And the Wall Came a' Tumbling Down

The Berlin Wall went up in 1961, to keep the people in.

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And we said “Let them come to Berlin.”

There are many people in the world who really don’t understand, or say they don’t, what is the great issue between the free world and the Communist world.

Let them come to Berlin.

There are some who say — There are some who say that communism is the wave of the future.

Let them come to Berlin.

And there are some who say, in Europe and elsewhere, we can work with the Communists.

Let them come to Berlin.

And there are even a few who say that it is true that communism is an evil system, but it permits us to make economic progress.

Lass’ sie nach Berlin kommen.

Let them come to Berlin.


And we held our ground.

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And when the time came, we said “Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate!” and the people of Berlin said “Open this gate!”

In the 1950s, Khrushchev predicted: “We will bury you.” But in the West today, we see a free world that has achieved a level of prosperity and well-being unprecedented in all human history. In the Communist world, we see failure, technological backwardness, declining standards of health, even want of the most basic kind–too little food. Even today, the Soviet Union still cannot feed itself. After these four decades, then, there stands before the entire world one great and inescapable conclusion: Freedom leads to prosperity. Freedom replaces the ancient hatreds among the nations with comity and peace. Freedom is the victor.

On 9 November 1989, they did.

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And when the time came, we said “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

When the citizen can turn his back on the state the system has lost all power over him.


And the wall came a’ tumbling down.

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2 Responses to And the Wall Came a' Tumbling Down

  1. angelika ketzer says:

    dear JC…thanks for your blog about my formally hometown Berlin.we celebrate today the fall of the wall, which was a part of our country for such a long time. and I remember very well these days which was unbelievable impressing and touching us deeply.
    but even though Germany is a united country again, we all see that a lot of work is still left to realize the reunion in the minds of every German being.
    we still have a wall…inside of our minds. that makes me feel sad and disappointed.

    and…I agree…a Johnny Cash soundtrack to this incidence is not a bad idea šŸ˜‰
    thank you for sharing

    peace
    angelika

  2. John says:

    I remember sitting with my college roommates back in 1989, watching the events in Berlin unfold. I couldn’t believe that the Soviet state would disintegrate that way; that the Communist elite would yield. I knew liberty would win, but did not expect to see the day.

    Johnny would understand. He knew a thing about freedom, and hardship. Of grace and redemption. And what prisons of all sorts do to us all.

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