Posted on 08/23/2023 1:05:29 PM PDT by lowbridge
At no time since the Second World War had such key events in German history taken place so directly on Czechoslovak soil as in the twelve weeks of the late summer and autumn of 1989, when an exodus of citizens of the German Democratic Republic, in three waves, traveled through the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic to reach the Federal Republic of Germany. And never, except for the Soviet-led military intervention in Czechoslovakia in August 1968, had Prague and its Lesser Town (Malá Strana) quarter – particularly the streets Tržiště, Vlašská, and Karmelitská – drawn so much attention from the world communications media and public.
Czech police try to stop wall jumpers
In the summer of 1989 no one had yet guessed that this would be the year of miracles, the definitive end of the Cold War, the year of democratic revolutions in the outer empire of the Soviet Union. True, there had been major changes in Poland and Hungary, a removal of the barriers on the Hungarian side of the border with Austria, and a clear statement from Moscow that the Brezhnev Doctrine, which limited the sovereignty of the individual Warsaw Pact countries, was a thing of the past. There were all sorts of indications that a breaking point was about to be reached. Yet no one, not even the intelligence agencies in the West, was able to predict that this would be the final crisis of the Communist system in Europe.
Two regimes – the Czechoslovak and the East German – had set themselves against the spirit of the times, and strove to resist the external factors pressing them to open up to democratization. This made them closer allies than ever before. The factors undermining the political stability of the GDR were numerous. The most obvious was the existence of another German state, one that was democratic and prospering; for decades, many GDR citizens had dreamt of getting into the Federal Republic. After August 13, 1961, the chance to flee the GDR by simply walking into West Berlin was closed off; henceforth the only way out was a risky defection. Later, after the so-called normalization of relations between the GDR and the Federal Republic, a complicated and thorny application procedure for permits for “long-term exit” to the Federal Republic was put into place. There was ransom for some East German political prisoners, and other ways of getting to the Federal Republic for citizens of the GDR who could not live there, or no longer wanted to.
In the summer of 1989 the world was witnessing events similar to things that had gone on in previous years, but sporadically, randomly, and rarely affecting more than a few hundred people. Now it became a mass phenomenon. First thousands and then tens of thousands of GDR citizens (predominantly young people and members of some professional groups), fed up with conditions at home and the hopelessness of life in the German Democratic Republic, decided to try and reach the West German territory. Some of them sought a way out by taking refuge at the West German embassies in Berlin and Warsaw, while most took advantage of the chance to travel to Hungary without a passport or visa, and then to Czechoslovakia. The Hungarian road forms an independent chapter of this story, thanks mainly to the willingness of the Hungarian authorities to open the doors to the exodus through the border with Austria, and to come to an agreement with the West German government on how to handle the problem regardless of existing agreements and treaties with the GDR.
In mid-August 1989 the West German embassy in Prague became the second most important refuge for East Germans trying to get into the Federal Republic. After August 20, so many of them were crammed into the West German embassy in the Lobkowicz Palais, in the Lesser Town, Prague, that the West German foreign ministry saw no choice but to close the embassy to public business. At that time the number of East German refugees taking shelter there was barely a tenth of the number it would be necessary to house and feed five weeks later, by the end of September 1989. The East German exodus through Czechoslovakia took place in three waves. The first was negotiated by Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher, and again three or four days later, on October 3 and 4, through East Germany. The final exodus began on November 3, this time directly from Czechoslovakia to the Federal Republic of Germany, without any bureaucratic obstruction.
“Czech police try to stop wall jumpers”
In a totalitarian state there are several entirely different meanings to the word “try”.
For example, “I tried to stop the wall jumpers, but I was unable to stop them” means something different than “I tried to stop the wall jumpers, and they didn’t listen, so we machinegunned them.”
Goodbye, Lenin! One of my all-time favorite movies.
Thank you for posting this. I heard the stories when I was there, but I never saw this footage.
My buddy and I flew to Prague from Moscow while others went to Berlin. It was a fantastic time and not as mad as when the wall came down. We were given pieces of the wall by friends who went that way. Prague stole my heart. What food, architecture and people!
Prague and Pilsen. Awesome!
Prague has become a bit of a tourist trap over the years.
I actually enjoyed Bratislava, a bit more tranquil than Prague.
But it’s a nice day trip from Vienna.
Pilsen for the Urquell!
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