I assume he meant that he learned of freedom in Germany by the lack of it. But that's just a guess...
Yup. He tried to convince people that he somehow got across to East Berlin on his bike when he was a kid without being shot. And SOMEHOW he was able to witness the oppression on people's faces on the East side.
I'm calling BS.
Okay, I may be only 50, but my childhood memories of the Berlin Wall always involved someone being shot for going to close.
I can hear the East German guard now "Don't shoot! That is the cute little boy who will one day grow up to be President because he was born in the West Wing! He will be our friend."
I went through Checkpoint Charlie in 1978 for an afternoon's stroll around the East side. It sucked. That evening, back in West Berlin at a dingy, loud hipster dive bar, I had a number of idiot lefty Krauts harangue me for the failings of America. (Same as it ever was...) What I learned in Germany was that the ability to make really good beer does not necessarily translate into the ability to tell your ass from a hole in the ground.
Does anyone believe that he was able to see the faces of the people there. The only thing visible was the razor wire on top of the wall which was quite high.