Reagan Library celebrates 20th anniversary of Berlin Wall coming down in Germany

HISTORIC WORDS—This is one of the original note cards President Ronald Reagan used on June 12, 1987, when he told then-Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall” during a speech in West Berlin. The cards will be on display through February in a Reagan Library exhibit that’s dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Twenty years ago next month, the Berlin Wall fell in Germany.

First built in 1961 and more than 87 miles long, the concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin was called an “anti-fascist protection barrier” by the East German regime and a “scar” by President Ronald Reagan.

“They always said it was a security wall to keep the west out. Well, it was to keep their people in,” said Rob Zucca, exhibit specialist at the Reagan Library.

But the chipping away—and eventual removal—of the barricade paved the way for the reunification of Germany and the advent of freedom and democracy in Eastern Europe.

To celebrate this historic moment, the Reagan Library opened a new exhibit Oct. 15 called “Fall of the Wall—The 20th Anniversary.”

The temporary exhibition tells the story of the Berlin Wall, from innocent people who sacrificed their lives for freedom to Reagan’s role in ending the Cold War and bringing down the Berlin Wall.

“It was his lifelong mission to bring the end of communism and he was able to do it, as Margaret Thatcher said, ‘without ever firing a shot,’” said Melissa Giller, director of communications for the library.

The exhibit will run through February.

The centerpiece of the exhibit is the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty that was signed by Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev on Dec. 8, 1987. Alongside the treaty is the pen Gorbachev used to sign it.

A copy of the treaty will be on display until Nov. 12 when the original document, on loan from the State Department, will be installed.

Taking up much of the exhibit space is a deactivated Cold War BGM-109 Gryphon, which is a type of U.S. ground-launched cruise missile. Though the treaty ordered that the missiles be destroyed, the Gryphon is one of eight deactivated examples retained for public display.

One of the more powerful pieces in the exhibit is a green portfolio containing two small notes from women in Soviet labor camps: a message to Reagan congratulating him on his 1984 election win in hopes of securing his help in getting their freedom and a schedule of hunger strikes.

Written in very small writing on tissue-thin paper, the messages are signed by 10 women who had been imprisoned in Gulag camps because of their human rights activism. The notes were smuggled out of the Gulag to Radio Free Europe and later put in a portfolio that was given to Reagan.

Also on view is a list of “Victims of the Wall,” which names those who were killed while trying to escape. In the middle of the list, which hangs above a Gulag prison uniform, is the image of a young Soviet soldier holding an AK-47.

“I can’t imagine being in that position, to be under orders to have to shoot anybody that tried to escape,” Zucca said.

The exhibit also includes:

•The 21 original speech cards used by Reagan to deliver his famous “Tear Down This Wall” speech on June 12, 1987.

•The navy pinstripe suit and cufflinks worn by the president during that speech.

•Two entries from Reagan’s diary: one from the day he gave his speech outside Brandenburg Gate and another with the president’s thoughts on the day he signed the INF Treaty.

•An American flag that flew over Checkpoint Charlie.

•A fragment of a destroyed SS-20 ballistic missile that was given to Reagan in 1991.

Concurrent with the exhibit, the library is displaying a 32-foot-long replica of the Berlin Wall, upon which both students and visitors can paint a message of freedom to represent the artwork put up by the people of West Berlin.

The high-density Styrofoam wall is outdoors, almost in the shadow of the library’s authentic piece of the Berlin Wall.

Lang Ranch Elementary School students tagged the wall recently and Wood Ranch Elementary students will tear down the wall on Nov. 9, the anniversary of the actual event.

On weekends the public can paint the wall from 1 to 2 p.m.

Zucca said he hopes that visitors walk away from the exhibit with an understanding of history so that it never happens again.

“Just imagine a wall running right down the middle of Simi,” he said. “I hope that maybe they can get some kind of concept of that. . . . Hopefully it will give people pause to think about how lucky we are to live here.”

Giller agreed, recalling a familiar quote by Reagan: “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.”

She said that even today, there are places such as Iraq and Afghanistan where American soldiers are fighting for freedom and democracy.

“They may not have a physical Berlin Wall,” she said, “but walls still exist.”

For more information, visit www.reaganfoundation.org/berlinwall.