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3 people are killed, 230 injured (including 50 Americans). It was later blamed on Libya and was done with the knowledge of the Stasi.
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The East Germans overcame the embarrassment of this by denying that it happened at all.
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Lutz Schmidt and Peter Schulze try to break through in the southern suburb of Berlin near the Schonefeld Airport. Schmidt is shot through the heart and dies instantly. Schulze makes it across. The Stasi say that Schmidt was killed in an unfortunate traffic accident.
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"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall"
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- only month/year accurate
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There were even plans to create a 100 year wall. It would be more high tech and more impregnable than any previous ones.
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Believing that the "shoot to kill" order has been abandoned, Chris and a friend try to get over the wall. His friend is shot and wounded. Chris is the last to be killed trying to escape. Again the Stasi tried to cover up the killing but it causes an international outcry.
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Legalizes independent trade unions and calls for the first partially democratic election in June
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The East Germans had never admitted that the order existed in the first place so Honecker's decision remained a state secret. *only month/year accurate
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The dismantling of the Iron Curtain has begun. Hungary disables the electric alarm system and cuts through the barbed wire on its border with Austria.
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First tens, then hundreds of thousands of East Germans started heading for Hungary and Czechoslovakia. They wanted out. *only month/year accurate
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A peace demonstration at the Hungarian town of Sopron on the Austrian border turns into an exodus when Hungarian border guards hold their fire as 600 East German citizens flee to the West.
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Since movement between Communist countries is allowed, more than 30,000 east Germans seize the opportunity to escape. East German officials blame hate mongers in the west for inciting people to leave. They attempt to clamp down on their citizens.
East Berliners start to openly demonstrate. -
They chanted about freedom and shouted the slogan "We will stay HERE", these protestors posed a problem for Honecker since his way of dealing with dissidents had been to dump them in the West. These people wanted to stay
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But it's only broadcastin Leipzig
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Fearing the 70,000 Leipzig citizens who planned to attend, Mielke's order essentially gave forces a 'licence to kill' in the streets.
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and were stationed in the side streets near the Nikolaikirche. Hospitals prepared for an influx of wounded. But the demonstration did not turn to violent. The fact that the Russian occupation army did not show itself was proof that Gorbachev had confined them to their barracks. It was a turning point.
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More than 100,000 people marching in Leipzig. ADN admits that people are openly criticizing the gov't and not being arrested.
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Honecker exclaims "Now, surely we have to do something!" but no one else in the room suggested using force. The army chief of staff, Colonel-General Fritz Streletz specifically says he won't unleash his men. "We intend to let the whole thing take its course peacefully."
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During the Politburo meeting, Honecker asks if anyone would like to speak. Willi Stoph, chair of the Council of Ministers, says he thinks the first order on the agenda should be "The release of Comrade Erich Honecker from his duties as General Secretary and the election of Egon Krenz as General Secretary.
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The 20,000 gathered at the Red Town Hall hear him out but still call for more than he was prepared to give.
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A highly secret report was submitted to the new Politburo. It made clear what had been hidden; the country was a wreck and facing bankruptcy. The GDR had been taking short term loans to make interest payments on long term credit and using its credit worthy status to assume more debt. It was fraud on a massive scale.
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Gorbachev only promised to ask his friends in the West not to destabilize the GDR. Krenz returned to East Berlin empty-handed. The countdown to the end had begun.
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More than 1 million protestors call for free elections, free speech, truthful news and the right to travel. East German TV newsmagazine, Actuelle Kamera, covers it all.
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They were trying to appease the mounting protests
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During a routine press conference, he announces that applications for travel abroad can be submitted without further precondition. People starting flocking to the border crossings, quickly overwhelming the guards. By midnight, people were dancing on the wall.
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The former guardhouse is relocated to the Allied Museum
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