Freedom and the Berlin Wall

“Two thousand years ago the proudest boast was civis Romanus sum [I am a Roman citizen]. Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’… All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words ‘Ich bin ein Berliner!’”

—– John F. Kennedy, June 26, 1963, West Berlin

They’re staring all night and they’re staring all day
I had no reason to be here at all
And now I’ve gotta reason it’s no real reason
And I’m waiting
The Berlin Wall
—– Holiday in the Sun, Sex Pistols

November 9th marked the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Watching all the old footage on NBC’s website (was Tom Brokaw ever that young?) it’s important to remember how different life was for so many during the Cold War. The political, economic and cultural chasm that existed in Europe is hard to wrap our brains around today. I recently heard an interview with writer Malcolm Gladwell where he spoke about today’s difference in European and American infrastructure. He said that he had been in the dazzling, new train station in Berlin and in the somewhat bleaker Penn Station recently, and it was hard to believe by looking at the two, that the U.S. had won WWII. For the most part Eastern Europe has made a miraculous recovery considering the scope of the tyranny that dimmed its light for decades.

The odd thing about the day the Berlin Wall came down is that no one knew it was coming down until a few hours before it did. The ability to travel for East Germans was announced as a footnote at a lengthy press conference about reform. Only when an Italian journalist actually asked if East Germans could travel, did we discover that, yes they could leave. It was sort of like, “blah blah blah maybe some small reforms, blah blah, oh yeah, and all that oppression and separation that destroyed countless lives? Yeah, that’s totally over. Okay, goodnight”.

The reaction of the press and the people watching at home was a universal, “Whaaaaa?” Only when the images came on TV of people sitting on top of the wall (which hours prior was punishable by death) drinking champagne, singing, and tearing the wall down with whatever they could find, did it become real. Remember this was in 1989, a few years before the internet and camera phones. Although it was a huge story, it took a few extra hours to reach around the globe and there was only one American station on site.

Even during the Cold War it was difficult for many Americans to understand the total oppression and isolation that existed for millions under communism. Things we take for granted in a democracy like being able to criticize our government while sitting in a crowded restaurant could bring a sentence anywhere from lengthy imprisonment in labor camps to death. The night the Berlin Wall came down was one of those where-were-you-when-you-heard moments; at least it was in my family.

My father was from Albania and while he escaped at the end of WWII, his family didn’t. Albania was one of, if not the most closed country in Europe during the Cold War. The notion of art and culture being created outside of government propaganda simply did not exist. Practicing any form of religion was not allowed. Individuals caught with Bibles, icons, or other religious objects faced long prison sentences.

I grew up never knowing my aunts, uncles, and cousins. One by one my aunts and uncles died from often preventable or curable diseases. In a poor, isolated country most people were not treated for simple diseases, like diabetes. We could write letters to them and they could write back to us, but all mail was opened and searched. Any object we sent (especially money or medicine) was most likely confiscated. We were not allowed to call them but even if we could, hardly anyone in the entire country had a phone. Countless families existed like this for decades; whispered conversations, coded letters and an ever present, shadowy, mysterious peril hanging over even the happiest of days.

The fall of the Berlin Wall is one of the ultimate global shifts. On the list of positive political changes in the 20th century, in my opinion, it’s near, if not at, the top. It didn’t take an act of war to free Eastern Europe. It was a slow whittling away, by many individuals over time that won the peoples independence. That is what still gives me chills as I watch Berliners (East and West) chip away and finally push over the Berlin Wall on that historic night. Ordinary individuals, often without awareness of each other, acting with courage, purpose and integrity inspired and created a revolution.

Sources:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33733937/ns/world_news-fall_of_the_berlin_wall_20_years_later/