Nov. 9, 1989: The Berlin Wall Falls

Special Report: Peter Jennings delivers "astonishing news" out of Germany.

[@albertwolford938]

the day when Europe,Germany and the whole world finally breathed a sigh of relief

[@SoloTravelerOffTheBeatenPath]

Now Europe is once again being destroyed, this time by Islamic invasion.

[@richardwu8371]

except for theresa may..

[@fjellyo3261]

Now history is repeating, like Marx said. The Nazis get the power again, a war will start (maybe the world gets totally destroyed). And then if the world is still alive socialism is comming up again...or maybe anarchy or anomy. Who knows!

[@leonittinoel2273]

@@fjellyo3261 Dude, you smoked to much weed XD

[@fjellyo3261]

@@leonittinoel2273 why? Look at the right movements all over the world.

[@unschuldshascherl]

I was 13 and I remember like it would have been yesterday. My parents born 1931/1936 and so I grew up with the stories of the World War 2, the Cold War and the wall. I was a little child but so grateful to live in West Germany and always it made me sad when my mother told me about East Germany and the Berlin Wall, how friends, neighbours and families were isolated from each other. And then came the time when Hungary opened the borders. I remember the great day when all the East Germans which came through there were waiting at the German embassy in Prag and our foreign minister Genscher made the speech to them: „Dear fellow countrymen, we have come here to tell you, today your exits are become possible.“ He had to make a break after „exits“, because the people jubilated and screamed. And at least the day of the fall, when people stood before both sides of the wall and shouted that the wall has to fall. Today often people say they want the wall back and that makes me angry. Mostly young Germans which don't know these times. Of course with the fall came problems. It cost and still does the West Germans a lot of money and many East Germans lost their jobs. Yes, in the DDR everybody had a job but if I had to choose between freedom and safety I would always choose freedom. And yes, we Germans are often a folk of carpers but I am never angry about anything it cost to give these people their freedom - and you must never forget what it meant to the whole world when this communism system and the cold war ended. It was a beginning and it didn’t end yet, that we don't have to forget, too. That day showed the world what men can accomplish if they stand together, and I mean all people from any countries which stood behind Germany these days and so it gave hope to people all over the world and it still should do so we never give up the fight for freedom and humanity.

[@brotalnia]

Every time i watch a documentary about the Berlin Wall i get so emotional i struggle not to cry. I can't even image what it was like for the people that lived it! Thanks for sharing your story.

[@FerdinandMadsen]

+brotalnia And She saids/says like ''No Problem'' xD.

[@coreyswilley4323]

Hostel Franz Ferdinand

[@FerdinandMadsen]

Corey Swilley What?!.

[@unschuldshascherl]

+Ferdinand Mapping Yes, what(tf) - that's what I think since _your_ first comment, too. Corey Swilley just topped it. Well, I am really that kind of woman which sais very often “no problem” (mostly before I do what has to be done) but not in this case. Actually I wrote some of the problems out. And I don’t think anybody with only a little general education could understand this in that way. People died for that. Yes, I am sure mankind can make possible nearly anything when people stand and fight together for it but I never told it would be easy for anybody.

[@EnglandFootballFreak]

Am I the only one who sheds a tear watching this? This was 4 days before I was born yet I shed a tear knowing this perhaps one of the top 3-5 moments of the 20th century.

[@buzzvideoz1822]

Rip Mr. Jennings.. the James Bond of Evening news.

[@joeyjamison5772]

Dan Rather was the Benito Mussolini of Evening News.

[@sanmarino8605]

I didnt even know he died rip

[@joe6096]

@@sanmarino8605 He died in 2005 of lung cancer. He was a heavy smoker, and unfortunately would have been completely healthy otherwise and still with us today if he simply didn't smoke, or had quit smoking earlier in life. Another clear message to everyone reading this: if you don't smoke, don't start. If you do, try your hardest to quit. If you quit early enough your lungs can recover, it's been proven your lungs can clear out and rejuvenate if permanent damage hasn't been made.

[@orlandoaguasvivas6580]

This gentleman was smart and very handsome…..Man crush

[@mikewrasman5103]

Peter Jennings died of lung cancer. He was an excellent anchorman.

[@sicily1973]

I was 16 and saw this exact broadcast. The defining moment for us GenXers. The Cold War was over! As Ronald Reagan said, 'tear down this wall'! Freedom for all!

[@gardendormouse6479]

I was 22. I felt so privileged to be a witness to history.

[@TWBiker]

I was a young submariner, wondering how it would affect us. I knew the answer within the year. Heady times, indeed.

[@abrahamlincoln8037]

Oh wow many older people are here! I am young at age 10 :)

[@CommanderBruh]

@@abrahamlincoln8037 gen alpha.

[@Styxswimmer]

I was 7 when the wall fell. My parents forced me to watch. I didn't understand what it meant at the time but now I know I witnessed history

[@davarus]

As my Grandpa(West German) before he died said: "I was 14. The was wasnt there. I went to the Cinema, and out of nowhere, it was forbidden to me to go to my mum. I was trapped inside east Germany. (He was allowed to go back to the west, where he and his family moved to Bavaria.) And then, i had my own kids, a beatiful daughter, two sons, and a dog. I went to sleep, well knowing, that i had to work tomorrow. The next morning i woke up, and all of a sudden learned, that 17 Million Germans are now Free." He passed away in 2015, after a surgery. He wanted that surgery, and knew that it is very very likely, that he whould'nt be awake after that. The Surgeon, a women, knew that too. He thanked her a last time, and told her, that it was his decision.

[@vincentmutel7313]

Moving story. Thanks for sharing.

[@mdhookey]

Peter Jennings. RIP. This was a very good moment for humanity. Now I can say I have lovely, dear friends in the old East Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland, all of whom would have been impossible to meet and know if the Eastern Bloc still stood.

[@shanewilhelmi693]

I was 18 when the Berlin Wall came down , i remember watching news reports all day and night long , i told my girlfriend , sweetheart we are watching history in making :)

[@dawnwelch6579]

I was 21 at the time...what incredible news this was! I watched the television for hours just to feel it!!!

[@ctboy1989]

I was born four days after this. 13-11-1989….for some reason I hold back tears watching this. Tears just come naturally and I have no idea why

[@marcuslockett3358]

I was a nine year old kid at this time living in Michigan, but I remember being just as excited as the people who were there. The excitement was so intense!

[@andrewlong6825]

I remember this like it was yesterday. At the time, I was a senior in high school and we were hosting a foreign exchange student from Germany.

[@dawnwelch6579]

“Walls can never contain nor hold apart The much-determined, close at heart The countless joyous voices sing All hands together joined; let freedom ring...” (The last 4 lines I just made up; hope it’s ok...) THIS happened 30 years ago TOMORROW. I was so happy! I remember seeing the incredible news all over television, on just about every single channel. I remember the JOY...on every single face...from the East and from the West...and all around the world.

[@landrecce]

30 years today! Happy Anniversary Germany!!! 🇩🇪🇩🇪🇩🇪

[@MultiFreddie13]

Ryan Potts ^30 years

[@landrecce]

@@MultiFreddie13 haha I'm an idiot! Thank you haha

[@MTC008]

I hope north korea collapses in the way how east germany did so NK will end peacefully without taking a war or single shot

[@SlimShady-l9t]

34 years now 🇩🇪

[@janeullman9047]

A great day and Peter Jennings is greatly missed.

[@cellytron]

Still love ya Peter! News hasn’t been the same since you left us

[@naganofan1]

It was up for 28 years and now it's been down for 28 years

[@Nmax]

Peter Jennings was there for all the important events in the world. He was a great Newe Reporter from a more civil time.

[@hwinkler4343]

"if someone sleeps for eight weeks, and you tell him what happens here, he thinks youre crazy"

[@TheKuLeR]

And the very next day Peter Jennings was broadcasting live from Berlin!

[@vincentbarney3091]

Rip Mr Jennings they don't make em like you anymore

[@nathanpetrovski7525]

I like the way the phone's sound in these old recordings. I wish they were still like that since I was never around to experience at myself.

[@livardo]

Holy shit, I was alive for this.

[@tohaz]

This and Sept 11, 2001 are the most monumental days of my Generation

[@spartansas36]

Ironic they're both 9/11 and 11/9

[@michelesanpietro3013]

It was a great day for humanity.

[@kascnef]

25 years ago on November 9 2014 next year marks 25 years since Germany reunited let's stay that way can't say the same for north and south korea

[@D2jspOFFICIAL]

one of the most important moments in history

[@PioneerGrrrl]

I remember that my mom kept us up all night watching.

[@emil.jansson]

This change the world forever!

[@catmandenny]

That was 30+ years ago but I can still remember marveling at the tv images of joyous people as they tore pieces big and small from that abhorrent wall. That was some party they all were having. Free at last!!

[@GeorgiaOverdrive]

He immediately flew over to Germany after this.

[@ShutTheMuckUp]

Yeah, to help the Scorpions write their best song ever, Winds of Change. Dude could do it all...

[@firedrake1713]

It’s crazy to think about how long that wall stood there. For 40 years that was just the reality of a Berliner’s life.

[@osterreichischerflochlandl4940]

28 years - it was built in 1961 and fell in 1989.

[@Hornswroggle]

"Nach meiner Information ist das ... müsste das sofort sein... unverzüglich" ---Günter Schabowski, SED, DDR Party chairman. ("According to my information this is... this should be now... without delay"; referring to the opening of Visa applications, This sentence is widely regarded of setting off the chain of events to bring the Wall down, the very same night)

[@apnhackerteam1756]

i am waiting for the memorial years (2019) in November 9th...

[@DemonofLight80]

Apn HackerTeam it’s here

[@chetwozniak7568]

I love PeterJennings. May he rest in peace.

[@paolocabling]

It has been 26 years...

[@ontheground4592]

Cavyn Mott Yeah, 28 years of rise and fall. The fall of the Berlin Wall is longer than the rise of it now.

[@j_b2397]

11/9/2020 we've just had another wild week here in the US this year, but this event in 1989 still tops it.

[@debjoy12]

it's funny, my boomer parents saw this on the news and assumed it was either an exaggeration or a mistake, until they saw the news again the next day when all hell had broken loose. then they were like O_O my mom said she was dazed because the wall was there for almost her whole life and she was so shocked that communism was collapsing in front of her eyes. (I'm assuming my dad thought something along those lines also but he's so quiet that trying to get opinions or stories out of him is like trying to pull teeth from a mule!)

[@imegatrone]

Your Video Is Very Useful Sharing Special Report: Peter Jennings delivers "astonishing news" out of Germany.

[@Gunner192]

Can you imagine being in West Berlin and out of nowhere, thousands of people just start showing up in the streets claiming they are from the other side of the wall.

[@Oberstbonze]

This is only partially true. The document for the freedom to travel should be thoroughly released. But it was accidentally released a few hours too early. When the oppressed people heard the news, people rushed to the checkpoints and the police were overwhelmed by the situation. Because the document was released too early, the police did not know what to do and let the people through the checkpoints. And so the Berlin Wall fell step by step.

[@richierich3541]

He just reported the news without commentary.

[@kallsop2]

Sadly, something we haven't seen since the late 90's early 00's.

[@blutfrosch]

@alinaahappy for the whole western and eastern world, actually; there's a reason the wall was nicknamed the "iron curtain". it virtually split europe in half

[@TPDManiacXC626]

This is Breaking News with Peter Jennings - Team America: World Police

[@asiangin]

I can’t even imagine the shock and excitement about being able to leave the east Germany. Man Germany from 1910-1990 would be an insane history course

[@Monkeylabs]

@Madridista28177 I wanted to ask... Just how did the wall come up and why wouldn't the families unite before the country was splitted? Didn't they know? Or were they weren't allowed to do so?

[@ShutTheMuckUp]

Peter Jennings was the best.

[@PerryCuda]

"Peter, there's a short Russian KGB officer in East Berlin who says he'll never give up." I wonder what ever happened to this guy. )

[@TheLocalLt]

Ignatius Putin wasn’t in Berlin he was in dresden although he also did say that he would never give up

[@MattKibblehouse]

I was born November 8, 1989. You're welcome everybody.

[@PC-lu3zf]

Freedom is great to see.

[@GamingPalooza]

Not only did they destroy their own skyscrapers, but they created a whole war with it, killed their own people in the process, and then got away with it even if we all know they did it... successfully.

[@oliviamann556]

So many years Families yearned to see each other again. And on that very day they could but so much can change after 28 years. Never forget Bad and good had happened. I’m always afraid that people looked into the bad things that happened to the point of forgetting the good that happens too. No one is perfect. But Never forget the bad things and good things everyone did. For better or worse we all must stand together. A sigh of relief was made but fear of another war will always linger.

[@finchborat]

Today's the 30th anniversary of the wall coming down.

[@jaybirddaniel387]

Peter was my favorite in the 80s never showed favorites always straight media today never be like him

[@MrDigitalman78]

I was 11 years of age when the Berlin wall came down signalling German reunification and the end of the cold war.

[@saraschieve]

I sat on Santa's lap and asked for a piece of that horrible wall in 1989. Santa had to take a break, I made him cry.

[@hyukal]

My host mother and my host father were in West Berlin when it happened. But they were playing cards while the wall was being broken down. The next morning, my host mother was shocked to see that the wall has been broken down! Of course, neither me nor my host brother were alive during this time but it's one of my favorite stories.

[@kapatidtomas]

_anyways;.. _*_who's here for nov. 9th, 2019.. fall of the berlin wall celebration?.. unintentionally coincidental_* 30 YEARS!

[@Oberstbonze]

No, the documet was released too early. It should be released on 10. November 1989, at 4:00 clock in the morning. :) Anybody - I forget who - wanted that the document should be released at this time. But someone has not read this note and took the document to the press release. And the spokesman, Günter Schabowski did not know that and published the document accidentally. :)

[@cartman1492]

I'm a proud American, but I have to disagree. The fall of the Berlin Wall which lead to the collapse of the Soviet Union was a monumental event, certainly the biggest event in my life so far.

[@DTD110865]

The Commies weren't that much better than the Nazis, 1207.

[@dr4876]

The commies were never better than the nazis, but you can't compare modern Germany to Soviet Russia

[@WDI2008]

The East German government was just a puppet of the Soviet Union.By this time the Soviet Union no longer had the means militarily and politically to back the East German Government.

[@hollypietrzak5214]

I think Peter Jennings was the very first reporter on site to cover this story?

[@heberpelagio7161]

The success of Stalin - the man who used to boast that he conquered the United States "from the plow to the atomic bomb in just a generation" - compared to Gorbachev's failure shows that a socialist economy is unable to function with a minimum of efficiency without requiring a massive dose of political violence. In an attempt to reform a decadent regime, Gorbachev moved faster with the process of economic opening in the hope of removing the predictable resistance that the Soviet bureaucracy would create to economic reform measures, as thorough proof with the failed attempt. coup d'état in August 1991 - which ended up precipitating the final crisis of socialism and the dissolution of the USSR itself Its Chinese parallel - Deng Xiaoping - adopted a logic diametrically opposed to that of Gorbachev: it prioritized the achievement of economic prosperity (adopting in practice capitalism) precisely to delay any attempt at political opening, as was evident with the acceleration of the economy. reforms after the Tiananmen Square massacre. It is important to note that it was Karl Marx himself who, in his Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, discerned the scenario in which the conditions for a social revolution process are formed, describing it as follows: “At a certain stage in its development, the material productive forces of society contradict existing production relations or - which is only their legal expression - with the property relations in which they have been active until then. From the forms of development of the productive forces, these relations are transformed into fetters of them. So, it is a time of social revolution. ' * By rejecting the pursuit of profit maximization as an instrument to stimulate innovation, socialist countries ended up condemning themselves to obsolescence. Thus, they lost the chance to incorporate the productivity gains made possible by technological progress. That is why the capitalist countries managed to provide a greater rise in the standard of living of their population, even without pursuing the egalitarian ideal. Therefore, until the “final crisis of socialism” (to paraphrase K. Marx's own definitions once again), it was only a matter of time. But religious fanatics do not give up on their faith, even against the indisputable proof of the facts, which completely refute it! * Reproduced according to MARX, K. Preface to the Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, organized by Florestan Fernandes and published under the title K. Marx: Theory and historical process of the social revolution, In Marx & Engels, Great Social Scientists Collection, History, vol. 36. São Paulo: Ática, 1983. p. 232. Commemorative edition of the centenary of Karl Marx's death

[@Bruh-hq1hx]

It isnt a failiure if Gorbatschev wanted this

[@usa02]

R.I.P. Peter Jennings, We all miss you!

[@tarikabaraka2251]

Jennings nació en Canadá el 29 de julio de 1938 en Toronto (Canadá) en el seno de una familia de periodistas. Su padre fue Charles Jennings.

[@dannygomes3159]

Right on my 9th birthday, November 9th...

[@kenshin891]

@KrykoStorm There were small side wars, the main ones being Korea and Vietnam, but none of the major NATO or Warsaw Pact nations ever directly fought each other. They just supported different sides.

[@axlrosea675]

true, but not even moscow saw this coming this fast

[@haxell007]

who would dislike this?!

[@ericsamuelson5656]

I was in 1st Grade when the wall started to go down

[@DTD110865]

Yeah the USSR was saying that all through it's existence, but it's the USSR that's gone instead!

[@lockhunter6956]

I'd heard the stories and learned about it in school, but it never hit home and showed just how real the situation was until instead of quarter I was given a West germany coin at work the other day.

[@andreasmeinke-mintel8300]

30 Jahre nun schon her - ich war damals 19 Jahre alt

[@GamesOfEnepic]

The strong conquer the weak. Everyone wants to be strong, but no one wants to go through the things required to be strong. Sparta because the greatest military power in Greece, because it only allowed the strongest of individuals to survive.

[@22espec]

All because someone made a mistake in a press conference

[@aissad]

See, this is what Im writing about. Why would anybody move? Because some people have broader mind than others. Some people wish to study abroad, learn foreign languages, get to know new culture, try something new and see what life brings to them. Its not only for money, although a lot of people move to a bigger city or abroad if they cannot cope in their hometown. Life is not black and white, and i am neither your friend nor enemy. Im just a youtube user!

[@GamesOfEnepic]

The nature of man will change. And the passing of greed will arise. A world of plentiful, of beauty, of challenge, of exploration, will only be the cause of this. Do not replace your emotions, with the will to compete. Do not deny this ever daunting feat in human history. There comes a time when all boys become men, where all species become civilized.

[@SenseiDasratt]

The "Cold War" was called the "Cold War" because it never really broke out into an actual war.

[@zarifsafwanhoque4127]

SenseiDasratt no shit

[@fjellyo3261]

Actually USSR and USA never fought directly against each other, but indirectly in some wars. For example the Vietnam war, or Korea war. Or Afghanistan, the USA made the Taliban great to fight against the Russian invasion...and now they fight the Taliban...

[@tdsfea3513]

@@fjellyo3261 there was no Taliban at the time. The Taliban were founded in October 1994 the Russians left Afghanistan in 1989.

[@aissad]

It is you who cannot understand what I am writing about. I am not talking of present times, I am just reminding the facts that tend to be forgotten, because they perhaps where less spectacular for a TV show. Also, you cannot understand the reasons of present emigration. First of all, the vast majority of those who left my country after 2004 are poorly educated (or educated at minor so called "universities" ) people from small towns and countryside.

[@DeeJaPhil]

My 7th birthday yippppeeeeeee

[@DeeJaPhil]

@@SoloTravelerOffTheBeatenPath 39 bad life I've had

[@GamesOfEnepic]

To say I do not use the sercratic method, implies that you know what the sercratic method is. What is the sercratic method?

[@maxm.1974]

I don't know what really happened in Berlin in 1989, but I know one thing for sure: the moans of Delphine Lassale under Lorraine Broughton drowned out all the sounds from the fall of the Berlin wall and from the fireworks!❤🌋💦👭😄

[@jasongates-]

RIP Peter Jennings.

[@cartman1492]

Jennings got one thing wrong. The East Germans didn't erect the Berlin Wall, the Soviets did.

[@williamlevy1981]

Before ABC sucked. Peter Jennings was worth watching.

[@finchborat]

ABC News died with Peter Jennings. They haven't been the same since he died. Hard to believe he's been gone for nearly a decade and a half.

[@mdhookey]

As you feel the need to berate people who live here in Central and Eastern Europe (including where I am, the Czech Republic), saying you "don't give a shit about them" while caring only for the old Soviet republics, I find it strangely puzzling that your youtube account also states that you live in the United States. Do pray tell me, have you ever lived in a former Communist country? I shall guess that your answer is negative. It must break your heart that a Soviet tank was painted pink here.

[@BigVolucris]

You don't say?

[@annwyche5471]

And it all happened that quick because of miscommunication, guess that was the moment miscommunication was good for something

[@axlrosea675]

und ich habs als kleines kind miterlebt. sehr geil. meine besten exfreundinnen kommen ausm osten

[@paulaward6764]

Boy, do I remember when that happened! Then in December, Romania's dictator was executed!

[@martcod7]

wtd, 420k views and no comments

[@kvader]

An entire country collapsed because someone misspoke.

[@GamesOfEnepic]

So this seems to be the video which you make your "initial points". I need not to refute them, for that is your purpose. Why should I waste my time refuting your argument when you take the lease amount of effort to refute them yourself?

[@commandoslayer]

Awesome!

[@mdwntramonkwa]

has anyone told anyone here that its better to keep religion and political views to yourselves?

[@cartman1492]

Technically, the East Germans didn't exactly have a say in the matter.

[@robotjj0009]

7 Years to the day b4 I was born.

[@inspectorgadget346]

I remember watching people standing in the wall waiving flags. Other taking sledge hammers breaking the wall.

[@bamsb90]

Ich bin ein Berliner!

[@GamesOfEnepic]

You show me superiority when you make cherry flavored toothpaste while people are still starving in the world.

[@antennasky]

Your comment is totally irrelevant to the oppression and brutality of communist countries. Brutality and dictatorship are not signs of strength. True strength comes from winning the hearts of the people.