November 9th, historically and personally

[eretria]

November 9th

1848 - the Revolution fails, Robert Blum is shot


1918 - Abdication of the Emperor Wilhelm II, he seeks refuge in the netherlands. On the very same day, Phillip Scheidemann declares the Republic, later known as Weimar Republic, and the base for a democratic Germany as we know it today.
Two days later, World War 1 ends.


1923 - Hitler's and Ludendorff's putsch fails. The plan was to abuse a demonstration and try to destroy the Weimar republic. The Munich police, however, thwarted the plan and imprisoned Hitler two days after.

1938 - Reichs Pogrom night - more than 200 Jewish synagogues, and thousands of jewish owned houses, flats and shops are devastated by SS, SA and normal people on the streets, people of jewish faith were also tortured and killed by members of the SA that night - more than 30000 were imprisoned, 91 died that night


1939 - an assassination attempt on Hitler fails

1989 - The Berlin walls comes down, after separating Eastern and Western Germany for 28 years.







I was 11 years old back then, but this night, I remember vividly. We didn't go to Berlin that night - my parents were politically active at that time*, being out almost every night and they said they needed some sleep. You have no idea how much we regretted that - and still do- afterwards. However, we went to Berlin the next day. To Western Berlin. I went into a supermarket for the very first time, and looked at shelves which were full of things I had only dreamed of before. Western Berliners were handing out candies to the kids. They were smiling. The happiness in the air was incredible.



* To explain a little more on this: Yes, my parents were politically active, very active in the time before the wall came down. They went to demonstrations, meetings, and, yes, went into danger with their eyes wide open, because back then, no one knew that all of this would end well.
My father was at the biggest demonstration in Berlin - 500.000 people at the Alexanderplatz - and I remember sitting in front of the TV with my mother, who was both cheering the speakers on, and was white-knuckled with worry for my dad, who easily could have been arrested. It's one of the strangest feelings in the world when you know and realise that yes, what your parents are doing is important, but it also means that you might not see one of them again. No one knew if the government wouldn't send military after all.


They didn't.

We had candles in our windows, as a sign of hope. I remember soot on the glass, and the way it felt beneath my fingertips.

I remember standing in a human chain in December, holding a candle. The chain went through Eastern Germany, thousands of people joined in. It was a cold, dreary day. But we didn't care, because we were setting a sign - we wanted change, but peaceful change. With nothing but our own presence and candles in our hands.

17 years ago, the wall fell.

And this morning, I woke up, listened to the news, and realised that it really is that long ago already. And I realise in what a historically and politically turbulent time I grew up. And how much I have seen in my lifetime already. Three different currencies. The fall of communism, the fall of the wall, the fall of the Soviet Union.

Today, I had a seminar on traffic at the University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder), and the building alone is so close to the border that, 17 years ago, you wouldn't even have come near it. I wouldn't have had Polish colleagues and friends the way I have them now. It wouldn't be normal to cross the border for a pizza.
In Frankfurt, both countries share this university, there are Polish and German lectures, and I remember how it was before the wall fell, and how difficult it was to even get to Poland.

But, most of all, I think about how incredibly lucky I am to have witnessed all of this, and to be in a free country now. We all bitch and whine and moan, but I only ever learned freedom after the wall fell. But I also realise now that I would never be able to appreciate that freedom the way I do now, if I hadn't lived behind the iron fence, and wouldn't have known what it means to be mostly confined to your own, small country.

Comments

[quiller77.livejournal.com]

Bravo. Great post -- and a great reminder. Those of us who did not grow up in the shadow of oppression take our freedom for granted too much of the time. We think what we have is normal, when in fact so many people around the world live with some kind of oppression. And some of them die because of it.

Tell your parents thank you very much for having the courage to stand up for what was right.

[eretria.livejournal.com]

Thank you, sweetie.

I find myself taking a lot of things for granted these days as well, so sometimes a reminder that not everything used to be this good helps bring things back into proportion.

Will tell the parents. Mum says Hi, by the way. Sh's plotting your Christmas present with me. ;o)

[quiller77.livejournal.com]

Plotting? You have corrupted your mother! How could you? ;-)

[enname.livejournal.com]

My mother was in Berlin only a few years before they put the wall up. She was still in Europe when they did and remembers being in her bedsit in London and crying. When the wall came down, she herded my brother and I in front of the television and sat there explaining it all to us. It is one of the few things outside of the Tiannamen Square massacre that I remember clearly from that age.

Most of my major in political science was done on East Germany, the fall of the wall and its implications. There is a good reason why most of the travel I have done in Germany is what was the East. The very fact that you lived there is still something that I kinda look at you (and you parents) in awe of. For the very reason that it is hard to remember that there are still people of my generation who remember something that is so often relegated into the 'past' and so far away. So yeah.

*didn't realise that this was the date of Krystalnacht* Oh. Wow. Wish I had a better memory for dates. I did know that it was close to the end of WWI, because we have remembrance day on the date that peace was called. There is another war that tends to be swept under the carpet of 'history'. I heard someone say the other day that it is not as interesting as WWII because the pictures are not in colour. *stare*

Yeah. I won't give you an entire thesis, but thank you for the reminders. We, everyone, should be reminded.

[thegrrrl2002.livejournal.com]

Thank you for sharing this--I can't imagine how it must have felt growing up in that situation. I grew up during the height of the cold war, and everything (and everyone) behind communist walls was mysterious and evil and Not Like Us.

At least, that was the propaganda of the time. I don't think anyone really bought into it. But having viewed all the amazing changes from a distance, I really love hearing personal accounts of a very important time in history. Thank you!

[nimoloth.livejournal.com]

What was the wall for? Why was it built in the first place? Was Germany two separate countries then?

[nimoloth.livejournal.com]

When was it built?

[eretria.livejournal.com]

You honestly don't know?

It was built to seperate Eastern Germany from Western Germany, communism from capitalism. Yes, Germany was two different countries back then, founded after WW2. It was built August 13, 1961. 45 years ago. If you want to have a look, I had a post on it on August 13th.


Just go here (http://www.dailysoft.com/berlinwall/)if you want to know more.

[tinny]

Thanks, sweetie.

I really like your posts about Germany.

[tinny]

I won't give you an entire thesis

Umm... why not?

Do you have it in electronic format? It's been discussed to death here, of course, but I would be interested in the opinion of someone 'from far away' on this topic.

[tinny]

Um... that is, only if you do have something written on it. I only realized after readin it for the third time that "most of your major" doesn't mean you actually wrote a thesis on it. //)

[nimoloth.livejournal.com]

I know as much as it was to separate east from west, something to do with communist and western values, but little more than that. I didn't know it was actually two different countries, and I don't know who built it and who split the country into two countries. I'll go read your link. I never did history past standard grade, so it's not something I was ever taught about. I don't remember specifically when it came down either, although I would have been old enough, about 13.

[nimoloth.livejournal.com]

Was East Germany controlled by Soviet Russia (either openly or behind the scenes)?

So it was one country during WWII, and after, the Allies and the Soviets sort of divvied it up between them in terms of type of government?