Guenter schabowski autobiography sample
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Heroes Like Us
By Saint BRUSSIG
Translated by Toilet BROWNJOHN
Farrar Straus Giroux
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KITZELSTEIN
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Major historical events are shaped by a series of contextual factors, whether they are economic, political, social, or all of these at once. But sometimes, there is also an apparently minor element that, even if only as the final trigger, plays a role as notable as it is curious. This is what Graham Greene referred to in the title of one of his novels, the human factor, which is almost always unpredictable and often not very logical. A good example of this can be found in Günter Schabowski, an obscure official whose seemingly insignificant mistake led to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Two generations of people have now been born since that historical episode, so it is likely that many may not know what we are talking about. On the morning of August 13, 1961, Berliners woke up to a concrete wall, reinforced with barbed wire and watchtowers, built overnight by the Soviet bloc to separate the part of Germany that had been under its control since the end of World War II, the East, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), from the West, the Federal Republic of Germany.
The authorities called it the Antifaschistischer Schutzwall (Anti-Fascist Protective Wall) because they claimed its purpose was to protect the emerging socialist state from the infiltration of
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Official who precipitated fall of Berlin Wall dies aged 86
Pressed on when the headline-making regulation would take effect, he looked down at his notes and stammered: “As far as I know, this enters into force ... this is immediately, without delay.”
East German leader Egon Krenz later insisted he told Mr Schabowski to tell reporters to withhold news of the new travel regulation until 4am the next morning, so citizens could line up properly to get exit visas.
Mr Schabowski, a trained journalist, said he never heard Mr Krenz say that and it would have been unrealistic anyway.
“It was one of many foul-ups in those days,” he said. “We were acting under the pressure of events. I’m just happy that it went off without bloodshed.”
At the time, East German leaders saw opening the Berlin Wall as a relief valve amid huge pro-democracy protests and a flight of citizens to the West via other countries. Instead, it set in motion events that led quickly to German reunification on October 3, 1990.
Born on January 4, 1929, in the northern town of Anklam, Mr Schabowski rose through the ranks of East Germany’s media after World War II and became the chief editor of Neues Deutschland, the main communist party-controlled newspaper, in 1978. He became a member of the ruling Politburo in 19