In an exclusive interview to coincide with the anniversary of events in1989, we spoke to German Green Werner Schulz who saw the crowds gather to topple the iconic Berlin Wall and with it overthrow the East German regime in a cold November 20 years ago. He tells us of the events that day as a 39-year-old scientist and opposition activist and also what it feels like to have fought for freedom and democracy.
What do you remember about 4 November, 1989, when more than 1 million people demonstrated in Berlin?
This was the first free event of importance that I experienced in Berlin. People came from everywhere with incredibly creative and provocative banners, slogans and caricatures.
It was rumoured that the Stasi (the East German secret police) would cause an incident in front of the Brandenburg Gate to justify violent repression of the demonstration. That is why many friends of the opposition group "New Forum" (of which he was a founding member) wore sashes saying "No to violence". They were placed everywhere to prevent provocation.
On November 9, 1989, when the Wall fell, was it knocked down or were there already cracks?
The border was breached on 9 November, it was only later that it fell. The Iron Curtain was pierced that day, not by chance, but thanks to pressure from the street.
People were mobilised, everything was moving and that is why they flocked to the border crossing, after the opening of the border was announced on television.
Before, they would have been shot. But the soldiers were confused and the tension grew and grew. People were shouting: "Open, open!" They opened the border and people rushed to West Berlin.
Regardless of the wall, did the system collapse in on itself?
No, the system was overthrown. Regimes do not collapse like that by themselves. All those who say that the GDR was at its end are wrong. The regimes in North Korea and Cuba are maintained even though things are going from bad to worse for the people. Compared to Romania for example, people lived quite well in the old GDR. Nothing would have collapsed on its own. The regime was overthrown.
The problem was that it was impossible to stop people from taking to the streets. The first major unauthorised event on October 9 in Leipzig made the political authorities impotent. For the first time they were unable to prevent an event. This gave people the courage to do the same thing and we saw more events everywhere. The pressure continued and the ruling Communist SED party was forced to issue new rules governing the right to travel.
Erich Honecker announced in early 1989 that the wall would stay for another 50 or 100 years, while the reasons for its presence remained. But the only reasons for the wall were the SED and to stop people fleeing the GDR. And when the Iron Curtain became porous, it sounded the death knell for the SED.
Was the fact that the demonstrations were not suppressed as in Tiananmen square due to a decision by the East German leadership or an accident of history?
It's hard to say. On the one hand, officials threatened to crush the democratic movement like at Tiananmen and praised their "Chinese comrades." On the other hand, I'm not sure they really wanted something similar. The "old school" who had lived under Stalin would not have hesitated to stifle the revolution. Others were more hesitant. At the same time, a sort of palace revolution took place, so the chain of command failed.
In Leipzig on October 9, batons would not have been enough to stop 70,000 people. The police could have fired and it would have ended in a bloodbath. They waited for orders from above. But those above hesitated. The demonstrators, who despite their fears defied the ban, emerged victorious in this showdown.
What meaning do the events of 1989 have for you as an MEP?
Of course, it marks one deeply having won freedom and democracy oneself. Unlike West Germany, this is not something that we just received. I think people perceive the value of freedom and democracy very differently when they have been desired for years.
Also I am very sensitive to the situation in Eastern Europe and I worked a lot on the Russian problem, where there are people who are in a situation like the one we were in the GDR. Sometimes the situation is even worse because they are there for violence, it is not just bullying but a series of murders. That is why I am very committed to the Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of thought which was given to the Memorial Association this year.