their lives in their fight for freedom from an oppressive regime in East Germany.
Join us in the screening of The Wall – A World Divided by Executive Producer and Houstonian John Hesse on Thursday, August 21, 2014, at 6:30 p.m. in the Parish Hall of Christ the King Lutheran Church, 2353 Rice Boulevard, Houston, TX 77005. More details follow below.
For the young among us who never knew first-hand what happened, for those of us who were preoccupied with being teenagers or young adults who did not pay attention to politics, and for those who bitterly felt the effects of serious, deadly, political ping-pong, let us remember what occurred back then.
The Wall was the most potent symbol of communist oppression, one that brought violence and tragedy to a people divided for 28 years – families torn apart, brother separated from brother, parents from children, many to never see each other again in their lifetime. Later, Germans shooting at Germans . . . people dying, the wall left a deadly legacy.
“Nobody has any intention of building a wall,” said Walter Ulbricht, the leader of East Germany, and promptly built a wall when the people of Berlin were on vacation in the middle of August that fateful year.
Do you remember the standoff between American tanks and Russian border guards at Check Point Charlie later in the year the wall was built? Tense moments when everyone thought World War III was showing its specter? Do you know about the tunnels built by families in desperation of being reunited? How many thousands of families were never reunited, because deaths of family members mooted the effort? We all need to remember what happened.
Shortly before the end, the Berlin Wall was not a simple divider, but a military system separating East Berlin from West Berlin. Part of it was 96 mile-long, 12-foot concrete wall, adjoined by an 8-foot wired fence that, once climbed, set off a piercing alarm and sirens, with watch towers manned by heavily-armed soldiers who were instructed to shoot regardless of the consequences. Then followed a death strip covered in carefully raked sand to show foot prints and filled with trip wires. Bloodhounds supported the efforts of the soldiers.
East Germany had become a state where a teenager was hounded and prevented from University studies by the Secret Police for having a poster of Woodstock on his wall. The tragic examples of a corrupt, failing state are innumerable. Do check out our post from three years ago, when it had been 50 years that the wall was built, including some poignant comments by people who were cut off in the East.
Two American Presidents visited a Berlin divided. In June of 1963, President John F. Kennedy made world history in his speech at the Rudolph-Wilde-Platz in Berlin when he declared “Ich bin ein Berliner”, demonstrating his solidarity with the Germans on both sides of the wall. Click here for a video clip. Two decades later, during his speech at the Brandenburg Gate in 1987, President Ronald Reagan demanded of the Russians, “Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate . . . Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” Watch President Reagan here.
In the end, the proudest legacy the German people have in modern history is that the most hated, fearful, deadly wall and the regime that built it and dominated half of Germany, was not brought down by Mikhail Gorbachev or by President Reagan, but by the German people themselves, the East Germans who put their shoulders together and broke the hateful bonds of socialism and communism.
Let us remember, lest we forget. As we consider world politics today, especially in the Ukraine, we can only wonder whether we are again facing another Cold War, fueled by a desire to fulfill and continue Peter the Great’s geopolitical aspirations, his vision and desire to build an important nation, an empire without equal.
The Russians were an important ally in defeating Napoleon in the devastating Battle of the Nations in Leipzig in 1813. They loved Leipzig 200 years ago, they returned to Leipzig for forty years after World War II, and they still love Leipzig. In that light, the current macabre, political joke chills one’s soul: During the 2014 World Cup in Argentina, when Chancellor Merkel met President Putin she said, “The World Cup in 2018 will be in Russia, what Russian city are you considering for the championship game?” He smiled and answered, “Madame Chancellor, we hope it will be in Leipzig.”
We cordially invite you to join us for our Houston-Leipzig at the Movies summer series on Thursday, August 21, 2014, at 6:30 p.m. in the Parish Hall of Christ the King Lutheran Church, when we will show The Wall – A World Divided. Please respond now to angelika@houstonleipzig.org. Registration will begin at 6:15 p.m., the movie at 7:00 p.m. Meeting fees are $10 for members, $ 5 for students, and $15 for nonmembers, regardless of whether you participate in the reception. Ample parking is available on the Rice University parking lot off Greenbriar for $1, credit cards only.
Bring a neighbor, bring a friend and let’s remember what happened when German became divided.
See you on Thursday,
Angelika Schmidt-Lange