Question: Nothing displayed more openly the hypocrisy of the communist regimes in Eastern Europe and Russia than the building of a wall around the free part of Berlin -- a wall not to hold invaders out but to hold their own people in. Many people who grew up under the shadow of the Cold War -- like me -- or who lived under the iron boot of communism never dreamed we would see that wall come down, but it did! On the night of 9 November 1989, amid a lot of confusion and conflicting information, the gates were opened, East Berliners streamed into free West Berlin, and after that night the gates could not be closed again. Informal demolition of the Wall began almost immediately, and finally it was fully removed, with pieces of it scattered around the world as testaments to how freedom can be destroyed.
Tell us more about the Fall of the Berlin Wall -- what events led up to the gates being opened, what was the reaction in East Germany, in the West, and in Moscow, and what were some of the consequences?