They’re Building A Wall, But Not The One You Think
They’re Building A Wall, But Not The One You Think
Notes From The Field By Simon Black
November 13, 2019 San Juan, Puerto Rico
Bernd Lünser was by all accounts a popular, promising student.
He was studying civil engineering at the State Engineering School of Architecture in West Berlin in 1961.
Unfortunately, he lived in East Berlin. And during the summer break of that year, the Berlin Wall was completed, shutting off access from Western administered West Berlin from Soviet controlled East Berlin.
Suddenly the 22 year old Lünser found his prospects for a good education and prosperous life dashed.
In a desperate attempt at freedom, Bernd Lünser attempted to escape over the wall; he was one of the first East Berliners to do so.
Lünser climbed over some buildings that were part of the wall, and planned to scale down the other side with a clothesline.
But he was discovered and chased by guards on the East German side. Lünser ran, and ended up at a very high point on the wall.
Jumping from that height would kill him. But so would the East German guards in pursuit.
Luckily, firefighters from the Western side noticed his escape attempt, and they raced towards the wall with a net to assist Lünser. But they were fired upon by the East guards. West guards returned fire.
When Bernd Lünser finally got the chance to jump, he missed the net, and fell to his death. East German authorities did not allow his mother to attend the funeral.
Last weekend marked the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall-- the literal barrier which cut off the free world from the dystopian hell of socialist rule.
Countless people died trying to regain their freedom. For East Berliners, free speech, freedom of expression, the freedom to get a good education, was just over the wall.
Yet today, many Westerners are ready to flush these freedoms down the toilet.
For instance, a recent survey from Campaign for Free Speech found the majority of American respondents think the First Amendment is outdated.
And it was especially pronounced among younger people. 57% of Millennials agreed with this statement:
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