fall of the berlin wall Essay

Submitted By msdebbie45
Words: 440
Pages: 2

What a Time to Be a Part of History
By
Debbie A. Horn
Rasmussen College

What a Time to Be a Part of History I would have loved to have been in Berlin to witness the coming down of Wall. I had the privilege to have lived in Berlin for three years as my father was in the Army. We were there during the time the American hostages were taken. By the time we left Berlin the hostages were still not free. We lived one mile from the wall so I was able to walk up the street and look over into the East. My mother and father would travel to the east to shop but I was never allowed to go because there was always fear that I would not be allowed to cross back over to the west. I remember feeling sad for the people in the east because the wall was a barrier and many people died trying to escape but were never successful as they were shot to death. The wall was patrolled twenty-four hours a day. The fall of the wall, a life changing event that meant the people of Berlin could now be a whole city. The Berlin Wall came down November 9, 1989. It had been standing since 1961. The wall was built to separate the East and West of the city to stop East Germans escaping to the West. West Berlin was under a capitalist government and the East was ruled by the Communist Party. The fall of the wall was significant because it signified the end of the Cold War. The wall sent a bad message because it represented that Europe was divided and the representation meant disadvantages to