People Power
Your Stories: Submitted Stories


What's the first thing you would buy?

I spent some time in 1995 with a family outside of Spandau whose back yard "fence" had been The Wall. The father told me he had heard something on the news on Nov. 10, 1989 about loosened restrictions for leaving East Germany, but he didn't think too much about it. In the morning, as he listened to the radio while shaving, he was amazed to hear that thousands of people had crossed the border during the night. He went to work, but his boss told him, "Everybody else is driving over to West Berlin; take your family over and check it out." So he rounded up his wife and 3 daughters and drove across. They picked up their 100 DM "greeting money" and went to the department and grocery stores. The very first thing they bought was bananas. They'd never eaten a banana before.

Brooks
Rexburg, ID

Lithuania's New Constitution

In May of 1992, I was among the American lawyers to participate in the first World Congress of Lithuanian Lawyers, held in Vilnius, Lithuania. It was a group of lawyers of Lithuanian heritage from around the world. Our goal was to introduce some of the concepts from western legal systems to native Lithuanian lawyers who had grown up and been educated under the communist system.

The task was monumental, as the communist system did not recognize private property, and other than criminal law, a main function of law is to determine ownership of property. The tasks facing a new country without western legal traditions are tremendous.

At that time Lithuanians were debating their proposed new constitution. One key issue was the creation of an "ethics" section, which prevented public officials from using their positions for private gain. This issue was of critical importance, since the government was in charge of "privatization" (returning property from the state to private citizens).

I was lucky enough to spend sometime with the chairman of their Parliament's committe on Legal Systems, and provided input into certain aspects of the constitution. It was an exciting experience, feeling somewhat like Thomas Jefferson or James Madison must have felt in 1776.

It was humbling to consider all the things that go into creating the glue that holds a society together.

Dave
Lemont, IL

"Fleeing the Republic" and Forced Adoption

I was in the U.S. Army stationed in Berlin from '75-78 as a translator. I moonlighted for extra money as a bartender and through that means became acquainted with Reinhardt. He was from East Berlin and had tried one night to row to freedom in Denmark with a friend in a small boat launched across the Bering Sea. They were caught by border guards (like Coast Guard) who patrol the north sea. He was convicted of "Fleeing the Republic", a major crime. He went to a prison for political and sex offenders in Dresden; his child was taken from his wife (who had never tried to leave the country) - and that child was put up for forced adoption. Forced adoption was a government policy in which the children of people considered to be traitors to the State (usually people trying to flee to the west) were taken from their parents and put in foster parentage with families of "reliable" political beliefs. Eventually he was released to the west - without his wife or child - and that is where I met him. I often wonder if and how these now-grown-up children and their estranged parents have been able to reunite in what was formerly East Germany. My heart went out to Reinhardt and his family; their fate was not unique. The newsmagazine Der Spiegel had a feature article on forced adoption in the late 70s or early 80s. I was shocked that the government could tear his family apart on this grounds but he took it with resignation; it was the reality he was used to.

Deborah
San Francisco, CA

My Russian Son

In 1996 my family became a host family for a 15 year old Russian boy in an exchange program. We thought this would be so interesting and that this boy would be like us because Russians were now "free." Thinking back on our naieviety, I shake my head. It was a fascinating lesson on the fall of Communism from a child's viewpoint. The way Communist philosophy shaped his behavior and thinking was fascinating and at times frustrating. To hear his stories of family life, school, and the immense change in his world was unbelievable. His love of freedom and family was inspiring. To watch him grow into a person who was capable of making independent decisions and choices gave me real hope for our world's future. Bringing together young people who at one point in history were enemies, through programs such as AFS, really does make the world smaller and real. Thank you for your show , People Power. It helped give us an even greater appreciation of the change in Russia and the strength of the human spirit.

Jane
Mayville, WI

In 1989, when I was still very young, I remember the Polish strugle to end Communism. My dad and I were driving on a public bus to my grandmother. We lived in the capital of Poland, Warsaw. On the way to my grandma's you had to pass a place caled Plac Dzirzynskieg. It was early in the afternoon... A large group of people gathered by the statue of Lenin. My dad told me that we'll be getting off the bus right then and there. Just as we got out a helicopter flew over us and dropped some ropes. A couple of men grabbed the the ropes and tied them around Lenin's head. The whole crowd begun cheering, some were crying. The helicopter took off taking Lenin's statue with; when it got pretty high up in the air the pilot cut the rope and the "great Lenin" splattered on the ground. Nobody picked up his pieces. My dad said that this was a great day for Poles, and should be remembered. We got on another bus and rode on...

Jacob
Des Plaines, IL

After the Winds of Change - Justice?

I visited eastern Germany a year after reunification. I stayed with a friend of a friend in the border town of Schwedt for about a week. This guy lived in a public housing hi-rise. I noticed the flimsy plywood doors on his apartment and asked him if he were ever afraid of theft. He said that there was no petty crime in the DDR police state and that most of the people had the same old stuff that made stealing it irrelevant.

As for the Party, to this day I still can't believe that the ex-communists can still run for office in Germany. Every last one of them should be brought to bear for their crimes! They were no different than the Nazis - tyrants are tyrants.

Michael
Waukegan, IL

A US Soldier Remembers The Night The Berlin Wall Fell

I was on temporary duty as a US Army interrogator screening East German refugees in Berlin when the Wall came down. I remember when I first heard about the opening when my commander told me what he'd heard. I turned on the TV and there was the report. I took the U-Bahn right down to Invalieden Strasse and walked to the Brandenburg Gate where there were already thousands and more coming. From there I walked the mile to Check Point Charley, where thousands more were waiting in the West. This was about 9:30-10:00 PM. By shortly before midnight there must have been 50,000 or more people crammed into the small stretch of Friedrich Strasse on our side, and perhaps a thousand Westerners-Brits, Americans, Germans, Canadians French, etc..., occupying the small courtyard and road leading to the East German checkpoint. I remember the East German Major well, as he repeatedly and politely asked us to return to the West to make way for people to leave, and we just laughed and gave him the Rasberry. We were actually sitting on the East German checkpoint buildings! All hell broke loose when they finally let the Easterners go. A small cafe right by the checkpoint was drunk dry in fifteen minutes! After that I quickly ran back the Brandenburg Gate, and stood next to the platform where Tom Brokaw was broadcasting live and heard him tell New York to forget showing the Kennedy Wall clip and to show what was happening live, for history. This was the famous charge and occupation of the ringwall at the Gate. I got a chip of the Wall hacked off by the long haired man wielding the pickax in all those pictures. All in all, the best damn party I ever attended.

Thomas
Sauk Rapids, MN

I Am Free!

My name is Elke and I am 24 years old. I grew up in East Germany and I experienced the fall of the Berlin Wall firsthand. Growing up in the East and being so close to the West was harder than most people here in the U.S. can ever imagine. Our lives were grey and hopeless. I always dreamed about seeing places like Paris or New York, but at the same time I had to realize that it would always be a dream. We all knew that getting out was impossible and that every attempt to do so would cost us our lives. Our own fellow countrymen in uniforms would not hesitate to kill every one who tried to cross the border. As a child, looking out of my grandmother's kitchen window, I could see the West and longed desperately to go there, where the people looked happy and content. I will always be eternally grateful to Mr. Gorbachev, whose reforms were the reason for my freedom. After graduating high school I was able to go to the West and then later move to the U.S. I love my freedom. Thank you Gorby!

Elke
Cypress, CA

The Sound of the Cold War Thawing

The sound of the COLD WAR thawing came late one evening when I tried...?to tune in Radio Moscow and it was not there. There was rock music and a very energetic discjockey named "Vaseally Stronokov" playing Dancing Queen by ABBA -- for a listener in, I think, Estonia. He would ocassionally lapse into very bad Russian to speak to someone in the background. He then began to forget his places and times on his songs. Then "Mr. Adamov" came on the radio in Veseally's place with the disturbing news that it was over. What was over was the Soviet Union. Just like that, over. Radio Moscow went off the air after a day and a night of absolute confusion. The FAX to one of the republics, I believe Tashkent, was read over the open air on the international circuit. They cut them lose like they were nothing. I will never forget that day. It was and still is crazy times.

DeeJay
Woodbridge, VA

Cigarettes. A pack was worth about a days wage on the black market

The world east of the iron curtain was one spooky place. Between 1980 and 1983 I had occasion to visit a number of those countries and it was always like Alice Through the Looking Glass. In West Berlin on business I was facinated to see Soviet troops patroling. They had access to our troops PX system and we theirs in the East. In Romania I visited the real Dracula castle. The hotel took Visa but only had three carbon copy forms. The clerk ruined [those] before I showed him how to do it. I tipped a Kent.

David
Downers Grove, IL




About the Series | Episodes | Timeline | Your Stories | Thematic Overview | Teacher's Guide

People's Century | WGBH | PBS Online | Feedback | Shop | ©