The Berlin Wall Anniversary

Sierra Perry,

Reporter

11/10/14

The Berlin Wall also known as Berliner Mauer in German, was created August 13, 1961, and fell November 9, 1989. The wall acted as a barrier between East and West Germany as well as a line between democracy and communism. In East Germany, controlled by the Soviet Union, the factories and other valuable goods were being shipped out and sent to the Soviet Union. This led to many East Germans fleeing toward West Germany where they could have more freedom as citizens and be able to purchase items of greater value than found in East Germany. After losing the majority of the population as well as workers East Germany decided to build a wall.

In the dead of night, it was built and separated the East from the West. Families who went to sleep that night would not see their love ones on the other side for decades. For almost thirty years, the wall stood tall as a reminder of what people lost over the course of one night and the families who lost decades together because of a cause that was not supported by all.

After the fall of the wall, long lost members reunited with their family and embraced the new world that had grown outside the wall and the opportunities that it offered. On November 9, 2014, nations celebrated the anniversary of the fall of the great Berlin Wall.

Now a Tennessean but once a Belarus native, Natalie Manayeva, stated,” The event positively impacted her life and that of other Europeans by allowing them more cultural freedom and democratization.”