Lest I forget, Monday marked the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Two decades ago, I was a little girl in elementary school — and I can’t seem to recall hearing the news back then. I wonder what it was like to be a first or second grade teacher in 1989, unable to discuss this pivotal world event with your students. I can imagine the complications… for instance, in describing to young kiddos what was unfolding, these potential minefields could also surface:
Countries.
Borders.
Guards.
Checkpoints.
A gigantic wall.
Europe.
Germany.
Communism.
The Iron Curtain.
The Marshall Plan.
World War II.
Protests.
Death.
I think my teacher might have given up trying.
Two years after the collapse of the wall, I learned of the dissolution of the U.S.S.R. My father walked into my bedroom and informed me that the National Geographic map hanging on my wall was now incorrect. Unfortunately, he also continued allowing me to borrow books from the library with titles such as WEST GERMANY — which, without my previous knowledge of the fall of the Berlin Wall (see above) and without inclusion of an addendum clarifying current events, led elementary school me to continue in blissful ignorance of November 9, 1989 for a good number of years to come.
In addition, three other minefields, which hamper Germans from engaging in an all-out celebration of November 9th:
November 9th, 1918 — Kaiser Wilhelm abdicates and goes into exile two days before Germany surrenders, bringing an end to World War I and heralding years of post-war political and economic instability that ultimately culminated in the national socialists coming to power under Hitler.
November 9th, 1923 — Hitler launches an ill-fated putch to bring down the Weimar Republic.
November 9th, 1938 — Reichskristallnacht, in which the Nazis, now in power, burned synagogues, attacked Jews and vandalized Jewish property and businesses all across Germany.
November 9th is a date of enormous historical significance for Germany, most of it not at all positive.