20 Years

20 years ago I watched this very newscast and now it seems so unreal . Those of us watching couldn't imagine the sheer scope of what we were witnessing then and what would become.

Just before , Hungary had removed it's barrier with Austria and the Czechs were no longer keeping people from leaving . But the largest symbol of totalitarianism was still there and attempting to scale it equalled death .

A lot of people wanted to keep the majority of Europeans from enjoying freedom - Francois Mitterand equated the unification of Germany with promoting Nazism . Margaret Thatcher secretly met with Gorbachev and begged him to prevent East Germany from being free .

But this time , the PEOPLE won out . After a series of peaceful protests and defections , the hardline East German leader was replaced by Egon Krentz . After only 3 weeks as Chancellor , he decided to allow people to peacefully leave . It was supposed to take effect a week later , but due to an announcement snafu people would be allowed to go immediately . It could have been violent and chaotic , but it wasn't . In a matter of hours the same police officers that were ordered to kill were helping the elderly across and dancing with children . Families met at the border , some seeing their grandchildren for the first time . The gates that divided the world were opened in an instant and the world is a very beautiful and different place because of it . The arts , sciences , and sport have benefitted tremendously , but all of humanity scored the overtime goal on November 9th , 1989 .

For those of you who promote hatred and wars , remember the day that peaceful , law abiding people dramatically altered the course of history for the simple reason that it was the right thing to do .

This video appears courtesy of CBC television . If you repost it , give them credit .