Hans-Dietrich Genscher (1927–2016)

The world changed in 1989 with the opening of the Iron Curtain at the Austro-Hungarian border made possible by Gorbachev's perestroika and refusal of the military option. This book offers a dramatic retelling of the events as more and more East Germans started to flee into the German embassy in Prague. While the East German government was preparing its 40th anniversary ceremonies, the people were deciding with their feet and their Trabi cars to relocate to the West.

The book makes very clear that the German Communist government failed to develop a containment strategy and even added fuel to the crisis, e.g. when it sent refugee trains through its territory as visible proof instead of using the direct route between Germany and Czechoslovakia. Still, it could not have survived the emigration as it was the young and educated who wanted to go. The West German government, with foreign minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher in the lead, himself a former refugee, in contrast, delivered an outstanding performance using multiple levers in multiple places (New York, Prague, Berlin, Budapest, Vienna, Moscow) to crack the Communist resistance. In the end, it was the East German people demonstrating in masses that broke the regime. The government of the workers and peasants had no answer to the claim "Wir sind das Volk". The opening of the Berlin Wall to the citizens marked the end of the 40th anniversary celebrations of East Germany. Recommended.… (mais)