It was a gray rainy Monday in Berlin, yet the sun was shining for those in Europe who are celebrating the fall of the iron curtain. Twenty years ago from that day, it would have seemed surreal to the east Germans who could suddenly simply walk across a border without fear of being shot. People simply walked through. “I just wanted to set foot on your side,” one man said. “Can I cross over there and visit my parents?” a woman asked. The east German police could only say, “go ahead.” There would be no criminal penalties. Before long, people climbed the wall and started chiseling away. “The wall has to go,” they cried, “Sie ist zu Ende.”
The full essay is at "Twenty Years after the Berlin Wall Fell."
