Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2014 3:22 pm
Post subject: Fall of the Berlin Wall
9 November 1989 is the day I will never forget.
When I was a child, in Poland, under Yalta deal and its silent violence, when later I was in France, making horrible paperwork every year to get visa for my Mom and Dad visiting us, I would never ever imagine that a peaceful process may get rid of the horror and help to reunify Europe.
25th anniversary deserves all its candles, in memory of Leipzig' people lighting candles, those peaceful revolution reunifying a country. Hats off to Gorbatchev too. From Solidarnosc to Berlin Wall.
Elzbieta
rsowa PO Top Contributor
Joined: 09 Nov 2013 Replies: 177 Location: Dundee, Michigan, USA
Elzbieta...well said. I can only imagine what life was like for those living under those conditions.
I watched the events at that time with a lot of trepidation. I assumed that Soviet forces would show up any day, and put a stop to it all. Thankfully, it never happened.
While a lot of events happened at nearly the same time in many countries, I have to give a lot of credit to Lech Wałęsa, who had been working tirelessly for decades in Poland for much of what eventually spread across the rest of Soviet dominated Europe. While he wasn't the only one responsible, I think his efforts played a significant role in what eventually happened in Germany. That day in Germany is the most visible reminder of the sacrifices so many people made for freedom.
I pray that our children (and grandchildren) will eventually understand it all. That's why I do genealogy...to try and pass on those lessons to my descendants.
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