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Walls old and new

February 18th, 2019 · Posted by Skuds in Life/Politics · No Comments · Life, Politics

While Donald Trump continues to try building his pointless wall, later this year it will thirty years since the Berlin Wall came down. Thirty years – where did it all go?

It was an exciting time. One girl from our office went straight out and booked a flight to Berlin so she could see the events unfolding and try to grab herself a bit of masonry while she was at it.

The next summer Roger Waters staged a performance of The Wall on the site of the wall and it was broadcst live on TV. I was at a house party in Shepherds Bush that night, but one room was reserved for people who wanted to catch this one-off event. Even after 6 or 7 months this ws still a big deal, as the consequences of it were still continuing.

When thinking about that time I am always reminded of the experience of my old lodger. She had lived in East Berlin and escaped to the West. She spent about three months going overland on foot and by train through Czechoslovakia and Austria to West Germany. She finally arrived in West Berlin in November 1989 just as the wall came down and walked straight back to her old apartment to pick up the belongings she had not been able to carry on her journey. How strange must that have been?

Historically there have always been celebrations about walls coming down, but walls going up are usually full of negative connotations, but Im sure Trump won’t let that stop him ploughing ahead with his white elephant vanity project.

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