Presidential
Message Commemorating the 30th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall The White House 20191109
On this day in 1989, courageous
men and women from both East and West Germany united to tear down a wall that stood
as a symbol of oppression and failed socialism
for more than a quarter of a century. The
eyes of the world watched as a generation of East Germans reclaimed their God-given liberties with each successive
swing of their hammers. Today, we remember
those who perished at the hands of totalitarian regimes, and we recommit to ensuring
a freer and more just future.
For four decades, East German propaganda touted the existence of a thriving
workers’ paradise on their side of the wall.
Yet the dilapidated apartments and depleted grocery stores told a different
story. Parents yearned to give their children
more opportunity and purpose in life. Workers
hoped to earn decent wages. Churchgoers,
under the eyes of informants, longed to worship freely according to their own beliefs
and conscience. Under these difficult circumstances,
the citizens of East Germany took to heart the words of the influential German poet,
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: “He only earns his freedom and his life Who takes them
every day by storm.” Together, united in
a common and just cause, they risked their lives for freedom, and in doing so they
were the catalyst that lifted the Iron Curtain that had, a generation before, fallen
across Europe.
The Cold War has long since passed, but tyrannical regimes
around the world continue to employ the oppressive tactics of Soviet-style totalitarianism,
which have cast a long, dark shadow over history. （冷戰早已逝去，但世界各地的專制政權在繼續使用曾經在歷史上投下一個漫長、黑暗陰影的蘇聯式極權主義的壓迫策略。） The United States and our allies and
partners remain steadfast in our unwavering allegiance to advancing the principles
of individual liberty and freedom that have sustained peace and spawned unparalleled
prosperity. Let the fate of the Berlin Wall
be a lesson to oppressive regimes and rulers everywhere: No Iron Curtain can
ever contain the iron will of a people resolved to be free.
On the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, I congratulate the
German people on the tremendous strides that have been made in reuniting their country
and in rebuilding the former East Germany.
We will continue working with Germany, one of our most treasured allies,
to ensure that the flames of freedom burn as a beacon of hope and opportunity for
the entire world to see.
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