berlin 30 years ago witnessing history where were you that night i wasn't in west berlin i was in east berlin looking at it when it came to the crunch. oh i was with a group of people who i had sort of joined up with coming from the each therein lies a story that would have enough time for that and we were heading for the berlin wall to try to become among the 1st people to actually get up on the berlin wall at the brandenburg gate from the eastern side and one of the guys in this group that i'd sort of found myself among said charge and so we all started running towards the wall and there were border police with kalashnikovs in front of her on the breast as it were and we drew we challenged through their ranks and then climbed up onto the wall so you think this is indication of how dangerous it could get in there i mean how you already heard then that it's very it was open. in my instance with a couple of friends i come from the west where i write you so rightly said that that was where i was based at the time i'd come through the invalid insurance or the border crossing into the east

in west berlin a protest march you. was drawing to a close on the car 1st and on boulevard the demonstrators did not want the official shop closing times to be extended. in east berlin the 1st handful of people were beginning to head to the border one was. a photographer who had been secretly documenting events. was that i got the film set he recalled the events of that evening. he comes on and we arrived at 10 mistrusts around 9 in the evening when we were standing behind him a store for what 1015 maybe 20 people we were practically the 1st to arrive and it was a pretty tense situation on the guns underspent as it would soon be is and you can see the border guards were aggressive they realized something was going to have some form of am still so quickly realized that something unusual was about to happen who was behind them they kept shouting and asking whether it was true that we'd be able to travel over to west berlin that night with these german id cards but after all that's what should busking it said on t.v. that'

looks yes good lived on kaiser doc in west berlin. he's often. in funk in them and my father was here when the movies came out when i got home from work coming out of pot meant in the company in the back the full of moving boxes for the belonging to do they have a family that. looks good and a feel good family have been friends for years they went on holiday together in hungary. 4 days later they were planning to see each other again in west. for their son johan of the upcoming. but i'm also a bit scary. don wouldn't know i'm up she planned a good guy policy with taken some sweets at his day. also we couldn't take all of his toys so exhausted the months and told him we could only keep the things that were the most important to him because we told him we'd bring the rest of his toys to his friends a daycare. for the family leaving communist east germany meant that they would leave everything behind their families their friends and their old way of life. the small. oh he thought it wasn't easy. we had many high months thinking we'd never be able to

support for the people in berlin, the people in west berlin. in the late 1940's, the soviet union tried to stamp out west berlin and the u.s. had the berlin airlift and we saved people. it's important to show the solidarity and u.s. support and u.s. support for west german's and german unification was consistent throughout the decades. we were important in helping facilitate their unification. host: you mentioned the berlin airlift. dig into that for a little bit. guest: just to explain to our viewers, the soviets tried to starve out west berlin. they wanted to take over west berlin. to them germany had been divided into two states. we're talking about 1947-1948. you had the presence of american, british and french troops in west berlin. the soviets tried to starve out west berlin. they tried to cut the lines of communication. what the united states did was to begin and airlift. we flew our planes and literally dropped food and other supplies. you can see photos of german children rushing and getting chewing gum and cigarettes, but also food. s

wall itself from east berlin to west berlin. of course these developments coming as the communist leadership, the communist authorities in east berlin have been under tremendous pressure because of the tens of thousands of east germans fleeing their country. as of this evening, they can leave whenever they want and however they want. of course we will have further developments throughout the afternoon and a full report this evening on nbc nightly news from tom brokaw, who himself is in east berlin today. that is the news for now. utley, nbc news, new york. announcer: this has been an nbc news special report. announcer: we interrupt this program for an nbc news special report. here's harrick utley. -- garrick utley. garrick: good afternoon. here's the latest information coming to us from east germany, where short while ago government officials made the very startling announcement that east german citizens will have the right to leave their country to travel directly to west germany or to west berlin. it will no longer be necessar

wall itself from east berlin to west berlin. of course these developments coming as the communist leadership, the communist authorities have been under tremendous pressure because of the tens of thousands of east germans fleeing their country. as of this evening, they can leave whenever they want and however they want. of course we will have further developments throughout the afternoon and a full report this evening on nbc nightly news from tom brokaw, who is in east berlin today. that is the news for now. nbc news, new york. >> this has been an nbc news special report. >> we interrupt this program for an nbc news special report. >> good afternoon. here's the latest information coming to us from east germany , where short while ago government officials made the very startling announcement that east german citizens will have the right to leave their country to travel directly to west germany or to west berlin. it will no longer be necessary for east germans leaving their country to travel to other communist nations such as hunga

germany, including east berlin and west berlin. that announcement was made at the news conference which concluded just a few minutes ago in east berlin. of course two points to keep in mind here. first of all, the berlin wall, that wall of concrete and barbed wire and minefields still stands, but as of right now, it appears to be nothing more than a symbol of the old iron curtain because east germans, east berliners will now have the right to leave through the wall directly into west berlin itself. the government announced instead that east germans will have to have visas to go out but that an order was given today to the police authority along the border to issue those visas to anyone who wants to leave and to issue them quickly. so, to wrap up again, the east german government has bowed to the increasing pressure from its own citizenry, the 60 million east germans demanding greater freedom, including freedom to travel. as of right now, they have that right, that freedom to leave their country legally to come to the west. we will

germany and west berlin. shortly after schabowski press conference a west german camera crew was filming in a pub in east berlin where people were drinking a toast to the new regulations. yes people can go all the. way i don't know what to say i used to cry every day now we're all happy it's our it's great what's just happened nobody here was expecting but. they celebrated the unexpected news with beer bubbly and rock'n'roll. the soviet envoy only heard about the new regulation from the television. came as a shock. to come to from cuba hawkish people we hadn't known anything about it on board we were watching television it was disappointing and we were if you like or a bit angry with us books to. me to your attention was rising all the time on. the danger that someone would lose their nerve it was quite high you know been pushed to. the border crossing point upon her national asset. of i didn't have to wait long for people to arrive after i'd been there for our own 20 minutes the 1st came and asked if they we

west berlin was a was a shot from for its system its ideology there was capitalism in the west berlin being shown off in the in the windows of the big boutiques in west berlin in east germany that was the showoff city for. east german communism truth be told both cities were really rather dingy but in a fascinating kind of way i mean what it helped helped everybody to make some good music and that's a good thing but today the united berlin is a better place to stay with us peter because once the wall opened then as wasted no time tearing it down but it left a scar that took decades to heal in our next report we're going to meet an east berlin photographer who risked documenting the war from his side of the city. the center of the island skyscrapers and tourists filled the streets but this was the death strip until 1909 it was part of the heavily guarded wall complex which separated west and east 150 kilometers long and then places up to 150 meters wide as oh no berlin or was allowed to enter get down if you grew up in east berlin the wall stood right next to his home this is where he

germany and west berlin. it will no longer be necessary for them to travel to other communist nations. germansthousands of have been taking over these last several weeks. as you note the government is under heavy pressure. and from the tens of thousands in that country. the story here says the communist leadership has decided to draw up a new travel law. rightermans will have the to cross through all border points between east germany and west germany. that announcement was made in the news conference. two points to keep in mind, the berlin wall, the wall of concrete and barbed wire still stands. east german and east berliners will now have the right to include the wall directly into west berlin. >> travel back in time 30 years to november 9, 1989 and watch the fall of the berlin wall at 10 p.m. eastern tonight on real america. explore our nation's past. the c-span's cities tour visited various historic sites. we will tour the wyoming territorial prison, which became the symbol of law and order during the tur

west berlin paused for three minutes of silence. we still waved to our families in east berlin and they still dared to wave back. we cannot be together. >> i'm alexis, i am a curator historian at the international spy museum. we have the largest collection of espionage and intelligence related artifacts in the world. after world war ii ended, germany was divided. the united states, france, united kingdom and soviet union. soviet union again with the soviets occupying the eastern zone of berlin and the three western powers occupying the western zone. this starts the division of germany and berlin. that became concrete with the direction of the berlin wall with the berlin wall. the wall was put up by east germans of stents of late to keep people out. and with the occupation of east germany and east berlin, hundreds of thousands of people in the east had been fleeing to the west. these numbers became larger and larger. it was a terrible drain of intelligence and skills in the east. the east germans called what we called the berlin wall

including east berlin and west berlin. that announcement was made at the news conference which was concluded a few minutes ago in east berlin. two points to keep in mind, first of all, the berlin wall, the wall of concrete and barbed wire still stands. as of now, it appears to be nothing more than a symbol of the old iron curtain because east germaners will have the right to leave into west berlin itself. announcer: you can watch archival films on public affairs in their entirety on our weekly series, reel america, saturday at 10:00 p.m. and sunday at 4:00 p.m. eastern here on american history tv. announcer: next we hear from sophia rosenfeld, who is the author of "democracy in truth: a short history." she talks about the long-held tensions among citizens in a democracy to determine what the truth is, rather than relying on an elite class to determine what the truth is for them. the robert

berlin paused for three minutes of silence. [church bells ringing] narrator: we still waved to our families in east berlin and they still dared to wave back. we cannot be together. [church bells ringing] >> american history tv product's are now available on the c-span online store. go to c-span.org to check out what is new for american history tv. artifacts takes --wers and we visit the international spy museum to tour their exhibit on cold war berlin. and shows us artifacts used by the east germans to spy on visitors and control their own citizens.

berlin. we have learned to live with it. ♪ narrator: we refuse to think that it will always be this way. ♪ narrator: in the beginning, we waved across the wall to our families in east berlin. ♪ narrator: it didn't matter who watched us. but later the communist policeman came and stopped our families from waving. ♪ >> [speaking foreign language] narrator: my mother lives over there. they will move her away if she dares to wave. i speak to my children in east berlin with hand signals, making certain the guards are not watching. i don't want them to harm my family. we have become good with our signals. ♪ narrator: at dusk, the communists have a hard time tracking us down, but we take chances, especially on nights when an escape is planned. ♪ narrator: in the beginning, many people escaped in broad daylight by jumping out of windows facing the western the sector of the city. ♪ narrator: our firemen were there to help. we remember the woman being held by communist guards to prevent h

on the other side west berliners came to welcome the. architect christiane coonan was among them 30 years later the 2 men still remember that fateful night when we met and i asked if you'd like to come to the coup 1st shopping. out of east germany and into the west if only just for one night thousands of revelers flock to west berlin. it was an experience that changed lives and bound strangers from both sides of the world for ever. telling these stories still stirs something can make words fail me or suddenly tears come to my eyes that's how emotional it was. culture itself can be a concept an object a custom or even a trend but in each of these cases you need someone to make it happen and in the cultural marketplace to set those trends well the annual culture invest congress brings european cultural providers promoters and investors together and it's highlight is the cultural brand award. the winner of the big prize was jabs for precisely the jazz trade fair jazz ahead in braman germany. but. the jazz ahead trade fair brings together mu

that is when they decided to extend the wall and cut access to the buildings facing west berlin. they sealed every window. many came over to our side of the wall and do that kind of job. they strung barbed wire to close off another way of escape from the roof. homes along their side of the wall were raised. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ they blinded us with reflecting mirrors and through teargas. they tried everything to keep us away. we through the teargas grenade at them. they laid mine fields in the countryside and increased patrols. they planted new watchtowers, but we watched them, too, and soon learned their weak spots. entire families escaped, women and babies peered we were waiting for them. babies. we were waiting for them. hundred thousand people escaped in the first year of the wall. >> speaking in foreign language, >> the loudspeaker said they would be held responsible. murder is always murder. >> on a friday afternoon, they shot an 18-year-old boy as he was trying to scale the wall into west berlin and they let him bleed to death and then they took his lifeless body and took him a

the berlin wall itself was about 96 miles long, completely separating west berlin from east berlin. but also completely surrounding west berlin and again, cutting it off from the rest of east germany. we have a couple of pieces of the berlin wall i would like to how you. we have two authentic pieces of the berlin wall here. they were donated to the museum by a county which is outside of east berlin. we shipped them over to washington, d.c. from germany and put them up here. most people, when they think of the berlin wall, they think of all the graffiti and color and designs on the wall. these are completely plain. that's because they were on the east side, where people were not allowed to graffiti the wall. it would have incurred some pretty severe penalties. one reason why they did not want people drawing on the wall was because having the wall be completely plain makes it asier for the guard to see people. it made them more visible against plain, like -- light gray or white background. seeing them without graffiti should around mind us -- should remind us of them keeping people in

. ♪ that is when they decided to extend the wall and cut access to the buildings facing west berlin. ♪ they sealed every window. ♪ many bricklayers came over to our side of the wall, rather than do that kind of job. ♪ they strung barbed wire on the roofs to close off another way of escape. many homes along their side of the wall were raised. -- razed. ♪ they blinded us with reflective ng mirrors. they threw teargas. they tried everything to keep us away. we threw the teargas grenades back at them. ♪ they laid mine fields in the countryside. they increased patrols. they planted new watchtowers, but we watched them, too, and soon learned their weak spots. ♪ entire families escaped, women and babies. we were waiting for them. ♪ 12,000 people escaped in the first year of the wall. >> [speaking foreign language] our loudspeakers told the guards that to shoot a refugee was murder, that they would be accountable, that they could not claim orders from higher up. murder is always murder. ♪ on a friday afternoon, they shot an 18-year-old boy as he was trying to scale the wall i

support for the people in berlin, the people in west berlin. in the late 1940's, the soviet union tried to stamp out west berlin and the u.s. had the berlin airlift and we saved people. it's important to show the solidarity and u.s. support and u.s. support for west german's and german unification was consistent throughout the decades. we were important in helping facilitate their unification. host: you mentioned the berlin airlift. dig into that for a little bit. guest: just to explain to our viewers, the soviets tried to starve out west berlin. they wanted to take over west berlin. to them germany had been divided into two states. we're talking about 1947-1948. you had the presence of american, british and french troops in west berlin. the soviets tried to starve out west berlin. they tried to cut the lines of communication. what the united states did was to begin and airlift. we flew our planes and literally dropped food and other supplies. you can see photos of german children rushing and getting chewing gum and cigarettes, but also food. s

support for the people in berlin, the people in west berlin. in the late 1940's, the soviet union tried to stamp out west berlin and the u.s. had the berlin airlift and we saved people. it's important to show the solidarity and u.s. support and u.s. support for west german's and german unification was consistent throughout the decades. we were important in helping facilitate their unification. host: you mentioned the berlin airlift. dig into that for a little bit. guest: just to explain to our viewers, the soviets tried to starve out west berlin. they wanted to take over west berlin. to them germany had been divided into two states. we're talking about 1947-1948. you had the presence of american, british and french troops in west berlin. the soviets tried to starve out west berlin. they tried to cut the lines of communication. what the united states did was to begin and airlift. we flew our planes and literally dropped food and other supplies. you can see photos of german children rushing and getting chewing gum and cigarettes, but also food. s

there was, i guess, some free movement between what was east berlin and west berlin. i guess the radio and newspapers and so forth were more freely distributed than after the berlin wall. my question is, what did the inhabits of the ddr know about this, think about this? how did it affect them? >> first of all, it's important to keep in mind for most of the airlift, the two german states didn't exist yet. it was still occupied germany. it was only in may of '49 that west germany was created and in october of '49 east germany was created. the misnamed german democratic republic. they weren't states. everyone was fully aware of what was going on. for one thing, especially, hearing the planes, sometimes seeing the planes, reading about it, on the radio, the u.s. radio and the american sector was very influential announcing what was going on, telling the story of this. all the berliners could listen on the radio. it had been a united city. it mostly still was a united city. so people were moving around. you had families in different parts of it. that didn't change until t

including west berlin. there are also other phrases like you still have to apply for permission and it is harder to hear that. the journalists in the room heard these key phrases and the reporters, the young ones in the room, that is the fastest way to get news before the end. they run out before he finished speaking. and the first wire report goes at 7:02 p.m. and he starts to realize something is going horribly wrong, and he starts to backpedal as best he can, but the reporters are already reporting. as i said, making a mistake is nothing new. they made mistakes all the time, but the bottom line was always the same. there was a border for the wall and armed border guards. what changes everything is the power of peaceful revolution crashing against the wall and forcing people like harold yeager to deal with them. what's happening. actually goes on a sort of long drive in the night to see what's happening but does not issue any orders or anything and he eventually ends up being tried in united germany, and

and her body is in west berlin. the construction of the wall in august 13th 961 put an end to that situation for not right away 4 days later the streets leading from east to west had been blocked but the front door to burn or strasser 11 was still open. one day had lunch our parents said all right when you're done in a single take a few belongings and today we're going to flee. we're leaving east berlin. this is on the look there's our escape that's my mother running a camera man happened to film the family as they fled. we were able to leave by the door and my father handed baggage out because we wanted to take a few things. in my look there i am my sister my mother and my father. and just imagine i even took my bird along and its cage. i couldn't leave it behind i think it was the only bear that fled to the west. was little more than a walk across the street participants in the events like rosen are living proof of what happened here in the void city. the building on burn or strasser was bricktop. torn down and ev

separating west prison from east berlin, but also completely surrounding west berlin. ofhave a couple of pieces the berlin wall that i would like to show you. had two authentic pieces here that were donated to the museum, right outside of berlin, and we shipped them over to washington dc from germany, and we put them up here. think about the berlin wall, they think about the group e and design on the wall. these are completely plain. they were on the east side, where people were not allowed to graffiti on the wall. one reason why they did not want people drawing on the wall was because having the wall completely clean made it easier for the guards, who were guarding the border, to see people. it made them more visible. seeing them without graffiti should remind us of the reason why the wall was put up, to keep people in. before the berlin wall was built, several million people actually cost the border from after the walld was put up, people did not stop trying to get out of germany. half the number were successful. great stories about people who were success in getting

the focus in this part of the riposte -- the report on the escape tunnels used to get into west berlin. announcer: in 1962, a documentary showed the tunnel under the wall to bring 59 feet -- people to freedom. >> every six feet, they planted and across them, a 4 x 4 which held up the wooden ceiling. the digger, the man with the beard, was a refugee himself. he had fled east germany after 4.5 years in a communist prison. now, he pulled the clay with a spade, twisting in a space three feet by three feet. barely roomier than a coffin. on thursday, september 13, they made their last inspection. in august, the builders of another tunnel had broken through into a cellar and looked into the eyes and gun barrels of communist police. some were killed and some were captured. the first of the refugees would come. death was not the greatest danger. prison camps can be worse. the diggers watched his daughter come through. ♪ announcer: then, his wife. he had escaped from east germany the year before. his wife had spent 10 months in a communist prison for trying to put follow him -- trying to follo

west berlin. it wraparound for 96, miles including said 27 miles to the heart of the sitting. by 1980, nine the wall consisted of 45,000 concrete blocks, 259 pathways, and 30 bunkers. during the wall, at least hundred 40 people were killed trying to escape the communist bloc for the freedoms of the west. and now, the berlin wall has been gone for longer than it stood, but we are asking you to join in this morning to give us your thoughts and memories of that day and what you watched that day 30 years ago, 1989. let's start with todd from brentwood, california. good morning to you. your memories from that day? >> i remember it well. it was a great day. i remember reagan, the anti-communist warrior champion, mr. gorbachev, tear down this wall i hope a oc and the rest of the squad is watching this, bernie sanders socialism was such a devastating failure. cuba, venezuela, china, russia even the scandinavians are running away from it tremendously. we have such a generational divide here in america conc