OH+Questions+and+Responses

Topic: The fall of the Berlin Wall Interview Subject: Tadeusz Gluszczuk (my Grandfather) Questions and answers (translated from Polish): 1. Why was the Berlin Wall built up? -After World War II East German citizens were allowed to travel to West Berlin. Between 1949 and 1961, more than 2.5 million of East German escaped to West Germany including West Berlin. People were escaping to Western Europe because life was much better there and they could have freedom. Traveling to West Germany became more difficult after the border between East and West Germany was closed in the beginning of the 1950s. It became more difficult and dangerous to escape to the West Germany over this border. However, the borders between East and West Berlin were not closed and many people went to East Berlin and then to West Berlin where they stayed until they were able to escape to West Germany. Many well-educated people left East Germany. The East German government decided to built the Berlin Wall to prevent escaping from East Germany to the West via Berlin. The Berlin Wall was built in August 1961.

2. How long did it take to built the Wall? - On August 13, 1961 the East German government closed the last gap in the border to West Berlin and they built the Berlin Wall. At night the army and police built the wall. The wall completely separated the city. It was 3.0 m high. Streets, the city railway, the underground railway were closed. East Germans were not able to travel to the West until 1989. 3. Despite the wall, did people still try to get from East Berlin to West Berlin? -Traveling between sectors of Germany was not allowed without an “inter-zone passport”. This passport was valid for short time only. People had to apply for a new passport but many times their application was rejected so they could not travel to the West. After the Berlin Wall was built, people could escape through the border, but it was becoming more and more dangerous. People tried to climb over the Wall or the fences. They even jumped out of the buildings which were in the area. They built tunnels to escape. Some of them were shot by German border guards.

4. Do you know how many people were killed while attempting to escape to the West Berlin? - I don't know the exact number but I read an article saying that about 200 people were killed or died attempting to escape at the Berlin Wall.

5. What happened that the Wall was torn down? - People in Eastern Europe were not happy with the changes after World War II. In many countries people tried to end the Communism. People rose up against the communist governments but they failed. There were uprisings against the communist government in Budapest, Hungary in 1956, in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1968, and in Gdansk, Poland in 1971. Finally, in 1981 the changes began in Poland. There was strike in Gdansk in Poland and Lech Walesa and his co-workers founded the first free labor union. At the beginning of the 1980s Michail Gorbatchow initiated reforms in the Soviet Union. Polish Pope John Paul II and the United States President Ronald Regan strongly supported changes in Eastern Europe. After World War II, the first free election was held in Poland on June 4, 1989. Solidarity won a huge majority of the votes, including 96 of 100 Senate seats. The first non-communist prime minister was elected in August 1989. His name was Tadeusz Mazowiecki. Changes in Poland initiated changes in other Eastern European countries. In August 1989 Hungary opened the iron curtain to Austria. East German were able to escape to Western Europe through Hungary and Austria. You need to realize that they were able to travel only to Eastern Europe not to the Western. In October 1989 mass demonstrations in East Germany forced East German President Eric Honecker to resign. Finally, in November the Berlin Wall was opened.

5. Do you know how people felt about it? - About 5 million people came to Berlin to celebrate the end of the Wall. The Fall of the Berlin wall is a symbol of the end of the Cold War, the end of Communism, and the reunification of Germany. Pink Floyd had a concert in Berlin. They played "The Wall". It had a lot of meanings because at the end of the concert the wall fell, like the Berlin Wall. I remember your mom and aunts watched it on TV! It was transmitted on TV in all Europe.

6. Did people try to take pieces of the wall? -Many people did try to get pieces of the wall. Bigger pieces of the wall are now in museums. The Wall was completely removed and there are only a few parts that can be still found.

7. You told me that you were on a business trip in Berlin in November 1989, right? - Yes, I was. People were celebrating everywhere. Everything was out of control. People were blowing horns. There were fireworks, kites, and flags. The wall was finally breaking and then it was down. 8. Do you have any Berlin Wall artifacts? -When I was in Berlin in 1989, me and my colleagues got bronze sculptures of the broken Berlin Wall.

9. What happened after the Fall of Berlin Wall? - A lot of changes has happened in Europe in the last 20 years. East and West Germany were reunited. The European Union was created in 1993. Poland and some other Easter European countries joined the European Union in 2004. Europe is right now almost like the United States of America but instead of states there are countries.

10. Thank you Grandpa for this interview. I learned a lot from you. - Your welcome.