Life Behind the Berlin Wall - Full Video

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izzitEDU

izzitEDU

Жыл бұрын

Why did people risk their lives to escape East Berlin? Take a country and its capital city. Cut them in half. Build a wall through the middle of the capital to keep the parts - and the people - separated. Now install a command economy on one side and a free market on the other. Which side will provide a better life for its people?
Following World War II, Germany and its capital, Berlin, were divided exactly like that. What was the result of this economic experiment? Learn from people who lived on both sides of the Berlin Wall about how vastly different life was from one side to the other and discover why people were willing to risk their lives to escape East Berlin.
Subject Areas:
■ Business
■ Economics
■ Geography
■ Government
■ World History
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Пікірлер: 590
@davidsradioroom9678
@davidsradioroom9678 Жыл бұрын
I lived in Germany when the Wall came down. It was one of the most momentous times in my life. I will never forget it.
@familyandfriends3519
@familyandfriends3519 7 ай бұрын
Your people deserve that wall especially after what your people tried to do to the Jews after ww2
@JohnSmith-vc4tz
@JohnSmith-vc4tz 7 ай бұрын
they had to pay the price for killing 20 million innocents russians. I bet you, when they lost the war, they were shitting their pants thinking stalin will kill them all.
@crose7412
@crose7412 7 ай бұрын
@davidsradioroom9678 You lived in West Germany?
@davidsradioroom9678
@davidsradioroom9678 7 ай бұрын
Yes, Wiesbaden and Kaiserslautern. You?@@crose7412
@jeffjeziorowski8612
@jeffjeziorowski8612 7 ай бұрын
I was in stationed in Stuttgart at the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall. It brought tears to my eyes.
@78asasou
@78asasou 7 ай бұрын
I was in Berlin from 61-64...working in MI Spl Ops. We dug a tunnel under the wall to tap into the E. Berlin police... we helped people comming under the wall. I share all this with my grand children!
@lorilynbailey4165
@lorilynbailey4165 7 ай бұрын
I went to East Germany in 1975 with a friend and her family; they had family living there (and in Czechoslovakia). THIS is the BEST presentation I've seen on what life was like -- the lines, the lack of foods, lack of goods, the authoritarianism. The air pollution was overwhelming, and all of the cars were OLD. This is great! Thank you for producing it! Everyone should see it!
@stefanomazzarello4771
@stefanomazzarello4771 7 ай бұрын
Just for curiosity, how was the feeling of roam inside this area ? Did you ever had the feeling like you could have been stuck inside on east Berlin for some reasons ? And once inside on the city , it was for you allow to normally talk to the people ? It was possible for you , to have a walk outside with the family members you were going to visit, or you had to stay inside the building were those persons lived at the period ? Another question : it was even possible for you guys, to bring some gift to these people, or it was strictly forbidden ?
@lorilynbailey4165
@lorilynbailey4165 7 ай бұрын
@@stefanomazzarello4771 Not sure what you mean in your first sentence. No, we didn't feel like we'd be stuck. We went to Dresden and Leipzig but not Berlin. But it did take TWO HOURS to be approved to leave East Germany to go to Czechoslovakia, and we couldn't get out of our car. There were 2 parents, my friend, and her 2 little brothers. My last name was different. I'm sure I received extra attention. We went to town with no problem. Every day, the people we stayed with had to wait in long lines for some types of food -- such as strawberries. Also daily trips to the butcher. We went to a dept store, and WESTERN goods were ROPED OFF. They were something you'd see at Walmart -- nothing fancy. We brought fresh fruits and vegetables to them from the West. When a neighbor knocked on the door, they HID them! They said they didn't want to share. We went to a restaurant. It would open at 12 noon and close at 1 pm sharp. Everyone sat where they were told at picnic tables, even with strangers, and there was no decor. Just plain walls, floors, and tables. The employees were not friendly The food was simple. Everyone usually ate only pork, potatoes, and sauerkraut (at home as well). Individuals didn't own businesses, of course, the gov't did. There was no reason to be better than any other restaurant. They used to wash glasses by simply dipping them in water quickly. :( Employees didn't try to do a good job; if they didn't do well at that one, they would be assigned another one. We did go to what seemed like a secret bar. No signs on the outside whatsoever. I think it was run by a resident, and I guess the government just ignored it. There was no color of advertising ANYWHERE on the streets. The most colorful and ONLY sign was for a Russian politician. Being in East Germany was like being in a black-and-white movie. Cars were all very old -- from the 1940's and 1950's, I believe. Again, it felt like an old black-and-white movie...with bad air pollution. I remember visiting my friend's cousin and her husband in their apartment over a garage. They were a young couple, just starting out. It was one room. They were so proud as they showed it off. I sat on their bed and cried like a baby; I felt they deserved MUCH MORE than what they had. I didn't speak German, and they didn't speak English. They could not understand why I kept crying, and of course, my friend didn't want to tell them. My friend and I left East Germany by ourselves (we were teens) and took a train to Prague, Czechoslovakia. A Communist soldier flirted with me while we were on the train. (Neither of us spoke the other's language, but we both knew it was still flirting.) I drew his picture. :) When we were at the airport, there was a soldier with a huge assault rifle only feet away from us as we handed over our luggage. I shook with fear, afraid to act in any way he might deem suspicious. It was horrible. We took a small jet to Frankfurt, and there were more airline employees than passengers....just my friend, me, and two other people as I recall. When we returned to West Germany, we went to a grocery store, and after what we'd experienced, it was like going to Disneyland. SO MANY COLORS! SO MUCH FOOD! It was heaven! Then we took the train to Amsterdam for another adventure. :) I hear few stories about life in East Germany. It was truly horrible.
@stefanomazzarello4771
@stefanomazzarello4771 7 ай бұрын
@@lorilynbailey4165 sorry for my first sentence, my English is not that good, i meant "roam" as exploring, how was the feeling... But since you answered more than detailed my questions, i think you perfectly understood what i meant. Thank you for shared that with me, and honestly i was kinda amazed by some part of your tale, like for example, that you were free to move through the people of those places, i thought most of the folk life , was kinda isolated from any contact with foreigners from the west Europe. Trust me, i had from you, more satisfying answer than from any other video i saw here on youtube. 👍
@lorilynbailey4165
@lorilynbailey4165 6 ай бұрын
@@stefanomazzarello4771 Yes, I understood what you meant, and you're welcome! So few people know what life was like there at that time. When I think back on it, it seems surreal.
@robertbarrett2494
@robertbarrett2494 3 ай бұрын
Definitely .
@Hurricane0721
@Hurricane0721 3 ай бұрын
This is hands down one of the best documentaries that I've ever seen regarding life in East Germany!
@izzitorg
@izzitorg 3 ай бұрын
Thank you so much! Please feel free to share it with anyone else you think might be interested.
@reinajalana
@reinajalana 2 ай бұрын
Definitely agree. It's precisely the kind I've been looking for.
@MichaelBoyter-sz6kg
@MichaelBoyter-sz6kg 8 ай бұрын
My wife and I lived in West Berlin at the time of the Berlin Wall coming down and also on the day of unification in 1990. Before the wall fell, I had the chance to visit East Berlin 3 times. This video portrays exactly what I saw. Thank you for this video.
@jrobertsoneff
@jrobertsoneff 6 ай бұрын
Funny why this didn;t happen in Austria ?
@familyandfriends3519
@familyandfriends3519 6 ай бұрын
@@jrobertsoneff yep they were also responsible for murdering millions of people in ww2 and starting ww2
@mikealvord55
@mikealvord55 4 ай бұрын
@@jrobertsoneffBecause the Allies convinced Stalin to withdraw from Austria. Good question.
@RalfZwanziger
@RalfZwanziger Жыл бұрын
Videos like this should be obligatory to every child to see. Best place for that would be the history lessons at school. Thank you, Mr. Zitelmann, for your explanations.
@edlawn5481
@edlawn5481 Жыл бұрын
This and the comic version of "The Road To Serfdom"
@Novusod
@Novusod Жыл бұрын
Videos like this should mandatory in schools. Every child should be told to write an essay on how capitalism raises living standards and lifts people out of poverty. A market based economy is far superior to a planned socialist economy. Too many kids these days think socialism is better than capitalism based on some whatever "first world" problems they have. Little do they know that people living in the DDR had no food, often went to bed hungry, lived squalid conditions with no toilets, could not buy car, television, or telephone. A workers' paradise it was not.
@warrenbohnke8418
@warrenbohnke8418 Жыл бұрын
Completely agree, my opa fled got to Australia in 54. Though as a descendant of East Germany I have always been frustrated that it's super hard to get this information. When in reality the people of East Germany were stripped of heritage and culture. Absolutely devastating.
@n34t
@n34t Жыл бұрын
Yes, but also must not be forgotten what germans did in WWII. So when the kids get taught about the tough conditions of DDR, they should also be informed at least how germans destroyed european part of the Soviet Union. And its people. Maybe kids learn that every action has a reaction.
@MarcRoy-lq2tp
@MarcRoy-lq2tp Жыл бұрын
I agree 100%
@TheRealBillBob
@TheRealBillBob Жыл бұрын
I was stationed in Bamberg, German from 87-89. My unit was tasked with guarding the Wall, but left about a month or two before the wall came down. I remember telling my German girlfriend a year before, that there was serious talks about the wall coming down. She was absolutely sure that would never happen and even asked me "You don't believe that do you?" I spent all of my free time with the Germans and was close to fluent in speaking German. I literally sat in the towns square with other Germans my age at the time, drinking, listening to music and learning German. I remember they introduced to me an East German guy who escaped. He had the look of a hundred pounds on his brow. He was quiet and just walked through the town.
@adlanhasanov8943
@adlanhasanov8943 2 ай бұрын
😔😔
@MaximilianBieberGaming
@MaximilianBieberGaming Жыл бұрын
Sehr bedauerlich, dass es wieder eine steigende Tendenz bei jungen Menschen gibt, die sich so ein System zurückwünschen.
@pascalgotlib1781
@pascalgotlib1781 Жыл бұрын
Le socialiste réel est bien meilleur que l'économie de marché
@simonh6371
@simonh6371 Жыл бұрын
Hier in Grossbritannien haben wir unsere Stasi, die 77th Brigade der Armee...es hat sich in den letzten Wochen herausgestellt, dass diese Einheit die Buerger, vor allem Journalisten und Politiker, via Social Media spionieren. Ohne Scheisse.
@sallypettit7156
@sallypettit7156 7 ай бұрын
If ONLY this was taught to all students, the world could be so different.
@derspreewalder2286
@derspreewalder2286 Жыл бұрын
Great Video Dr. Dr. Zitelmann.👍 Thanks.
@sandipandeb7606
@sandipandeb7606 7 ай бұрын
So nice and simply explained. Really enjoyed the video and learnt a lot. Thank you so much!
@izzitorg
@izzitorg 7 ай бұрын
Glad that you enjoyed!
@liveinms9949
@liveinms9949 Жыл бұрын
I had an interesting conversation once with an east berliner. She said freedom meant so much to her parents because they remembered freedom. She was born into captivity and became free at age 12 She had to Learn how to be free. Watching the berline wall come down was the most emotional historical event of my lifetime
@TheRealBillBob
@TheRealBillBob Жыл бұрын
Freedom? The Germans went from country to country raping lands/people and leveling entire cities and what they did the Jews was unforgivable. They were responsible for the deaths of 3 or 5 million Russians. So you will have to excuse the Russians, who didn't think Germans should get to live like they did nothing wrong, like they did in West Germany by the US, UK and French. Actually, I would bet if it were up to the French, they also would have kept the Germans down just like the Soviets.🙄🙄
@steinitv7606
@steinitv7606 11 ай бұрын
I'am with the age of 8, born in Berlin-Mitte, ca. 200 meters from the Wall. Today's a German Bundeswehr Hospital.
@familyandfriends3519
@familyandfriends3519 7 ай бұрын
Your people brought that wall on themselves after starting ww2
@davidsradioroom9678
@davidsradioroom9678 7 ай бұрын
Me, too
@FinanzenimGriff
@FinanzenimGriff Жыл бұрын
Die Unterschiede der zwei Systeme wurde richtig gut erklärt und gezeigt, vielen Dank 🙏 Ich hätte schon gedacht, dass Dr. Dr. Zitelmann anfängt zu Weinen 😅
@daryllamonaco3102
@daryllamonaco3102 Жыл бұрын
I love this guy he is great and delivers his content in a humorous but factual way!
@Albanynyer84
@Albanynyer84 7 ай бұрын
Excellent video, thank you! More people need to see this.
@bluemecrazy
@bluemecrazy Жыл бұрын
Excellent video ! Well done !
@majoinerful
@majoinerful 9 ай бұрын
Thank you for uploading!!!
@Sociologist66
@Sociologist66 8 ай бұрын
I want to thank to all the other guests on this video, for their valuable testimonies.
@samevans6521
@samevans6521 Жыл бұрын
I went through the Check point Charlie, before the wall came down. The guards where a frightening experience, or should I say living in a free country, the experience was frightening. I remember being on the train from Frankfurt to Berlin, the train travelling through East Germany. The Eastern Guards came on the train before Berlin, and checked passports. Then in Berlin in the West, the passengers who lived in the East where not allowed to get off the train. I still can see the face of a lady looking out the window, the empty sad feeling she had on her face. I think if any person defected, their families still in East Germany were chastised. I think that is how it was, I have that trip for ever in my mind. It is so sad, how the World today persecuted people, it will never change. I pray that God will return, as He will to end this persecution. I was very sad to watch a KZbin video in relation to China and the “one child” policy. The little girls in these orphanages, because they are girls, was in human, disgusting, and the Chinese Government push it under the mat. I wanted to go and adopt all of them. I am going to Israel in August, I want to do a 10 day Christian tour of the holy land, and put all the visitation place into my Bible knowledge. I have researched the people, the food, the culture, and I know there is political issues, not my problem, but God will guide me for the right reasons. It looks a beautiful place, I cannot wait. And I am going to fly on El Al one way, the Jewish Airline. (I hope).. Revin Evans Queensland Australia.
@richard3716
@richard3716 Жыл бұрын
i had a similar experience when i was in the army in babenhausen and we went to berlin , standing on the veiwing platforms look to the east it was awful ,look to the west it was wonderful , that was when i knew for sure that socialism was a bad idea, that was in 1975 , sad to think today here in america almost half of the young people would disagree with me , the frankfurt school of thought invaded our univercities and brainwashed our children, is how it happened ,sad
@rickylow1655
@rickylow1655 Жыл бұрын
You are a good person
@guymorris6596
@guymorris6596 Жыл бұрын
Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, designed China to be the pilot program for the one child policy and the US will be the final exam. I learned this in War Againdt The Weak by Edwin Black.
@michaelmattern8188
@michaelmattern8188 Жыл бұрын
I had same experience as a boy. They doors of the train were locked in the East and guards with machine guns checked your passport. It was frightening to see at 13. Stasi everywhere in the East watching. My Mother went to talk to a elderly women on a bench in W. Berlin. The women wouldn't speak. Across the way, was a man in long black leather coat watching, Stasi.
@toosiyabrandt8676
@toosiyabrandt8676 Жыл бұрын
Hi! Shalom to us only in Christ Yeshua returning soon to reign over the world from Jerusalem!
@ludwigbroker7826
@ludwigbroker7826 7 ай бұрын
Super toll erklärt und auch super tolle Aufnahmen wie z.B. mit dem Präsidenten auf dem TV Bildschirm. Viele Punkte waren für mich neu und lehrreich.👍
@haeuptlingaberja4927
@haeuptlingaberja4927 Жыл бұрын
I once hitchhiked across East Germany, in 1985, which my West German friends told me was impossible, not to mention insane, but then again, I was an idealistic young American hippie and I did a lot of things that they wouldn't have dreamed of doing. (They still shake their heads in disbelief when we talk about it today, almost 40 years later, long after reunification.) Anyway, it was like one of those movies, or a Twilight Zone episode that switches from color to black and white, a deeply surreal and rather frightening experience. The East German police immediately detained me at the border, but didn't seem to know quite what to do with me, as if they were as confused by my behavior as my West German friends. Eventually, after many phone calls to higher authorities, they decided to release me, saying that I could enter the country with certain conditions, such as reporting to a local police station every night. They also said that I couldn't just cross the border on foot, because it was illegal to walk on the Autobahn, which is where the border crossing was. So, I started hitchhiking, which they also didn't like. Really getting frustrated with me now, they said that I could only catch a ride if I stood directly under the machine gun in the guard tower, which was not exactly the most inviting place for anyone to stop. I stood there for almost 4 hours, until finally a beat up old Trabant pulled over and picked me up. Turned out that the driver was completely drunk, but we made it all the way to Berlin, where I stayed for a week, crossing over into East Berlin everyday on day passes to explore that strange grey world where many of the buildings were still pockmarked by bullet holes or hastily filled in. And I swear that after the first day I was always followed, and none too discreetly, like in the spy movies. As if they wanted me to know. They did take my picture when they detained me at the border crossing, after all, so I suppose it's possible that they had been keeping an eye on me from the beginning. When I was hitchhiking again, out of Berlin, back to the West, I hadn't gotten far before an announcement came over the radio in the truck that had given me a lift, telling us to pull over on the shoulder of the road. A few minutes later, a small truck full of my old friends, the East German Police, pulled up and a bunch of them started checking everyone's passports and searching some of the cars and trucks. The truck driver who had picked me up started freaking out when I handed the cops my American passport, which they took and then walked away, with no explanation, and the driver started complaining to me for not telling him I was an American. (My German was really very good back then, he never asked where I was from, and it just never came up...) A little while later there was this great droning in the air and suddenly the sky was full of the biggest planes I have ever seen: absolutely massive Russian military planes, which landed right on the Autobahn and proceeded to disgorge a great many tanks, trucks and thousands of soldiers. They were conducting maneuvers! Meanwhile, the cops returned and ordered me out of the truck, telling the driver not to move, that I was his responsibility, which did not make him any happier with me. So then these cops interrogated me, asking all sorts of questions about what I had been up to for the past week and wanting to know how I knew about the military maneuvers, which I obviously knew nothing about. After maybe two hours of this, and clearly not believing me, they finally took me back to my cheerful truck driver, and we drove the rest of the way out of East Germany in silence. Truly one of the strangest places I ever visited. Never went back.
@jed-henrywitkowski6470
@jed-henrywitkowski6470 Жыл бұрын
And yet you and those of your sociopolitical persuasion want the very thing that my family opposed as military men from both sides of the Pond... the very thing my family legally emigrated to the Capitalist United States of America, to get away from! It was because of you and your people, that the Vietnam War was only a tactical win. Men like my uncle were doing their part to defend a nation that asked for our help, against the onslaught of a murderous Socialist regime, and by extension, protect my nation. It is to my regret, that when I was younger, like so many folks of my generation, I was in agreement or sympathetic to, at least in part with the poisonous, anti-American, anti-family, and anti-white ideologies that you people have all but successfully passed on unto us, as a dark torch to carry on. May we turn back to God and turn back to the good ways of the past, whilst ever striving towards perfecting this Great Experiment.
@haeuptlingaberja4927
@haeuptlingaberja4927 Жыл бұрын
@@jed-henrywitkowski6470 Oh, ye of little actual knowledge. I honestly don't even know where to begin with this parade of ignorance and far-right, white power nonsense. I, too, come from a "military family" that fought for America in every war since they came here, like a great many other German Catholics who responded to the proto-Nazi Prussians crushing the social-democratic revolutions of 1848 and summarily instituting their militaristic version of Lutheranism as the new state religion by selling everything they owned and setting sail for America, the Land of the Free & Brave. Just try to imagine their shock and dismay at discovering the horrors of the ongoing genocide of our original inhabitants and of American chattel slavery, the most vicious and cruel of all the varieties of slavery that we have been inflicting upon one another these past 6,000 years! I have a letter that my great-great-grandfather's brother wrote to his cousin back in the old country urging him to come to America to help him fight the good fight against these perversions of our proud "all men are created equal" Declaration of Independence. I realize from what you have written that you have very little knowledge of history, but did you know that Jefferson (himself a slaveholder) and Thomas Paine, the true father of American democracy both said that the highest duty of an American patriot was to constantly strive to make a "more perfect union," the seminal phrase in Lincoln's epic Gettysburg Address? This is the exact opposite of your blind obedience, "love it or leave it" America. Fast forward 150 years from those American Revolution days, and you had Progressives and union organizers who fought and died for literally everything you take for granted today. Like weekends, sick days, child labor laws, old age pensions and overtime pay. Etc, fookin' etc. And all of this was pure "socialism," which the Robber Barons resisted tooth and claw, just like the modern Republican party and its history-illiterate followers. And stepping into our time machine once again, did you know that MacArthur and all of our WWII military establishment had promised our wartime Vietnamese allies against the evil Imperial Japanese full independence, sovereignty and protection, regardless of what form of self-government they chose, at war's end, in keeping with the principles of democracy and freedom we had expounded in the landmark Atlantic Charter in 1941, just 4 months before Pearl Harbor? (And, dude, if you look up nothing else, please check out the 8 simple precepts of that Atlantic Charter.) I have no doubt that you know nothing about any of what I've just told you, my poor, persecuted, fellow white man, but them's the facts, Jack. And what did we do in Vietnam once the war was won, my typically ignorant right-wing friend? Why, of course, we immediately betrayed all of our solemn promises to our wartime allies in the Pacific. Before the Bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we had already begun to help the British, French and Dutch to regain their cruel, prewar colonies, betraying everything that America supposedly stood for. I mean, after all, those weren't white people we had made those promises to, right? Did you also know, Einstein, that we then proceeded to drop more ordnance on tiny, Stone Age Vietnam--our allies--than all sides did in the entirety of WWII? Of course you didn't. Your claim that Vietnam had begged us to help fend off the commie invaders is such a stupid, counterfactual piece of sh*t that I won't even dignify it with an answer. WE INVADED VIETNAM! Not only was our undeclared war a war crime by definition, but we, the richest and most powerful country in all of history, murdered 3 million of the 17 million Vietnamese...and the vast majority of our victims were wholly innocent and defenceless civilians, most of whom were women, children and the elderly. And please do not bore me with the story of your heroic ancestors escaping the "evils of socialism" in Eastern Europe after WWII. My wife grew up in a Khrushchev building in Czechoslovakia in the 1970s. I actually lived with her and our young baby in that apartment for 4 months after 9/11. I have many Polish, Ukrainian and Russian friends. You very obviously have zero historical perspective. Instead, you rely solely upon the self-serving stories your parents told you and far-right propagandists for your idiotic worldview. Here's a newsflash, Bubba--the noble "white race" is not endangered in America. No way that you can be any "whiter" than I am. Far more stupid, sure, but not any whiter. And do you know what my friends who either enlisted or were drafted to go to Vietnam have told me over the years? That the "primitive" Vietnamese were far, far braver and infinitely more resourceful than our boys. Similarly, these Vietnam vets have a huge admiration for the weak, cowardly hippies who opposed that uniquely unjust war. Read a fookin' book, ya ignorant nimrod. Listen to Steppenwolf's "Draft Resister." I don't know why I even bothered responding to your very apparent stupidity. You will assuredly not avail yourself of the opportunity to expand your tiny mind. But let's just call it a public service, shall we, Buford? Dah-yup, dah-yup.
@anthonyluisi7096
@anthonyluisi7096 Жыл бұрын
Damn … what an interesting and bizarre journey … you my friend have a set of big balls 😂
@sureshmukhi2316
@sureshmukhi2316 Жыл бұрын
How was the truck driver? Did they end up interrogating him too?
@vonnieragnar5811
@vonnieragnar5811 Жыл бұрын
I grew up in the east and would never change it for anything else. Had the best childhood ever. I grew up in the countryside so surely a lot different to the city life as described in this video
@DMUSA536
@DMUSA536 Жыл бұрын
I was an MP at check point Charlie 1975. Also Check Point Bravo. I’m sharing my Cold War experience with my granddaughter for her class.
@Dutch_Uncle
@Dutch_Uncle 19 күн бұрын
Yes, all the glory goes to Charlie, nothing for Alpha and Beavo! The House at Checkpoimnt Charlie contnes to tell the story, but on my most recent post-fall visit some yuong women were using the wall remnant to strike languid poses, like they were trying to sell a new sports car or bathing suits. That seemed to me to an insult to those who had lived with the real thing. I worked in East Berlin 1982-84, and I got my Stasi file through the German Freedom of Information process. It tells more about them than it does about me, and has some puzzling gaps. The stereotype of German precison takes a hit, but they were seadfast in their efforts they did follow orders. My contribution to Cold War Victory was to keep some clerks and staff busy. At the end of the video the question, "Would you have tried to escape East Germany?" was asked. A better question would have been, "If you had lived in East Germany would you have cooperated wth the Stasi for your own protection and to get a beter apartment and educational opportunities for your family?" An unanswered question from the time is the absence of revenge taken aginst Stasi infomers in the EstGrman workplaces, classrooms and family circles. Has nobody taken revenge in calibers 9mm or .45 ? Thre explanations suface: - "Germans are non-violent , don't carry grudges, and also have short memories." -Gemans are all-forgiving, Let bygones be bygones, don't pick the scab, let it heal. -A spirit of "Everybody was doing it" pevails and there is a reluctance to cast the fist stone. "Go along to get along." "Render unto Caesar." (In German "Give the King what is his") "Go with the stream." Any insights out there? What have I missed.
@rnascak
@rnascak 7 ай бұрын
My family and I greeted East Berliners streaming through Checkpoint Charlie on that night.
@dman030
@dman030 Жыл бұрын
Thank you for this. These times should never be forgotten by the younger generations. No heating, not telephone.....imagine how that was.
@ElendilAndAragorn
@ElendilAndAragorn Жыл бұрын
No heating no telephone? Try being poor, you can't always afford heating nor telephone services and especially since the bills have skyrocketed as of late.
@gerberjoanne266
@gerberjoanne266 Жыл бұрын
I visited East Berlin when I was a student, in the spring of 1988. In fact, there was a bad smell that permeated the place. I visited twice, the first time with a guided tour and the second time alone. During the tour, I noticed that the guide's suit was worn and stained, and he gave off that same odor. I only learned later that it was the smell of brown coal.
@raagtop363
@raagtop363 3 ай бұрын
Good! This was really good. Thank you.
@georgetunstill2341
@georgetunstill2341 Жыл бұрын
I was stationed in West Germany from 1979 to 1981. I wanted to go to Berlin on a day off but the only way to get to Berlin was by Army troop train from Frankfurt and you could only travel by night. I'm so glad that in my lifetime, the Berlin Wall has fallen and Germany has been reunited. And, I like to think I had a small part in that happening.
@douglasshriver52
@douglasshriver52 Жыл бұрын
1974 - 1975 16 dpu . nellingen barracks
@SilentEcho9194
@SilentEcho9194 Жыл бұрын
I was there in '91/'92 for Operation Silent Echo. I still carry my challenge coin in my pocket every day.
@garymathena2125
@garymathena2125 Жыл бұрын
Gary Mathena 40th Armor and 2/6 Inf 1979-81. Amen Brother
@juanmurillo3914
@juanmurillo3914 Жыл бұрын
No, i drove to east berlin,. went there at least 5 times took my family once.
@georgetunstill2341
@georgetunstill2341 11 ай бұрын
@@juanmurillo3914 There was no way I was able to afford to buy a car, not on a E3 and later a E4 salary. I heard that Her Majesty's Army had a troop train that went to Berlin during the day and you were able to be in civvies rather than have to wear a Class A uniform like on the US troop train but I don't remember if you had to buy a ticket and what train station the train departed from.
@ingeborgpadgett7079
@ingeborgpadgett7079 6 ай бұрын
Vielen Dank für den Report
@divebomb99
@divebomb99 Жыл бұрын
Excellent video, thank you. Makes me believe that the GDR was paradise compared to current day North Korea.
@ORIOVALDOLAROQUEDEMATOSFILHO
@ORIOVALDOLAROQUEDEMATOSFILHO Жыл бұрын
maravilhoso documentário !!
@incredingo
@incredingo 6 ай бұрын
back in the late 70's i was into short wave radio. here in australia i had contact with a married couple in east germany. they had a radio hidden in a kitchen seat. they sent me letters also. but to exchange mail we had to cut a diagonal cut in a corner of the envelope so authorities could see into the envelope. the authorities had no idea we were talking in real time about once a week. fond memories.
@kevinfestner6126
@kevinfestner6126 Жыл бұрын
Your coverage is excellent. I lived in Germany (West), specifically Heidelberg, in the 1980s. I went in and out of the East more times than I could count. I recall visiting the East German Kaufhalle, and there were shortages. In Leipzig, there was this huge 'department' store void of any merchandise, except for jewelry. It was odd, musical instruments were inexpensive. In East Berlin, I recall the Bier was rancid, food quality lousy. I recall visiting the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier guarded by the Soviets. The general infrastructure was in complete disrepair. It was an unique experience to have traveled in and out of the old Eastern Bloc.
@darkWorkOne
@darkWorkOne Жыл бұрын
Great video! I lived in Germany in the late 1980s as a child and hope to revisit in the next couple years. I got to experience the Fall of the Berlin Wall in person...an experience I'll never forget! My family lived near Giessen (Langgöns) and we just happened to be visiting Berlin when the Wall fell, a very lucky coincidence. My Father had a camcorder at the time and recorded our experience! Thanks again for your video!
@murraydean2371
@murraydean2371 Жыл бұрын
If you revisit after all these years you will find yourself in a very different country. Germany is now a modern, efficient country. However the population demographic will quite probably come as a shock and may sadden you.
@familyandfriends3519
@familyandfriends3519 7 ай бұрын
Go back to Germany
@davidrobinson7399
@davidrobinson7399 2 ай бұрын
As A American who was a soldier stationed in Berlin and also who Lived in West Berlin, I helped secure west Berlin , i watched the wall come down and than My construction company was one of the first in East Berlin to help rebuild it... This part of my life I would never change... I have several friends from both sides, Berlin is my favorite place in the world..
@itsjustme4848
@itsjustme4848 Жыл бұрын
In 1972, as an American college student I was given the opportunity to study in East Berlin. I was curious but also pretty nervous about the idea of being an American in the DDR. And I was still party relying on my parents for support and I knew my father would disinherit me if I went to study in the East. So I turned it down, and have regretted it for 50 years now. It would have been an extraordinary experience in that place and time.
@adrianahalmi3337
@adrianahalmi3337 7 ай бұрын
Big mistake… an opportunity for a life time to remember….
@maximmatusevich3971
@maximmatusevich3971 Ай бұрын
Your dad is how East Germany behaved. And how capitalists now behave,
@alibarron7558
@alibarron7558 Жыл бұрын
In 1961 I was in a first alert unit of the U.S. Army, as part of a NATO Force, stationed in Munich, West Germany. Out primary goal was to immediately get to Berlin in case of trouble.. We never really knew what that goal was supposed to be. We received an alert one night to load up and go to an airbase at Furstenfelbruk (sp) , taking even parachutes with us. We boarded transport planes and circled over France, et al for over an hour before finally setting back down. There were a lot of tears on our faces, especially on those who had been in combat before. We slept for a couple of nights on the tarmac alongside the planes before the alert was rescinded. That was in the first days of August and they began building the Berlin Wall soon after. I was eighteen at the time and over eighty now but nearly every detail can still be remembered. All peoples' goal should be to never let another autocrat or dictator rise to power.
@DidierGEROME
@DidierGEROME Жыл бұрын
Really cool video, thanks a lot. DG
@neilfoster814
@neilfoster814 3 ай бұрын
What a great video. Herr Doktor Zitelmann is an excellent presenter. I have an interest in the DDR, and actually own a 1988 Trabant P601 Kombi.
@JJJJ-gl2uf
@JJJJ-gl2uf 7 ай бұрын
Great video.
@izzitorg
@izzitorg 7 ай бұрын
Glad you enjoyed!
@nickrancher4040
@nickrancher4040 5 ай бұрын
Been searching through videos and videos as so interested but despite this being the clearest explanation i can imagine no one truly understands why.
@user-nz4yg8wb4w
@user-nz4yg8wb4w 2 ай бұрын
I was stationed with the US Army in West Berlin from 1977-1980. We were allowed to get an "East Pass" which allowed us to go to East Berlin. I went quite a few times and found it fascinating and depressing at the same time.
@hanaluong2672
@hanaluong2672 14 күн бұрын
I have the sympathy for people in East Berlin, not because of their poverty, but because the West came and looked at them like residents a zoo. I got the feeling because I grew up in Vietnam, when it was so poor. I remember the producer of the French movie "The Lover" made a comment on our poverty.
@Sociologist66
@Sociologist66 8 ай бұрын
Danke schoen, Herr Dr. Zitelman. Viele gruesse aus Lima - Peru.
@josephtaylor3857
@josephtaylor3857 Жыл бұрын
Great documentary. Love the then and now pics.
@johnbrownlee2945
@johnbrownlee2945 6 ай бұрын
I lived in Berlin 1983-86, I miss it.
@skagraz
@skagraz Жыл бұрын
Beautiful video..
@bethanycook8430
@bethanycook8430 2 ай бұрын
This is really interesting
@tylerselevators8610
@tylerselevators8610 Жыл бұрын
Bravo 👏. Well done
@david.69k
@david.69k 8 ай бұрын
My father served for 2 years in the army of URRS in Eastern Berlin. He even saw the fall of the Berlin Wall.I love him he told me a lot of stories from there.❤
@jannydegraaf267
@jannydegraaf267 Ай бұрын
I visited Berlin in 1976 and saw this terrible wall. For one day I went to East Berlin as a tourist, via Checkpoint Charlie. This felt very special, but also very sad, because I was just a tourist for 1 day and able to return to the West. Knowing that so many people couldn't.
@jarikinnunen1718
@jarikinnunen1718 8 ай бұрын
Best example of politics influence to people life. Same background and totally different results in any sector of life. In Finland we saying: " Ryssiä" when someone made bad work.
@glennleslie6127
@glennleslie6127 Жыл бұрын
Wonderful video!
@arne1817
@arne1817 Жыл бұрын
As German who was born in the former area of eastern Germany, i just can confirm what is said in this video. Sadly some people in Germany, especially in Berlin like to deny the disaster socialism has done and think, that this was not the "real socialism"... NEVER EVER SOCIALISM AGAIN!
@currentbatches6205
@currentbatches6205 Жыл бұрын
And (per some below) the failure was caused by western governments, not supporting the socialists who desired only to dismantle them!
@sunrae3971
@sunrae3971 Жыл бұрын
Was not ""real socialism"" and "especially in Berlin" What? 😂 🤣 I grew in and around Berlin the only People who say such bs are the Lefties who never faced it mostly westerner or foreigners. Also. You may check who voted for "the Left" before AfD all around East Germany.
@arne1817
@arne1817 Жыл бұрын
@@sunrae3971 Well denying the fact that berlin itself is full of leftist is gonna be hard. Over 50 % of people there voted for left parties there 2021 (Die Linke, Grüne & SPD combined). For some districts its even worse. For sure not all people there want socialism but i think berlin is however the city with the most people positive about socialism, and saying that socialism xy didnt work because it wasnt real is a common saying from such people so yeah, even its a bit based of stereotypes i hope you understand my thinking. Best regards!
@sunrae3971
@sunrae3971 Жыл бұрын
​@@arne1817 Well People who say "capitalism works" are as much bonkers as these socialist who say "this was not the real socialism", in my opinion. Socialism for the rich and bailouts but if people decide their living it all becomes evil "socialism"? Look how much Google or Amazon Cartel cares about a "free market" . Most of the todays Housing Crisis is not a bug of the free market but a feature. So they can demand whatever they want, they are not interested in investing if you can milk the cow. And surprise now the state should invest tax money.
@frankgonzalezofficial3010
@frankgonzalezofficial3010 Жыл бұрын
You mean Hitler’s Goverment? It was a far right dictatorship not socialism. Socialism is far left, Nazism is far right. Think of the American Republican Party but further to the right.
@augustobraidotti6992
@augustobraidotti6992 Жыл бұрын
There is a lovely bit of the original, untouched outer Wall near the old railway bridge at Liesenstrasse. Then or course at Bernauerstrasse. The Wall at East Side Gallery was the Inner wall.
@georgfriedrichhandel4390
@georgfriedrichhandel4390 Жыл бұрын
There was a very informative article about Berlin - both East and West - published by National Geographic in their January 1970 issue. In the very last sentence of this article, the author quotes a Czech refugee then living in West Berlin who said, "Berlin, remember, could also be the place where the Cold War ends." Those words proved to be remarkably prophetic. The Cold War ended when the Wall fell.
@JohnSmith-vc4tz
@JohnSmith-vc4tz 7 ай бұрын
are u sure the cold war ended
@georgfriedrichhandel4390
@georgfriedrichhandel4390 7 ай бұрын
@@JohnSmith-vc4tz Yes because the Cold War was more a conflict between ideologies than it was about conquest. No one is trying to spread Communism today.
@nicolahorst8529
@nicolahorst8529 Жыл бұрын
Wenn sowas in Schulen gezeigt werden würde, dann hätten viele junge Menschen ein ganz anderes Verständnis von den Unterschieden und Auswirkungen von Sozialismus und Kapitalismus! Sehr gutes Video!
@CaterCasi
@CaterCasi Жыл бұрын
Und du bist in der DDR aufgewachsen um das zu beurteilen? Oder woher hast du dein Wissen?
@nicolahorst8529
@nicolahorst8529 Жыл бұрын
Ich selber bin nicht alt genug um dort aufgewachsen zu sein. Auch wurde ich nicht in Ostdeutschland geboren oder bin dort aufgewachsen. Allerdings kommt ein großer Teil meiner Familie aus der DDR und ich habe Eltern, Großeltern und Urgroßeltern als Zeitzeugen welche mir ein eindeutiges Bild der damaligen Zeit vermittelt haben. Ich möchte auch nicht keinesfalls bestreiten dass Sie persönlich damals nicht glücklich gewesen sind oder das alle anderen Menschen jeden Tag unglücklich waren. Allerdings gibt es Zahlen und Fakten die Belegen, dass die Menschen im Osten mit deutlich grundlegenderen Problemen zu kämpfen hatten und die Versorgung mit Lebensmitteln und Konsumgütern bei weitem nicht so ausgiebig war wie im Westen. Des Weiteren glaube ich, dass das persönliche Wohlbefinden der Menschen auch start von deren politischen Einstellung abging. So hatte man Nachteile im Beruf und Somit auch im Alltag wenn man nicht in der Partei war oder diese Unterstützte. Das sind nur einige wenige Dinge die neben den im Film gezeigten für mich ein Bild vermitteln, dass wenn ich damals hätte wählen müssen, lieber immer Westen aufgewachsen wäre. Das ich mit diese Meinung nicht alleine Dastehe zeigen denke ich die Zahl der Menschen die die DDR verlassen haben/wollten im Vergleich zu denen die aus dem Westen in die DDR gekommen sind.
@nicolahorst8529
@nicolahorst8529 Жыл бұрын
PS: wenn Sie Quellen haben die das Gegenteil belegen von der Darstellung dieses Videos, dann können sie mir diese gerne zukommen lassen. Denn diese wird es wohl geben wenn es denn nicht so wie gezeigt gewesen wäre.
@CaterCasi
@CaterCasi Жыл бұрын
@@nicolahorst8529 mittlerweile kann man sagen das man in der DDR freier war als im heutigen Ampel Regime. Wer nicht treu nach Linie ist wird als Nazi diffamiert. Sicher gab es weniger Konsum Quatsch. Aber braucht man das alles? Wofür brauche ich 1000 Joghurt Sorten die allesamt nur eine Chemiebrühe sind. Wofür brauche ich das ganze Jahr Bananen usw. Das ist richtig Umwelt und Klima schädigend. Und gehungert hat niemand in der DDR. Jetzt kann man alles kaufen ja wenn man das nötige Kleingeld hat. Jetzt ist noch nicht mal die Rente sicher falls man die überhaupt erleben sollte. Warum muss man eine politische Einstellung in der DDR haben? Als DDR Bürger wurde ich oft herablassend als Ossi hier im Westen bezeichnet. Aber die Wessis sterben sowieso langsam aus. Die Massenhafte Einwanderung macht es möglich.
@CaterCasi
@CaterCasi Жыл бұрын
@@nicolahorst8529 ja Quellen habe ich. Vergleiche mal meine Geburtsstadt Eisenhüttenstadt mit früher und heute. Damals das blühende Leben überall Kinderwagen 53000 Einwohner. Heute 23000 alte Menschen und Hartzer.
@samevans6521
@samevans6521 2 ай бұрын
I went into East Germany before the wall came down. I was part of the crew (cabin) of an International Airline. I still remember everything, it was sad to see the faces, knowing we would be able to return to the West. Very sad time in history.
@mingusthurber5923
@mingusthurber5923 Жыл бұрын
Having been to W. and E. Berlin a couple of times, I always thought how absurd the wall was. It was like an inside-out prison. I knew something that absurd couldn’t last. It didn’t. What joy I had when I watched the fall of the wall in November ‘89. I so want to go back and see Berlin now.
@jano192729
@jano192729 Жыл бұрын
The moment when you 😭 I felt exactly the same. We Went through the same shitshow. All good now
@kobheeg7848
@kobheeg7848 Жыл бұрын
This is an excellent video! Everyone should watch it and remember the truth of the former GDR in order to know how a communist leaded country will end. This is nowadays the same critical situation of Cuba and Venezuela. Always the same! Younger people should be educated in true values of freedom, knowing what history tells us about not being free. Thanks a lot for the video and the message.
@seanwhitty1335
@seanwhitty1335 Жыл бұрын
Yes i like to think i would have tryed to do something about leaveing the east for the west unfortunatly the east at the time had very little going for it great to see it doing well now with reunification 👍👍
@farmor1023
@farmor1023 Жыл бұрын
Thanks to my niece I have a piece of that historic wall❤
@alexclement7221
@alexclement7221 Жыл бұрын
9:18: That film of the East German guard jumping the fence was taken the day I was born; my mom remembered seeing it in the news the next day while recuperating in the hospital. The man eventually committed suicide.
@billolsen4360
@billolsen4360 Жыл бұрын
As I recall, the first person shot & killed for trying to escape East Berlin was a 19-year-old "post office policeman" in 1961. Making war on teenagers while 'building the bright, prosperous socialist paradise for the people.'
@Grimenoughtomaketherobotcry
@Grimenoughtomaketherobotcry 7 ай бұрын
I've always wondered how there just happened to be someone there to film it ...
@corn1971
@corn1971 7 ай бұрын
@@GrimenoughtomaketherobotcryHe was 19 and stationed to guard the border. Things he witnessed led him to question if he wanted to be part of a country or system that was imprisoning people for being on the wrong side of a border suddenly. He laid a board across the barbed wire without being observed by his colleagues. A West Berliner noticed and approached. He told them to back away and he was going to flee. The citizen alerted West Berlin police who tipped off a couple of journalists this might happen. A photographer and cameraman waited at that spot. Once he crossed over the wire he immediately drops his rifle and the waiting police quickly load him into a vehicle and depart the area. He did commit suicide in 1998. He visited family in the east after reunification but they rejected him because they felt he abandoned them. It caused him great depression and led to his death.
@Grimenoughtomaketherobotcry
@Grimenoughtomaketherobotcry 7 ай бұрын
@@corn1971 Thank you.
@alexclement7221
@alexclement7221 Жыл бұрын
9:51: "Where they could then travel by plane or rail to West Germany".. Partially untrue. If you were an East German fleeing to West Germany (rather than staying in Westberlin), you did NOT travel by rail. All rail lines to Westberlin travelled through East Germany, and East German "Greppos" (border guards) would ride the train, partially to make certain nobody entered or left the train during transit, but also to look for those committing "republikflucht" (fleeing the country), whom they WOULD arrest. Essentially EVERYBODY who fled the east through Wesberlin left by air. The rail links were only used by citizens of West Germany and of other countries.
@Padoinky
@Padoinky Жыл бұрын
This history is quickly becoming lost on the newest generations
@corn1971
@corn1971 7 ай бұрын
The Berlin wall is becoming a blip in history. I grew up thinking it was going to be a forever thing and didn’t expect it to suddenly come down, or the collapse of the USSR. But more years have passed from its ending than the wall stood. For most Germans a united Germany is normal and two Germanys is a fading memory even amongst those who were alive then. East Germany is a historic relic, like the 100 years war, or the Weimar Republic. What once seemed so permanent and important is seems less so compared to other historical events and what has transpired since. It seems odd a me a 50something year old that the Wall is now a tourist curiosity in Berlin and not the imposing absurdity built by a communist regime that it really was.
@stocktonrails9279
@stocktonrails9279 7 ай бұрын
I served in the U.S. military in Europe during the Cold War, and once visited West Berlin to participate in urban combat training at a range located there. During that visit, myself and other members of my unit also had the chance to tour East Berlin one day (via Checkpoint Charlie)… and that visit left a lasting impression on me. This powerful video (and story) brought all of those memories back for me… I’m glad so many of the citizens of East Berlin persevered and eventually found the freedom they all deserved. 🇺🇸🇺🇸
@maryvalentine9090
@maryvalentine9090 7 ай бұрын
Wow. You need to write down your experiences and share it. Amazing.
@jrobertsoneff
@jrobertsoneff 6 ай бұрын
The freedom to buy expensive yankee gas.
@almartin4
@almartin4 Жыл бұрын
Berlin Notes I don’t recall posting a comment here on this issue. My apologies if this is redundant. This presentation is very well done, as always, but seems slanted to follow the high-level events without really addressing the meaning, and primary issues of that conflict. There were citizens of every stripe, on both sides, engaged in these confrontations. I was fortunate (and honored) to serve under President Reagan as a Senior NCO in the US Army, stationed in the occupied city of West Berlin from 1981 to 1984. The Cold War was at its peak then, mostly as a clear confrontation between NATO (commercial west) and the Warsaw Pact (communist east). President Reagan made his first official visit to West Berlin in June of 1982 and spoke initially to those of us in the Allied military forces stationed there. This was long before his famous ‘Wall’ speech. Membership in NATO was formed from western allies voluntarily; France was excluded because they chose not to join at that time. Membership in Warsaw Pact was formed, and enforced by Soviet forces, in countries they invaded during World War II. Any country that tried to leave the Warsaw Pact because of freedom movements (East Germany (DDR) / Hungary / Czechoslovakia) faced violent suppression by the Soviet forces. The members of the Warsaw Pact were not the comrades as the PR often claim. It appeared similar events would happen in Poland during the 1980’s. We were able to see the evils of communism everyday in the DDR. Oftentimes in areas just across the street or closer. Escape attempts and bloody retribution were pretty common occurrences with blatant and often loud results. Everyone on that side suffered in some form or other from food shortages to constant brutality. I was attached to the Military Intelligence (MI) Detachment as an interrogator tasked with interviewing defectors (Border Guard / Military) and refugees (civilians) from all of the various Pact countries. They were fleeing similar oppression with many vivid stories of their own. We had an almost constant flow during my time there. We were especially concerned about events in Poland as the Solidarity Union disturbances were watched closely by the Soviet seniors. During one of my 1983 interviews with a Polish officer who had defected; I asked him what would happen if the Pact forces invaded Poland to suppress the activities… … would the Polish military fight or not. His answer was both humorous and cynical. He said: “Your question presents a very serious issue for Polish soldiers to answer; do we do our duty to the people and country by shooting Russians? Or do we enjoy ourselves by shooting Germans? No more invasions.” We were pretty certain something was coming soon by that time; just not sure if we would become radioactive dust or the Soviet Union would collapse. I am surprised it took until 1989 for the Wall to actually come down and it looks like modern day rioters are trying to put it back up. Regards
@kdlofty
@kdlofty 7 ай бұрын
14:07 Where exactly is that building?
@hazchemel
@hazchemel Жыл бұрын
Thank you. Like the solid historian, I too watched the demonstrations, although with great anxiety, thinking that the police would close the streets, and I imagined these wonderful people going to the Gulag ..... Nobody was more surprised than me (staring at the tv with mouth agape in disbelief) that the people peacefully achieved their liberty. Practically a miracle, and in dazzled wonderment, I remember marvelling whether these young east Germans were angels :)
@elizabethhurtado2829
@elizabethhurtado2829 8 ай бұрын
I'm not interested in separation, I only want the specific people that are responsible held to account.
@nerminhadzimejlic1257
@nerminhadzimejlic1257 Жыл бұрын
"Behind the wall" - depends on which side you look from
@lornarettig3215
@lornarettig3215 Жыл бұрын
Yes. I know several people who grew up in east Germany, east Berlin, or Eastern Europe in general, and none of them thought their lives were dreadful, thank you very much.
@petejay1409
@petejay1409 Жыл бұрын
@@lornarettig3215 Obviously, if you are isolated and not allowed to travel to see what life is like elsewhere, you are satisfied with whatever you have and if you are not, you are thrown in jail, that's why the Wall was built and that's why 70/80% of Russians never revolted or protested and apart from seriously being satisfied with communism because it was their invention.
@marktaylor7328
@marktaylor7328 Жыл бұрын
Thank you for the history lesson, everyone thinking socialism is great need nothing more than to watch this video.
@billolsen4360
@billolsen4360 Жыл бұрын
With that poison water coming out of the taps in government-provided apartment houses
@lillianmcgrew217
@lillianmcgrew217 6 ай бұрын
History ❤
@philipbuckley759
@philipbuckley759 Жыл бұрын
das ist ser gut.....danke...
@asullivan4047
@asullivan4047 6 ай бұрын
Interesting and informative. Special thanks to the guest speakers. Sharing information & economic information. Making this documentary more authentic and possible. Unfortunately the testicleless NATO members. Let the wall be constructed. Being single/no relatives on eastern side. I probably would have planned & attempted escaping to the western sector.
@erik_griswold
@erik_griswold Жыл бұрын
You haven’t lived until you’ve had an early morning in the GDR with the Lignite coal smoke and a still-cold-smoking Trabant passes you by.
@neilfoster814
@neilfoster814 Жыл бұрын
I have a 1988 Trabi P 601 Kombi. If you mix the oil correctly and use decent oil, they hardly smoke at all. Early Trabis needed a higher oil mix, and I guess decent oil wasn't always available.
@erik_griswold
@erik_griswold Жыл бұрын
@@neilfoster814 First thing in the morning when they hadn’t warmed up it was quite a plume of blue smoke.
@ChangesOneTim
@ChangesOneTim Жыл бұрын
...and light up a cigarette after breakfast on your way to work!🤣
@OmmerSyssel
@OmmerSyssel Жыл бұрын
​@@neilfoster814 are you seriously lecturing experienced people how fantastic or misunderstood a crappy invention as the Trabi is?? I drove a lot in that shitty cardboard box, and anyone voluntarily buying such piece of shit in our time of freedom, is either completely technological illiterate or heavily ideological blinded! 🤡🤷🏼😴
@OmmerSyssel
@OmmerSyssel Жыл бұрын
Did you experience the open fire placed at street corners, to help people navigate through the dense industrial smog? Simply unbelievable such happened
@poetcomic1
@poetcomic1 Жыл бұрын
I remember those days in Poland and Czecho. There is no more glorious feeling than when the secret police and the tormentors are suddenly afraid of the people!
@Thatguyjack758
@Thatguyjack758 Жыл бұрын
I guess it would really depend on the year, but was caloric intake lower in East Germany than in the west?
@corn1971
@corn1971 7 ай бұрын
They didn’t have as easy access to exotic fruits or foods but they ate well and most of the same German foods as those in the west are. Lots of sausages, meats, vegetables. East Germany was the high standard for living in the eastern bloc, even compared to the USSR. They weren’t close to the West’s standards but they weren’t dirt poor struggling either.
@Thatguyjack758
@Thatguyjack758 7 ай бұрын
@@corn1971 given the ostmark was weak in value, that might’ve contributed to the states ability to acquire certain foods. They had few options for coffee like they had Cuba, Vietnam, I think Ethiopia too and the cost of shipping after the oil crisis and there was the East German coffee crisis in the late ‘70s.
@murraydean2371
@murraydean2371 Жыл бұрын
0.59 is a very brief image of a London bus blown against a building in the City of London. I wonder how much of this video contains images from other countries or cities rather than images of the subject matter?
@privatelyprivate3285
@privatelyprivate3285 7 ай бұрын
That part of the video is showing WWII’s global devastation through shots of various locations - the narration literally says _”…at the end of WWII, a GLOBAL war that was the deadliest conflict in human history”_ over that particular image.
@nadyabest1279
@nadyabest1279 7 ай бұрын
I was born in USSR and I can relate so much to East Germany. I was in Poland last year and visited Poland under USSR museum, amazing how much we had in common. I love this history, but It makes me very sad of all the struggles and lost opportunities for our parents and grand parents. I really don’t understand how some people miss it and want to go back especially in Russia now
@chiefslinginbeef3641
@chiefslinginbeef3641 6 ай бұрын
Gladly Poland is a great bulwark against it. But many European youths love socialism and authoritarianism.
@maximmatusevich3971
@maximmatusevich3971 Ай бұрын
А ты где сейчас? Нам либералы не нужны.
@lain_nelle
@lain_nelle 11 ай бұрын
Thanks for ru subs!
@The_Crazy_Monkey75
@The_Crazy_Monkey75 8 ай бұрын
I wonder if there were still escapees literally hours before the fall of the Berlin wall?
@stenhard61.46.1
@stenhard61.46.1 Жыл бұрын
You are confused about the status of West Berlin. It was NOT part of West Germany nor was it the Capital. It wasn't until unification (Not reunification) that it become part of Germany again. The title of capital came later when it was moved from Bonn.
@normanboley1806
@normanboley1806 Жыл бұрын
I thought West Belin was governed by West Germany.
@stenhard61.46.1
@stenhard61.46.1 Жыл бұрын
@@normanboley1806 Not so! It's easy to check. Interesting fact Germany didn't regain full sovereignity until 1991.
@normanboley1806
@normanboley1806 Жыл бұрын
If Germans weren't in charge of the West, who was?
@stenhard61.46.1
@stenhard61.46.1 Жыл бұрын
@@normanboley1806 The governing body was the Berlin Senate which derived its authority from the Allied Occupation Council minus the Russians who had withdrawn after the creation of the DDR. Berlin was de facto and de jure an occupied zone until Unification.
@normanboley1806
@normanboley1806 Жыл бұрын
I was stationed at Tempelhof for 4 years. It was technically occupied by the US Army but I think Bonn was in full control of the day to day operation of the city.
@hanaluong2672
@hanaluong2672 14 күн бұрын
17:59 he talks about the re-unification dream. I learnt in school that the word "unification" should be used. "Reunification" may mean the claim of more territories (used to be part of Germany) that have already belonged to other countries like Poland and the Soviet Union.
@BigBenn2014
@BigBenn2014 Жыл бұрын
Perhaps the WEF should watch this and learn the lesson and keep their noses out of everyone’s lives.
@simonh6371
@simonh6371 Жыл бұрын
I know. UK is becoming like the GDR more and more by the day. It's come out that 77th Brigade spy on citizens via social media. Our councils have announced that we will be locked down in 15 minute zones which we can only leave a limited amount of times.
@RUHappyATM
@RUHappyATM Жыл бұрын
Isn't that what Singapore did? HDB that looked the same. Very expensive to buy a car.
@SABjork
@SABjork 3 ай бұрын
I remember having tears in my eyes seeing the wall come down and I am not even German, These people deserved better and to have freedoms to live, to choose and to enjoy the ability to live where they want and live how they choose. The dark period of the early 1900's had finally come to an end. Germany is such a great country and has so many good people who produce many who have changed the world. It was always the culture center of freethinkers, inventors, scientist, scholars, philosophers, writers, artists, musicians, philanthropists, engineers, doctors, humanitarians, explorers and preachers and the world was being deprived on these amazing minds. I cried with relief for these impoverished peoples who did not deserve their destiny and could now thrive in new freedoms. This gave me new hope for all mankind. If they were not treated so unfairly by the treaty of Versailles the secord war would never have happened, We have so much to thank for the contributions of Germans throughout history. They are a proud part of our nation here in America; we welcome you with open arms!
@51pinn
@51pinn Жыл бұрын
In the meantime, we have two generations of young people in Germany who only know this time from stories told by their parents. No system will succeed in dividing a people in the long run, neither in Korea nor in Cyprus. Time works against the dictators. They can imprison people by force, they can erect walls, but they cannot permanently prevent people from experiencing what kind of world awaits them behind these walls.
@Sociologist66
@Sociologist66 8 ай бұрын
This video was very interesting and cleared all my doubts about this chapter of the German History.
@brunokirchensittenbach9294
@brunokirchensittenbach9294 3 ай бұрын
…Bessere zeiten als heute vieles gab es halt nicht aber das menschliche war herzlicher als heute man hat Zusammen gehalten und man hat das beste draus gemacht, hatten eine Schöne kinder und Jugendzeit!! Lebten in sicherheit jeder hatte arbeit und der Zusammenhalt war einzigartig!! Vermisse die zeit manchmal…
@jeremyhodge6216
@jeremyhodge6216 6 ай бұрын
Sad situation what happened in Berlin and East Germany 😔
@paulwebbiweb
@paulwebbiweb Жыл бұрын
They voted for"an economy like the United States". Not really. It was what Erhard, the man in charge of the economy in West Germany, called the "social market economy". Free market, yes, but the "social" part meant that it would be a welfare state. Not like the United States.
@BaronEvola123
@BaronEvola123 Жыл бұрын
Wait until you see the abomination coming to the entire west.
@Novusod
@Novusod Жыл бұрын
America was also a welfare state at the time of that election with strong New Deal protections for workers.
@TheJoshA
@TheJoshA Жыл бұрын
The US of ZOG is most definitely a welfare state by design and it's getting worse. McCarthy was right! WE MUST OUST THESE COMMUNISTS!
@tomkastendiek4196
@tomkastendiek4196 Жыл бұрын
Erhard meant with the „social“ market never a big welfare state. He said that the market itself is social because it creates wealth for everyone.
@paulwebbiweb
@paulwebbiweb Жыл бұрын
@@tomkastendiek4196 It's not that simple. I can see I went much too far by ascribing the notion of welfare state to Erhard, but I think the word "social" has always meant more than a belief in trickle-down. Admittedly there has been a lot of variation in the interpretation of the word over the decades! I certainly don't think the post-war German electorate has ever subscribed to American-style capitalism and from my long experience of Germany, I know that Germans in general like government and place a high value on social solidarity.
@Davidlp70
@Davidlp70 Жыл бұрын
I flirted for 5 minutes with the idea of becoming communist in my thinking and it is videos like this one that woke me up and snapped out of it.
@bratcheda1
@bratcheda1 Ай бұрын
It was interesting to watch this documentary and read the comments. I personally think the picture of the East Germany should be a bit more nuanced. Life is not in black and white, and even in a dictatorship there some positive things to remember. The simple truth is that human beings usually adjust and normalize the situation they are in, and don't feel victims on a daily basis. I grew up in communist Bulgaria, and my 2 trips to DDR were actually very positive. From my perspective it felt almost like the West - very cheap restaurants, quite a lot of goods, generally polite waiters (and I don't remember the food being terrible). I also remember a rumor that it was very easy for younger married couples to obtain their own apartments - something that wasn't the case in Bulgaria. (I don't know how true this was). I spent two weeks at the International Music Seminar in Weimar, It was well organized and people were friendly. My only surprise was that level of classical music performances by the DDR musicians was actually somewhat lower than I would expect from a country with strong classical music heritage.
@gddrew
@gddrew Жыл бұрын
I remember very well when the Iron Curtain began coming down. It was something I never thought I would see in my lifetime. Whenever enough humans come together and say enough is enough, marvelous things can and do happen.
@familyandfriends3519
@familyandfriends3519 7 ай бұрын
They deserve that wall for starting ww2
@pontifixmax
@pontifixmax 3 ай бұрын
With the Stasi listening in on everyone, not having a telephone in east Germany was probably a good thing.
@kchall5
@kchall5 Жыл бұрын
DW did an incredible production on the Stasi, its infamous chief Erich Mielke, and Mielke's even more notorious boss, Erich Honecker. It interviewed several former Stasi officers long after the dissolution of their organization and the country it controlled. To a man they appeared to be unrepentant.
@Listenerandlearner870
@Listenerandlearner870 Жыл бұрын
Vielen dank für die Untertiteln auf Englisch.
@jrobertsoneff
@jrobertsoneff 6 ай бұрын
I remember in England in the 50s u needed coupons to buy meat and sweets.
@orion5992
@orion5992 Жыл бұрын
Who wouldn't?!
@BenSeigal
@BenSeigal Жыл бұрын
Not enough!
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