Today marks the 20th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall November 9, 1989. This date has marked highs and lows in Germany's history, and the history of the Jewish people. History is a slippery slope, tyrants come and go, walls are built to be torn down, each generation is witness to unspeakable horrors and glimmering triumph. Nobody needs to be schooled on Germany's role in WWII, the resulting Cold War, and reasons for the Berlin Wall's construction, nor does anyone really need a lesson on bigotry with the Jews as scapegoat the world over, down the centuries, or the atrocities of Hitler and his henchmen. Even so, a few reminders of events from world history are provided here, and also, the following excerpts are from the Vancouver Sun's article, Speeches by world leaders on Berlin Wall anniversary.
"Today marks a truly happy moment of the German and the European history. Twenty years ago the door to freedom opened up and a seemingly invincible wall that divided a people and an entire continent suddenly became permeable.
... Let's use the gift of freedom . . . it is in our hands to overcome the borders." -Angela Merkel, German Chancellor
"Today we don't have the USSR and the GDR on the political map of the world... Today in Berlin I want to say that the confrontation is in the past. Today we want to build a different, new, better world." -Dmitry Medvedev, Russian President
"I pledge here today that Britain will always be at the heart of Europe - we will never give succour to extremism which would drive people apart." - Gordon Brown, British Prime Minister
"This anniversary is a reminder that human destiny will be what we make of it. Even in the face of tyranny people insisted that the world could change. Human destiny is what human beings make up." -Barack Obama, U.S. President
Dates culled from various sources as This Day in History, Wikipedia, Jews in History.
694 - Espania Visigoth King Egica accuses Jews of aiding Moslems; Jews sentenced into slavery.
1526 - Jews expelled from Pressburg, Hungary by Maira of Hapsburg.
1720 - Rabbi Yehuda Hasid synagogue set afire by Arab creditors; Ashkenazi Jews expelled from Jerusalem.
1862 – Ulysses S. Grant issues order to bar Jews from serving under him.
1918 – Kaiser Wilheml II abdicates after German defeat in WWI; Republic of Germany proclaimed in November Revolution.
1921 - Albert Einstein is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work with the photoelectric effect.
1923 – Beer Hall Putsch; Nazis fail to overthrow Weimar Republic government; Hitler flees.
1925 – Hitler orders formation of Schutzstaffel / SS.
1938 – Kristallnacht/ Crystal Night; Nazis burn and loot Jewish storms, homes, and temples.
1944 – Deportation of Budapest Jews resumed.
1944 - Otto Hahn awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry; fails to share award with Austrian Jew Lise Meitner.
1989 - Fall of the Berlin Wall.
2006 - Opening ceremonies for Munich’s new Jewish Center and synagogue.
2009 - Old Hebrew Bible, looted by Nazis, is returned to Vienna's Jewish community in NYC ceremony.
2009 - Kristallnacht Remembrance.
2009 - Fall of Berlin Wall 20th Anniversary
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