“30 Years Later: Another View of the Fall of the Berlin Wall”–Victor Grossman, via Portside

Victor Grossman, veteran journalist and author of A Socialist Defector: From Harvard to Karl-Marx-Allee, writes, based on his own lived experience, about the fabled “Fall of the Wall” in Berlin. Here are his latest thoughts on the subject, from Portside:

“Berlin — Media jubilation reaches a climax on November 9th, thirty years after the bumbling, perhaps even misunderstood decision to open the gate for all East Germans to stream through, hasten to the nearest West Berlin bank for their ‘welcome present’ of 100 prized West German marks, and taste the joys of the western free market system. Within less than a year they would end the experiment known as the German Democratic Republic to join, and fully enjoy, the wealthy, healthy, prosperous united Germany, with its freedom of the press, speech, travel and consumer bliss….”

Read Victor’s article at Portside