Читать книгу Where in the World is the Berlin Wall?. 170 Sites around the World онлайн
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When they passed through Leipzig they were met with 5,000 protesters outside the station. The situation ended in riots which were met with a brutal reaction from the police and 1,300 arrests.
Despite the tense situation, the GDR went on celebrating its 40th anniversary whilst the people protested against their government.
On 9th October, when 70,000 people took to the streets, the police did not dare intervene due to the massive numbers of people – the verdict had been reached. The chant “We are the people” spread in no time at all. So-called Monday demonstrations had taken place in many towns in the GDR. On 4th November, half a million people demonstrated against the Government in Berlin and demanded democratic reforms. On 18th October, party and state leader, Erich Honecker, was forced to leave office. Nevertheless, the flow of refugees heading to the West did not slow down. The Czech government put the new GDR leadership under pressure to find a solution to slow down the flow of refugees. A travel act was quickly put together targeted at solving the problem and included rules about leaving the GDR legally. At the same time, efforts were made to make visits to relatives in the West as easy and straightforward as possible. SED official, Günter Schabowski, announced the rules at an international press conference. According to the rules, GDR citizens would be able to apply to leave the GDR without giving a reason and this would also be possible for travel being made to visit family and friends. Schabowski was not well-prepared when one of the journalists asked exactly when these rules would take effect. After a glance at his notes received from the newly appointed party and state leader Egon Krenz, came the decisive answer “immediately, without delay.”50 Reports from the western media were immediately released claiming that the Wall was open. On the very same evening, thousands of GDR citizens made their way to the border. No one informed the border troops on duty about the new regulations or instructions on how to implement them. Nobody was interested in the next announcement stipulating the necessity to apply for passports and visas. Workers at the border crossing on Bornholmer Bridge were faced with thousands of people wanting to cross. They saw no alternative than to open the border immediately. This was the night the Wall fell under pressure from the masses, the word “Wahnsinn” (madness) became the word of 1989.