East_West: 20 years ago

[James48843]

In honor of the fall of the divide between East and West-

20 years ago today.

Lt. Col. Harald Jaeger could not get orders from higher ups, as thousands lined up at the gate.

So he did what he had too- but instead of opening fire, he ordered his command to open the gate.

The world never looked back- and history was changed forever.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/BerlinWall/man-opened-berlin-wall/Story?id=8880273&page=1

[phil]

I remember the moment well. I was in Berlin in 1980-82 and saw the beginnings of the cracks in the Soviet system, starting in Poland.

What's harder to explain is that many of the former East Germans today have a certain amount of nostalgia for those bygone days. They went from being a showpiece of the eastern bloc to their western neighbors poor cousins overnight.

I think Honecker disappeared to Chile, and a lot of the East German military and civil service was absorbed into the west. What was so strange was the talk of trying some of the former leaders in East Germany for criminal acts. I think they didn't do it in the end. That was probably best.

[James48843]

http://www.vitacola-shop.de/Media/Shop/blechschild_vitacola.jpg

MQwj0EqOQJw

Thank goodness this is gone.

7191

[phil]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101960/

I do miss the Trabi. With over 3 million produced, they can be found in some very odd places around the globe. I also remember buying some really good beer in East Berlin back in 1982. You could find some really great deals at Neues Zentrum in Alexander Platz.
Vita Cola was a little oily, but not too bad. Ich habe es schon getrunken. I also gave my son my old East German flag that I bought when I was there. Nostalgic, isn't it?