"The evening of 9 November 1989 began as usual for us. We (a group of young people) came together after work to have a party. None of us could ever have imagined that our entire lives would change during the course of that night. We were of course aware of what had been going on in the GDR in recent months but no one had anticipated anything like this. We were drinking and having fun when a friend burst in and said, 'You're not going to believe it, but they've opened the Wall.' Initially, we made fun of him but then we turned on the TV and saw the pictures. Incredible. The Wall had fallen. No one said a word. Bewilderment and disbelief reigned. 'What do we do now?' My boyfriend looked at me. 'We have to go out,' I said. We hastily put on our jackets and made our way to the nearest border crossing.
I can still picture the expressions and joy on people's faces as we went in the same direction together – towards freedom. Any number of people asked us, 'Is it true that the Wall's fallen?' We just nodded because we couldn't believe it either yet. I held my boyfriend's hand very tightly. I was afraid. I was afraid of what I'd heard about West Germany and how we'd be greeted. The streets were packed with people and Trabbis (on which people jigged and drummed). There was dancing and laughter, many were embracing one another. I watched with my eyes wide open. At the time I was nineteen. I would now have the opportunity to realise things that so many people had dreamed of doing. We got to the crossing and I felt even more scared. But also happier because we could see that the GDR sentries had cleared the area. We left the GDR – my God, what an incredible feeling. I thought of my grandmother and was sad that she was no longer around to experience this.
The so-called 'Wessies' were on the other side, on the West German side. A man, a total stranger, walked towards us and embraced us. He said, 'Great that you made it over. I will look after you. Don't go back. Who knows what's going to happen over there still.' After taking a photo we went to the Ku'damm. Wherever we went people hugged us and celebrated with us. They made sure we got something to eat and to drink, and even offered us somewhere to sleep. But the next day we wanted to go back. Many asked us, 'Why do you want to go back? Stay here with us!' But we had our families and work on the other side, in the GDR. And I did go straight back to work the next day. We'd been brought up knowing what our duties and responsibilities were.
However, I was shocked by what I saw at Schönefeld station. Families were simply leaving their children behind. Older children were running around looking for their parents, and parents with younger children were sleeping on the floor. It was a really awful sight. A regime, a system, a state had ceased to exist."
Manuela Scholz (East Berlin)
(11 rankings) 
