Do you remember the fall of the Berlin Wall?

Question

Tommorow is the aniversary of the opening of the Berlin Wall. Can we please remember Peter Fechter aged 18 who bled to death in front of the TV cameras calling for help and his Mother after being shot and left to die on August 17th 1962, by the border guards? I will never forget him. I know he wasn't the only one, but he broke my heart.

Answer 1

Certainly do remember it...began in '89 [constructed in '61 [?]

Fechter's death was widely publicized as it was in full view of the West....so many others lost their lives also during those years trying to escape the East!

RIP

Answer 2

Berlin offers an modern mixture of new and classic structure, active activity, buying, and a wide selection of sports and cultural institutions and if you intend to see it then that hotelbye is the place to start. A number of the things you will see here are: the Old Museum, the National Gallery, the Bode Museum, Old National Gallery or, the symbol of Germany, the Berlin Wall. This wall started his living in 1961 when East Germany covered off the western the main town to stem the flooding of refugees from east to west. By the full time it was torn down in 1989, the 4 meter high wall and 155 kilometres extended, dissected 55 streets, and possessed 293 observation systems and 57 bunkers. Today, just small extends with this graffiti-covered travesty remain, including a 1.4-kilometer stretch maintained as part of the Berlin Wall Memorial, a cooling reminder of the animosity that once divided Europe.

Answer 3

YES. I remember the building of the Wall. Peter Fechter wasn't the only one who died trying to cross over, but he became a symbol. I visited West Berlin six months after the wall was built. There were flowers laid all along the wall, marking places where people had died.

I was born in 1943, so it was my parents' generation which drew up the Convention relating to Refugee Status, the Declaration of Human Rights and founded the United Nations.

I remember the Hungarian Uprising and the Prague Spring and I worked with Vietnamese Boat People in Hong Kong.

No time for a 'broken heart'. I am still working for the persecuted, tortured and imprisoned.

Put away your hankie and do something about it. As they say, every little helps.

Answer 4

I do remember the fall of the wall. I was a freshman in high school--14 or so--in the US. I can remember watching it on the news... People climbing all over it and chipping away at it with whatever they had: their bare hands, shoes, hammers, etc. I can remember feeling the world was different. I can remember not giving the wall much thought until it came down. I was probably too young to contemplate it much prior. As I look back, we watched it here in the US much the same way the world watched our towers fall--except, it was a happy occasion. It's a day that should never be forgotten by anyone, regardless of where you live. The messages sent that day would serve ANYONE well.

Answer 5

I visited Berlin in 1991 after the wall came down. It was
an amazing city. The tour guide showed us Checkpoint Charlie. It had become a tourist attraction. The border guards were gone and all that were left of them were Russian soldiers selling their hats and parts of their uniforms to make the money so they could go back to Russia. People were free to go from one part of the city to the other. There was a feeling of joy and newfound freedom in the city. They were selling pieces of the wall as souvenirs. I have one. So much better than when it was East Berlin.

Answer 6

I remember when the wall went up and went it came down. I remember so many of the publicized escapes and the many deaths. East Germany was was a dismal country. On the other hand I wondered if a reunited Germany is such a good thing. They will probably never go on the march again, but who knows? Now that Europe has so many economical ties the chances of another European war are slim. I wonder how the French feel about it.

Answer 7

Yes I do remember. Many people lost their lives trying to cross to a better life. I remember going through Checkpoint Charlie when there was still an east and west Germany. When we went into East Germany I saw guards walking around with machine guns watching everyone. I can't express how much that made me appreciate the freedoms we have here in the US.

Answer 8

I do remember, and also remember those news reports of people trying to get together with families. I just not could imagine not seeing friends or family members because of a wall. How lucky I have been all my life to live where there are freedoms.
My prayers will be with Peter Fechter, although for some reason I don't remember his story then, I will now.

Answer 9

It wasn't that long ago was it!! OMG!! How time flies !! I remember it like it was yesterday!! I sent away for a Pink Floyd The Wall jacket just after the wall came down!! It was a monumental moment in history!! Do you remember how they started selling bricks on the internet for a small fortune? Everybody wanted a piece of it !! That wall was a death sentence to anybody who tried to cross it !! In honour of Peter we should never forget!!

Answer 10

The day Berlin Wall fell my son was right there. He had gone with his high school golf team to Berlin for a tournament. He was one of the last to ride the freedom train! He brought home a piece of the wall, with all the re-bar sticking out, that was about the size of a bowling ball... which he still has in his home. I was in Munich at the Oktoberfest! lol

Some of the places I couldn't bear to go to over there. They just "feel" terrible, I can't quite describe it. But, you know in your gut that something horrendous happened there!