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H-Diplo Roundable XXII-10 on Ha ison. A e he Be lin Wall: Memo y and he Making
o he New Ge many, 1989 o he P esen
© 2020 The Au ho s
Published e sion
Maie , Cha les; Ahonen, Pe i; Fenemo e, Ma k; Fulb ook, Ma y; G ay, William
Glenn; Kieninge , S ephan; Ha ison, Hope M.
Maie , C., Ahonen, P., Fenemo e, M., Fulb ook, M., G ay, W. G., Kieninge , S., & Ha ison, H. M.
(2020, Oc obe 26, 2020). H-Diplo Roundable XXII-10 on Ha ison. A e he Be lin Wall: Memo y
and he Making o he New Ge many, 1989 o he P esen . H-Diplo. h ps://ne wo ks.h-
ne .o g/node/28443/discussions/6632323/h-diplo- oundable-xxii-10-ha ison-a e -be lin-wall-
memo y-and
2020
H-Diplo ROUNDTABLE XXII-10
Hope M. Ha ison.
A e he Be lin Wa : Memo y and he Making o he New Ge many, 1989 o he
P esen
. New Yo k: Camb idge Uni e si y P ess, 2019. ISBN: 9781107049314 (ha dback, $34.99).
26 Oc obe 2020 | h ps://hdiplo.o g/ o/RT22-10
Round able Edi o s: Thomas Maddux and Diane Lab osse | P oduc ion Edi o : Geo ge Fujii
Con en s
In oduc ion by Cha les Maie , Ha a d Uni e si y ............................................................................................................................. 2
Re iew by Pe i Ahonen, Uni e si y o Jy askyla, Finland .............................................................................................................. 6
Re iew by Ma k Fenemo e, Manches e Me opoli an Uni e si y ................................................................................................ 8
Re iew by Ma y Fulb ook, Uni e si y College London .................................................................................................................... 15
Re iew by William Glenn G ay, Pu due Uni e si y ............................................................................................................................ 17
Re iew by S ephan Kieninge , Independen His o ian ................................................................................................................... 20
Response by Hope M. Ha ison, he Geo ge Washing on Uni e si y ......................................................................................... 23
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In oduc ion by Cha les Maie , Ha a d Uni e si y
o ead hese i e e iews in conjunc ion wi h e- eading Hope Ha ison’s book, which I had he chance o examine
in page p oo s abou a yea ago, is a eminde o how li ed expe ience becomes w i en his o y. In my case, o much
o he i s decade a e he wall came down, I was ying o balance my own judgmen s o he Ge man Democ a ic
Republic (GDR) as I p epa ed my own wo k, Dissolu ion.1 Mo i a ing ques ions hen we e how poli ically au onomous he
GDR had e e been, whe he he loyal ies i engende ed could ha e su i ed he disappea ance o So ie suppo , whe he
he uphea al o 1989 was an au hen ic adical mo emen o jus a e lec ion o So ie leade Mikhail Go bache ’s changing
policies, and whe he he coun y’s quasi-annexa ion by he Fede al Republic was ul illmen o o eclosu e o a new poli ical
expe imen . A succeeding wo decades and mo e o his o iog aphy ha e p o ided many ins i u ional s udies ha ha e
add essed hese issues and many o he aspec s o GDR socie y and o Eas Ge man collec i e memo y. Ha ison’s
con ibu ion now gi es us, in e ec , he his o y o he memo y o Eas Ge many in he yea s since i s ex inc ion.
I ag ee wi h he p eponde ance o he e iewe s ha A e he Be lin Wall is a e i ic book. As Ma y Fulb ook says igh a
he beginning o he commen s, i is “comp ehensi ely esea ched, beau i ully w i en.” I also, as Fulb ook acknowledges,
aises ques ions ha he au ho chose no o ully plumb. Ha ison p o ides a s o y o memo y ‘ac i is s,’ who we e
de e mined o p e en he ecollec ion o he Be lin Wall, and he iolen and au ho i a ian aspec s o li e in he GDR, om
ading om Ge man na ional consciousness. I is uly a his o y o con es ed public memo y b ough up o he hi y-yea
commemo a ion o he b each o he Wall in No embe 2019. I is based on con inuing in e iews and culling o he
documen a y eco ds and he p ess. As Fulb ook w i es “E e y signi ican anni e sa y ep esen ed a signi ican shi in sel -
unde s andings in ligh o he changing poli ical conside a ions o di e en pa ies, while pa ochial, na ional and
in e na ional ac o s played in o changing emphases o e ime.” Pe i Ahonen, who almos a decade ago published Dea h a
he Be lin Wall,2 ag ees ha “no hing in he p e ious li e a u e comes e en close o he scope and ange o Ha ison’s
monog aph.”
Fulb ook aises he issue aken up by Ha ison in he i s majo chap e : wha esponsibili y should be assigned o he
bo de gua ds who sho a emp ed bo de c osse s. By he e ms o he uni ica ion ea y he GDR ag eed ha uni ed
Ge many could y human igh s iola ions. Ha ison compellingly spo ligh s pa en s who los sons in ea ly and la e
a emp s o c oss he bo de s ip; she epo s ha a o neys o he young gua ds a gued ha hey had been compelled o
ac , while hei judges op ed o hei accoun abili y and con ic ed hem, bu ga e ligh sen ences. The au ho goes on o
summa ize he ials o he policy make s who app o ed he ha sh en o cemen o measu es o en o cing he Wall egime:
Gene al Sec e a y o he Eas Ge man Socialis Uni y Pa y E ich Honecke (un il his ial was in e up ed o heal h
easons), Heinz Kessle , head o he NVA o a med o ces, Gün e Schabowski, who had announced he opening o he
Wall and la e exp essed some emo se, Egon K enz, who was b ie ly head o he expi ing GDR be o e i s las p emie , Hans
Mod ow, and a ew o he s—we e ied and sen enced o ou o he Wall shoo ings. (When I had he chance o alk wi h
Egon K enz mon hs be o e his a es , he eminded me ha he Uni ed S a es had ex ac ed i s Sou h Vie nam allies by
helicop e as ha go e nmen collapsed in 1975, and he was bi e ha he So ie s had no insis ed ha as a p ice o Eas
Ge many’s assen o he uni ica ion ea ies he e should be no ials.) The legal p oceedings in e ec o m he p elude o
Ha ison’s book and illus a e he s ong eelings le by he anished egime. I would ha e liked some mo e discussion o
he ju isp uden ial deba e, o e esponsibili ies o obeying o de s, bu his migh ha e been a dis ac ion om he ocus on
public memo y—a e m I hink mo e p ecise han ‘collec i e memo y’— ha is Ha ison’s majo ocus.
1 Cha les Maie , Dissolu ion: The C isis o Communism and he End o Eas Ge many in 1997 (P ince on: P ince on Uni e si y
P ess, 1997).
2 Pe i Ahonen, Dea h a he Be lin Wall (Ox o d: Ox o d Uni e si y P ess, 2011).
T
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Mos o he book conce ns deba es o e memo ializa ion and Ha ison ollows he memo y ac i is s: Pas o Man ed
Fische whose u ban Reconcilia ion Chu ch had been des oyed o make a mo e seamless wall zone, also Raine Hildeb and
and his wi e Alexand a—William Glenn G ay’s designa ion o hem as memo y en ep eneu s is ap —who pu oge he he
Checkpoin Cha lie Museum ha is popula wi h ou is s and hen e ec ed 104 c osses o indi idual ic ims on a p i a e
si e. She ollows he o icial Bundes ag and Be lin deba es abou he public memo ials o be e ec ed along he Be naue
S asse c ossing poin s, he con ending design p oposals, and he lu king issues o how o jux apose hese monumen s wi h
he Holocaus memo ials. Ma k Fenemo e’s e iew is he mos ese ed abou Ha ison’s achie emen , and he mos uneasy
abou he memo y ‘e angelis s.’ He a gues ha while he au ho summa izes he seconda y li e a u e, she has “less o say
abou i s o e all meaning o Be lin and o Ge many.” He inds Hildeb and a dicey igu e, ci ing his CIA connec ions as
well as his ‘handle s’ desc ip ion o him as psychopa hic; “To be i ed up enough o olun ee o he ask o documen ing
su e ing and shaping his o ical commemo a ions, one mus , o a ce ain ex en be bo h ex o e and eccen ic.” Pe haps
so, bu would we use ha language, say abou Elie Wiesel? In sho Fenemo e’s desc ip ions cas doub on he cha ac e o
men al balance o he memo y ac i is s, and o be su e hey do seem a bi like Cole idge’s Ancien Ma ine , impaling he
wide communi y wi h an uncom o able ale i may no always wan o hea .
Fenemo e sugges s ha Ha ison could ha e de o ed mo e a en ion o he his o ical deba es and con o e sies abou he
na u e o he Eas Ge man egime. I pe sonally would ha e app ecia ed mo e co e age o hese, bu hey would ha e
equi ed a di e en book. As a ellow a he new Po sdam Cen e o Con empo a y His o ical Resea ch (ZZF) in 1994,
which was hen headed by Jü gen Kocka, I emembe he bi e ness o hese deba es, as younge dissiden his o ians who had
been been ‘ elega ed’ in he GDR, i.e., expelled om uni e si ies, c i iqued he new ins i u ion o p o iding a so landing
o o he his o ians who had made hei peace wi h he academic ins i u ions o he Eas Ge man egime. Ha ison’s
ci cumsc ibed ocus does cu o some o he in ellec ual con o e sy, whe he o e he whole ap ness o he e m
Un ech ss aa o o he ‘second’ Ge man dic a o ship on an implici pa wi h he i s . Bu he concen a ion on he cen al
symbol o he Wall also p o ides he g anula econs uc ion o public memo y
I am less ce ain abou Fenemo e’s aul ing Ha ison o lack o an h opological heo izing abou he wall as a “bounda y
be ween compe ing sys ems o meaning.” The Be lin Wall, o cou se, was only he las link in he closed bo de be ween he
wo Ge man s a es. Daphne Be dahl, Edi h Scha e , and o he s ha e sough o ea he mo e u al s e ches o he inne -
Ge man on ie as a so o uzzy bo de zone, whe e he communi ies on bo h sides o he bounda y lea ned o na iga e a
egion ha had i s own sepa a e logic.3 Bu he Be lin link in ha na ional on ie was so non-po ous, so po en ially le hal,
ha I am no ce ain i can be eigh ed wi h all he an alizing ambigui ies his so o his o y likes o celeb a e. Whe e he
c i ique seems mo e use ul is in i s implica ion ha i would ha e en iched he book o conside he wo Be lins du ing hei
en o ced sepa a ion, and hen a e uni y. The expe ience o hose who did a el ac oss he on ie o amily isi s o e en
as GDR expellees would pe haps ha e enabled a mo e o al eco e y o his s ange expe ience o Ge man-Ge man sunde ed
na ionhood.
Pe i Ahonen, whose posi i e judgmen I ci ed abo e, also has ese a ions e en as he ecognizes ha he au ho “pain s on
a b oad can as and does so clea ly and luen ly” and ha he book “is a majo achie emen by a leading schola .” Re e ing o
Ha ison’s ea lie book on he de elopmen s ha led o he cons uc ion o he in amous ba ie , D i ing he So ie s up he
Wall: So ie -Eas Ge man Rela ions, 1953-1961, Ahonen ag ees ha Ha ison has now become he key au ho i y on bo h
he p e- and pos -his o y o he mos p ominen symbol o he Eu opean Cold Wa .4
3 See Daphne Bedahl, Whe e he Wo ld Ended: Reuni ica ion and Iden i y in he Ge man Bo de land (Be keley: Uni e si y o
Cali o nia P ess, 2007); Edi h She e , Bu ned B idge: How Eas and Wes Ge many made he I on Cu ain (New Yo k: Ox o d
Uni e si y P ess, 2011).
4 Hope M. Ha ison, D i ing he So ie s up he Wall: So ie -Eas Ge man Rela ions, 1953-191 (P ince on: P ince on Uni e si y
P ess, 2003).
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S ephan Kieninge ’s en husias ic e iew seizes on Ha ison’s linkage o he pos -Wall memo y en husiasm wi h FRG
Bundespäsiden [o Fede al P esiden ] Richa d on Weizsäcke ’s celeb a ed 1985 speech on he 40 h anni e sa y o
Ge many’s uncondi ional su ende in 1945, which asked Ge mans o con on hei collec i e esponsibili y o he c imes
o Na ional Socialis Ge many. The speech was indeed ema kable; along wi h Wes Ge man Chancello Willy B and ’s
“Knie all” (kneeling) a he si e o he Wa saw ghe o in 1970 (and I would say oday’s Chancello Angela Me kel’s much
c i icized s a emen abou accep ing e ugees in 2015—“Wi scha en das”), Weizsäcke ’s add ess was one o he g ea
expa ia o y ges u es o pos wa Ge man his o y. Bu was he decision o build a monumen a he Wall si e, he equi alen
so o acknowledgemen ? I has i ingly memo ialized Ge man human igh s iola ions agains o he Ge mans. CDU
pa liamen a ian and ea lie GDR dissen e Gün e Nooke’s no ion ha Eas Ge mans who had su e ed had he eby a oned
o Nazi c imes was a biza e calcula ion. Pe haps i should be seen as a ci il wa monumen , no o a los cause, bu a
eminde o injus ice a home, somewha akin o he Bi mingham Alabama museum o he ic ims o pos -ci il wa
acism—and by a egime a less iolen o hose i supp essed. Ha ison sees he wall memo ial, I hink, as a usion o
Weizsäcke ’s call o con i ion and he accep ance o Ge man na ionhood as a sou ce o no mal loyal ies and p ide. I would
ag ee.
E e y book, e e y ine book, necessa ily excludes o he books. I ha e long had a p oblem wi h he many ea lie books ha
ocused on i s wall and i s sudden b each in 1989, as i ha was he decisi e e en among he ema kable ans o ma ions o
1987-89. I was a b u al expedien e en i i was clea ha he egime could no su i e wi h an open bo de . A e all, he
GDR aced a unique p oblem among he Eu opean Communis s a es, which was he exis ence o a p ospe ous and libe al
Ge many jus a subway ide away. Bu he decisi e openings o he on ie —no he mos symbolically eigh ed pe haps—
we e b eached in he summe by he Eas Ge mans who used he Hunga ian decision o open hei bo de wi h Aus ia, and
hen by hose in he Wes Ge man embassy a P ague. And he decisi e poli ical ac ions ha made a ision o libe a ion
plausible we e he e i al o Solida i y om 1987 h ough ea ly 1989 in Poland. In he GDR, he equi alen success ha
ehabili a ed Eas Ge man ci ic cou age was no he almos se endipi ous opening o No embe 9, bu he mobiliza ion o
opposi ion in Leipzig and hen Be lin be ween Sep embe and No embe .
Ce ainly he Wall dese es o be emembe ed as he majo symbol o a egime ha could no eally ha e exis ed o so long
wi hou he So ie p esence. The eal monumen o hose who we e con ined behind i and wo ked o b ing i down is he
ac ha along so many o he kilome e s along which i once s e ched, i is now ha d o ind any ace o i s p esence. Many
his o ians—and I include mysel —ha e dwel on wha I p e e o call public a he han collec i e memo y because we wan
socie ies o accep esponsibili y. No all memo ialize s wan socie y o accep esponsibili y; hey wan o ask o
ecogni ion o hei own su e ing o s igma ize hose who had a ole, e en as bys ande s, in imposing i . Fo all he
e oca ion o memo y s udies, wi h hei some imes mys ic esonance, Hope Ha ison’s ex ao dina y and o en a ec ing
s udy makes i s ma k by exempli ying he e ol ing poli ical uses o he pas ; and he e iews by hese accomplished his o ians
o di ided Ge many ecognize he achie emen
Pa icipan s:
Hope M. Ha ison is P o esso o His o y and In e na ional A ai s a The Geo ge Washing on Uni e si y in Washing on,
D.C. He i s book, D i ing he So ie s up he Wall: So ie -Eas Ge man Rela ions, 1953-191 (P ince on: P ince on
Uni e si y P ess, 2003) won he Ma shall Shulman book p ize om he Ame ican Associa ion o he Ad ancemen o
Sla ic S udies and was published in Ge man ansla ion as Ulb ich s Maue : Wie die SED Moskaus Wide s and gegen den
Maue bau b ach (Be lin: P opyläen, 2011). She is beginning a p ojec examining li e and dea h along he Eas Ge man
Bal ic Sea bo de .
Cha les S. Maie ecei ed his Ph.D. om Ha a d Uni e si y in 1967 and is cu en ly Le e e Sal ons all Resea ch
P o esso o His o y a Ha a d Uni e si y. Conce ning he hemes discussed in his o um, he published Dissolu ion: The
C isis o Communism and he End o Eas Ge many in 1997 (P ince on Uni e si y P ess), and has con ibu ed o The

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Camb idge His o y o he Cold Wa and The Camb idge His o y o Communism. His mos ecen book was Once wi hin
Bo de s: Te i o ies o Powe , Weal h, and Belonging since 1500 (Ha a d Uni e si y P ess, 2016).
Pe i Ahonen is P o esso o His o y a he Uni e si y o Jy askyla in Finland, which he joined in 2014. He ecei ed his
PhD in mode n Eu opean his o y om Yale Uni e si y in 1999 and p e iously augh a he Uni e si y o She ield and he
Uni e si y o Edinbu gh. His main publica ions include Dea h a he Be lin Wall (Ox o d: Ox o d Uni e si y P ess, 2011)
and A e he Expulsion: Wes Ge many and Eas e n Eu ope, 1945-1990 (Ox o d: Ox o d Uni e si y P ess, 2003).
Wi h a Ph.D. in Ge man S udies om Uni e si y College London, Ma k Fenemo e is Senio Lec u e in Mode n
Eu opean His o y a Manches e Me opoli an Uni e si y. Au ho o Figh ing he Cold Wa in Pos -Blockade, P e-Wall
Be lin. Behind Enemy Lines (London: Rou ledge, 2019), he is cu en ly wo king on a s udy o policing in ou -powe ,
pos wa Be lin om 1945 o 1949.
Ma y Fulb ook, FBA, is P o esso o Ge man His o y a Uni e si y College London. He mos ecen book, Reckonings:
Legacies o Nazi Pe secu ion and he Ques o Jus ice (Ox o d Uni e si y P ess, 2018) won he 2019 Wol son His o y P ize.
William Glenn G ay is an associa e p o esso a Pu due Uni e si y in Wes La aye e, Indiana. He is he au ho
o Ge many’s Cold Wa (Uni . o No h Ca olina P ess, 2003) and nume ous a icles and book chap e s on Ge man o eign
ela ions. His second monog aph is in p ess unde he i le T ading Powe : Wes Ge many’s Rise o Global In luence om
Adenaue o Schmid . A p ojec explo ing Ge man capi alism and he Global Sou h is unde way, wi h special emphasis on
human igh s and economic de elopmen in B azil’s mili a y dic a o ship.
S ephan Kieninge is an Independen His o ian and he au ho o wo books on he his o y o dé en e and Eu o-A lan ic
secu i y: The Diplomacy o Dé en e. Coope a i e Secu i y Policies om Helmu Schmid o Geo ge Shul z (London: Rou ledge,
2018) and Dynamic Dé en e. The Uni ed S a es and Eu ope, 1964–1975 (Lanham: Rowman & Li le ield, 2016). His
cu en esea ch looks in o NATO enla gemen and he sea ch o he pos -Cold Wa o de . He ecei ed his Ph.D. om
Mannheim Uni e si y. Fo me ly, he was a Pos doc o al Fellow a Johns Hopkins SAIS, a Fellow a he Be lin Cen e o
Cold Wa S udies and a Senio Resea ch Associa e a he Fede al Ge man A chi es.
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Re iew by Pe i Ahonen, Uni e si y o Jy askyla, Finland
s a si e o memo y in con empo a y and pa icula ly pos -1945 his o y, he Be lin Wall knows ew i als. Whe e e
one looks in he his o y o Ge many, he Eu opean Cold Wa o i s a e ma h o e he pas six decades, he Wall
looms la ge. I symbolizes he di ision o Ge many, he bi u ca ion o he con inen in o hos ile blocs, and he
mani old agic consequences o he a med bo de ha an h ough he hea o Eu ope. I also e okes mo e posi i e images,
pa icula ly om i s inal s ages and a e ma h: esis ance o a bi a y con ols and au ho i a ian ule, people’s powe in a
momen o libe a ion, and a sea ch o uni y in he pos -Cold Wa wo ld. The Wall’s con inuing memo y-poli ical
signi icance o Ge many is ob ious, bu i also e ains conside able esonance o he es o Eu ope and he wo ld beyond i .
The s o y o i s pos -1989 commemo a ion is complex, con lic ual, and mul i-laye ed, and ackling i wi hin he con ines o
one monog aph poses a conside able challenge.
Hope M. Ha ison ises o ha challenge admi ably in his a - anging, well- esea ched and highly eadable s udy. She
ackles he opic comp ehensi ely, s a ing wi h a lea ned bu ligh - ouch in oduc ion abou he heo e ical unde pinnings
o he s udy o collec i e memo y and “’his o y policy’ (Geschich spoli ik)” in pos -uni ica ion Ge many and hen p oceeding
o a ho ough examina ion o key s ages in he coun y’s con on a ion wi h he Be lin Wall and i s legacies (19). Ad ancing
oughly ch onologically, he book i s su eys he ea ly pos -uni ica ion ush o emo e he Wall om he Be lin ci yscape
and he accompanying judicial eckoning wi h he Ge man Democ a ic Republic’s (GDR) bo de gua ds and hei mili a y
and poli ical supe io s o c imes commi ed a he ba ie . In he nex s ep, Ha ison aces he g owing in e es in
commemo a ing he Wall om he ea ly 1990s onwa ds, mani es in he de elopmen o p ominen memo y si es, especially
he Wall memo ial a Be naue S asse and i s long- e m i al, he Checkpoin Cha lie Museum. Bo h ins i u ions
o iginally a ose om p i a e ini ia i es, bu , as Ha ison shows, go e nmen al au ho i ies, a bo h he ci y and ede al le els,
subsequen ly g ew inc easingly in ol ed in hei ac i i ies, h ough unding, planning, and a concomi an co-op a ion o
so s, pa icula ly in he case o wha g ew in o he o icial Be naue S asse Memo ial Ensemble. As a esul , public
commemo a ions o he Wall, especially o i s e ec ion and collapse, de eloped an inc easingly high—and a he
poli icized—p o ile in he new millennium. A he same ime, he pe spec i es and pa adigms ep esen ed in hose
commemo a ions g adually became mo e di e se. Al hough he emphasis on he Wall’s ic ims ha had domina ed in he
ea ly pos -uni ica ion e a emained p ominen , Eas Ge man pe pe a o s, pa icula ly on line bo de gua ds, began o
ecei e mo e nuanced a en ion as well, and he dynamics behind he Wall’s e en ual collapse, abo e all he ole o Eas
Ge man ci izens as “peace ul e olu iona ies,” eme ged as a new ocus o commemo a ion and, indeed, celeb a ion (338).
In acking such changes, Ha ison aces he e olu ion o wha could be labelled he p e ailing mas e na a i e behind he
public commemo a ion o he Be lin Wall du ing he pas h ee decades: a shi om an o iginal ocus on “ he GDR as an
Un ech ss aa o a dic a o ship” o a mo e ecen “he oiza ion” o he Eas Ge man “opposi ion ha c ea ed a Peace ul
Re olu ion and oppled he Wall” (420). She con incingly po ays he la e na a i e as “a new ounding my h abou he
all o he Wall and he bi h o he new uni ed Ge man na ion ou o he i s success ul, democ a ic, Peace ul Re olu ion,
capi al P, capi al R, in Ge man his o y,” al hough she also indica es ha in he las ew yea s hese hope ul, e en jubilan
lessons d awn om he e en s o 1989 ha e been empe ed wi h new conce ns abou i s and di isions in Ge man socie y
(337). In building he analysis, Ha ison ocuses p ima ily on key anni e sa ies o he Wall’s e ec ion (13 Augus ) and i s
collapse (9 No embe ), he eby combining he s udy o auma ic memo ies wi h he much less widely p ac ised explo a ion
o “joy ul and posi i e ypes o memo y,” which has ecen ly eme ged as a deside a um o memo y s udies (26). Ano he
me hodological ocal poin o he book is i s p io i iza ion o “memo y ac i is s,” pa icula indi iduals whose engagemen
has been impo an in p omo ing and de eloping he commemo a ion o he Wall in i s di e en aspec s and who ha e
he e o e o med “a key link be ween pe sonal memo y and collec i e memo y” (16). Ha ison’s analysis o he
con ibu ions and li e s o ies o hese ac i is s consis en ly d i es he book’s na a i e.
A e he Be lin Wall is a s udy wi h many me i s. I s comp ehensi eness is an ob ious majo s eng h. Al hough ea lie
s udies ha e add essed pa icula aspec s o he public memo y and commemo a ion o he Be lin Wall, no hing in he
A
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p e ious li e a u e comes e en close o he scope and ange o Ha ison’s monog aph.5 In many ways, hen, his is he
cu en s anda d wo k on he opic. The book’s nuanced con ex ualiza ion o he Be lin Wall’s shi ing posi ion wi hin he
much b oade memo y-poli ical landscape o pos -uni ica ion Ge many cons i u es ano he key asse . Ha ison is ca e ul o
loca e he s o y o he Wall’s commemo a ion wi hin he pa ame e s o memo y ba les ha ha e aged—and con inue o
age—abou he ways in which he GDR as a whole should be emembe ed and ep esen ed, pa icula ly in ela ion o he
p e ious and immensely mo e b u al Ge man dic a o ship and i s c imes. Th oughou he s udy, Ha ison pain s on a b oad
can as and does so clea ly and luen ly, wi h con iden s okes and a p esen a ional s yle ha is g ace ul and highly eadable.
He e he emphasis on he con ibu ions o pa icula memo y ac i is s adds use ul lai o he s o y. The book is also
equen ly qui e mo ing, mos no ably in i s po ayal o he human su e ing caused by he Wall. A good example is he
de ailed accoun o he e o s o Ho s Schmid , he a he o Michael Schmid , who was sho dead a he age o wen y in a
ailed escape a emp om Eas o Wes Be lin in Decembe 1984, o come o e ms wi h he loss o his son (46-55). In
addi ion, he na a i e includes nume ous s iking de ails and li le igne es. Who knew, o ins ance, ha he highly
ained bu mal ea ed dogs ha he GDR bo de gua ds used o pa ol some o he Wall zone would occasionally u n
agains hei mas e s? Appa en ly one such dog p e en ed bo de soldie s om shoo ing a an escaping mo he and child
and o ced he men o un a e hem ins ead (298).
Al hough he emphasis on selec memo y ac i is s as he nexus be ween pe sonal and collec i e memo y is a dis inguishing
ea u e o Ha ison’s s udy and one o i s s eng hs, ce ainly on he p esen a ional le el, i also aises some me hodological
ques ions. Does i un he dange o placing oo much weigh on he impac o pa icula indi iduals, as opposed o la ge
en i ies and b oade o ces? Simila ly, whe e should one d aw he line be ween indi iduals who me i inclusion as memo y
ac i is s and hose who do no ? Wisely, Ha ison cas s he ne wide, paying a en ion o a conside able ange o no able
ac o s, people om eas and wes , om go e nmen and ci il socie y, om e y a ied pe sonal and poli ical backg ounds.
E en so, howe e , i is emp ing o que y some o he omissions. Fo example, he mo he o he las Eas Ge man escapee
sho a he Wall, Ka en Gue oy, whose son Ch is was killed in Feb ua y 1989, ea u es only on he ma gins, despi e he
e y ex ensi e public p esence as an ad oca e o Wall ic ims in pos -uni ica ion Be lin, and one migh also wonde why
some o he leading p o essional his o ians who ha e se ed in p ominen ad iso y oles on Wall- ela ed ma e s, such as
Ma in Sab ow o he Zen um ü Zei his o ische Fo schung in Po sdam, do no me i mo e a en ion as memo y ac i is s.
Finally, he emphasis on indi idual ac i is s also aises po en ial sou ce p oblems. To be ai , Ha ison d aws ca e ully and
c i ically on a wide sou ce base, anging om policy pape s and pa liamen a y deba es o p ess epo s and exhibi ion
ma e ials, bu a good pa o he accoun o many memo y ac i is s’ con ibu ions elies on he in e iews ha she
conduc ed wi h hem. Does his pose he dange ha he book’s analysis could end up e lec ing some o he
(sel -)pe cep ions and (sel -)na a i es o pa icula indi iduals, he eby pe haps o e -emphasizing hei ela i e impo ance?
O e all, howe e , i is clea ha A e he Be lin Wall is a majo achie emen by a leading schola , a s udy ha will, o he
o eseeable u u e, se he s anda d o any se ious explo a ion o uni ied Ge many’s memo y cul u e su ounding he Be lin
Wall. Wi h he addi ion o his book o he ea lie , p ize-winning monog aph on he diploma ic backg ound o he building
o he Wall, Ha ison has now became he key au ho i y on bo h he p e- and pos -his o y o he mos p ominen symbol o
he Eu opean Cold Wa .6 And ha is no mean ea .
5 See, o example, Klaus-Die ma Henke, ed., Die Maue : E ich ung, Übe windung, E inne ung (Munich: Deu sche
Taschenbuch Ve lag, 2011); Sybille F ank, Wall Memo ials and He i age: The He i age Indus y o Be lin’s Checkpoin Cha lie (London:
Rou ledge, 2016); Di k Ve heyen, Uni ed Ci y, Di ided Memo ies? Cold Wa Legacies in Con empo a y Be lin (Lanham: Lexing on
Books, 2008).
6 Hope Ha ison, D i ing he So ie s Up he Wall: So ie – Eas Ge man Rela ions, 1953-1961 (P ince on: P ince on
Uni e si y P ess, 2003).
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Re iew by Ma k Fenemo e, Manches e Me opoli an Uni e si y
he wall ha an h ough Be lin om 1961 o 1989 o ms a majo pa o he pos -wa Ge man memo y landscape.
Be lin is impossible o imagine wi hou he ou decades o Cold Wa ension, o he deadly ba ie ha di ided he
ci y o 28 yea s. P ize-winning o eign-policy his o ian, Hope M. Ha ison, es ablished he academic epu a ion
s udying diploma ic ela ions in he un-up o he 13 Augus 1961 c isis.7 The e is a pleasing symme y in he ac ha an
academic who has s udied he causes o an e en o phenomenon can also go on o assess i s a e ma h and legacy. I he
cons uc ion o he Wall ended a chap e o he Cold Wa , mos people, inside and ou side o Be lin, see he all o he Wall
as he s a ing ac o Ge man ( e)uni ica ion. Some would add ha i also helped he Fede al Republic on i s pa h owa ds
ehabili a ion on he in e na ional s age.
The cons uc ion o he Be lin Wall was a po en , geopoli ical ac , he symbolic d awing o a line in he sand. I ab up ly
es ablished a di ision be ween ‘us’ and ‘ hem’ by imposing a ha d, po en ially le hal bo de . The Eas Ge man egime
claimed ha i was hwa ing people- a icking and an imminen , ‘impe ialis ’ in asion a emp . Ha ison does no dwell
on he pe iod o he open bo de ha las ed om 1945 o 1961, o Be lin’s legacy as a dispu ed ‘ on ie ci y’ in he Cold
Wa . She does no specula e on whe he , h ough hei ac ions in exploi ing Wes Be lin’s behind- he-lines posi ion, no
leas h ough co e in elligence ga he ing, p opaganda, and sub e sion, he Wes e n Allies c ea ed a necessi y o a ha d,
igid bo de . Ins ead, she s esses i s imposi ion as an ex eme mani es a ion o he Cold Wa , in which Ge mans we e
equi ed o kill o he Ge mans in o de o sho e up he So ie sys em. The bes es ima e is ha 140 mos ly una med
ci ilians we e killed a he Be lin Wall.8 In all, Ha ison es ima es ha nea ly a housand people died because o he
imposi ion o a mili a ized bo de be ween Eas and Wes Ge many (11). Like Wall his o ian Pe i Ahonen,9 she co e s
he peculia mo al landscape o bo de se ice, seeing he Wall as an unequi ocal symbol o Communis manipula ion and
opp ession, equen ly esul ing in unwa an ed dea hs akin o mu de . Calcula ing he ma e ial as well as he human cos ,
Ha ison con ends ha he ask o main aining he Wall as a “deadly bulwa k” employed ens o housands (13).
Ne e heless, she di e en ia es be ween he “anxious young men” who ollowed hei o de s and he ule s who issued he
shoo - o-kill policy (420).
Ha ison p o ides some blow-by-blow accoun s o would-be escapes o demons a e how he bo de agen s us a ed hem.
A e ( e)uni ica ion, he au ho i ies pu o e i e hund ed bo de gua ds and hei commande s on ial. Some claimed o
ha e pulled he igge in o de o a oid demo ion o ans e . A ew Eas Ge man gua ds sough o blame he So ie s o
he dea hs. Howe e , Gene al Sec e a y o he Socialis Uni y Pa y o Ge many (SED) E ich Honecke ’s emo al o sel -
igge ing SM-70 splin e mines, in 1984, shows ha as Eas Ge man leade he possessed leeway and, he eby, a la ge deg ee
o esponsibili y.10 Asked why he did no shoo , a gua d leade (Pos en üh e ) blamed his own cowa dice: “Weil ich zu eige
wa .” The judge esponded ha , i he e e an emained a cowa d o he es o his li e, i would be a good hing.11
7 Hope M. Ha ison, D i ing he So ie s up he Wall: So ie -Eas Ge man Rela ions, 1953-1961 (P ince on: P ince on
Uni e si y P ess, 2004).
8 Hans-He mann He le and Ma ia Nooke, eds., The Vic ims a he Be lin Wall, 1961-1989. A Biog aphical Handbook (Be lin:
Ch. Links, 2011).
9 Pe i Ahonen, Dea h a he Be lin Wall (Ox o d: Ox o d Uni e si y P ess, 2011); Ahonen, “The Be lin Wall and he Ba le
o Legi imacy in Di ided Ge many,” Ge man Poli ics and Socie y 29:2 (2011), 40-56.
10 “Eas Ge man Gua ds Remo e Sh apnel A ms om Bo de ,” New Yo k Times, 1 Decembe 1984.
11 Tes imony o he bo de soldie Mike Schmid om he Ch is Gue oy case a he Bo de T oops T ial, 8 Ma ch 1996, in
Roman G a e, Deu sche Ge ech igkei : P ozesse gegen DDR-G enzschü zen und ih e Be ehlsgebe (Munich: Siedle , 2004), 121.
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Re iew by Ma y Fulb ook, Uni e si y College London
omp ehensi ely esea ched, beau i ully w i en, A e he Be lin Wall ocuses on ‘memo y ac i is s’ and he ways in
which di e se g oups and selec ed indi iduals played key oles in eme ging con es s o e how he Be lin Wall
should be emembe ed in public. Hope M. Ha ison has engaged in exhaus i e esea ch no only in he ele an
a chi es, bu also h ough in e iews wi h indi iduals who we e in ol ed in a a ie y o ways. She aces how
di e en ini ia i es we e a iously able o make a ma k in changing his o ical con ex s in he h ee decades since he Wall
was i s b eached on No embe 9, 1989.
Ini ially—as wi h ememb ance o he Holocaus in he ea ly yea s a e he end o he wa — he p ima y ocus was on
ic ims; in he case o he Wall, hese we e he indi iduals who had been killed while ying o escape om Communis Eas
Ge many. A he same ime, howe e , he e was also a widesp ead desi e o u e ly des oy all physical emnan s o he ha ed
symbol o di ision. I ook qui e a s uggle on he pa o commi ed indi iduals—no ably Pas o Man ed Fische a
Be naue S aße— o ensu e ha a leas a sho sec ion emained pa ially in ac and ga e some indica ion o he b ead h o
he no-man’s land, he a ea wi h ipwi es and ank acks and dogs, ha had o be a e sed be o e eaching he well-known
conc e e blocks ha had o be scaled be o e eaching he Wes . In explo ing how he p ese ed emains and aes he ic
memo ials a Be naue S aße, along wi h i s exhibi ion and Chapel o Reconcilia ion, ul ima ely became a concen a ed
cen e o memo y, Ha ison anges om he poli ics o he pa ish pump—almos li e ally, as wo chu ches ied o e he
signi icance o he land— h ough o he wide poli ics o uni ied Ge many. Bu o he si es we e signi ican oo. Key
memo y ac i is s anged om G eens and o he s de e mined o c ea e an en i onmen ally iendly and li e-enhancing cycle
pa h, all a ound Be lin on he acks o he o me Wall, h ough o he en ep eneu ial di ec o o he p i a e Checkpoin
Cha lie Museum, Alexand a Hildeb and , who a one poin c ea ed a ield o c osses o ep esen hose who had died. As
Ha ison explo es he wis ed and con inually con es ed ou e o he e en ual dominance o he Be naue S aße si e, she
also illumina es he changing shape o he enla ged Fede al Republic om uni ica ion unde Ch is ian Democ a ic Union
(CDU) Chancello Helmu Kohl, h ough he Social Democ a ic Pa y (SPD)-G een coali ion o 1998-2005 headed by
Ge ha d Sch oede , o he long-las ing hancello ship o Angela Me kel om 2005.
While key physical si es o memo y we e iden i ied and de eloped, ce emonies o ememb ance we e bede illed by wide
deba es a ound wha memo ialisa ion migh mean. The ini ial ocus on ic ims widened o include pe pe a o s, and posed
ques ions on how o po ay he Ge man Democ a ic Republic (GDR), he Cold Wa , he ole o Wes Ge many, and e en
he cha ac e o he new Be lin Republic i sel . E e y signi ican anni e sa y ep esen ed a signi ican shi in sel -
unde s andings in ligh o he changing poli ical conside a ions o di e en pa ies, while pa ochial, na ional and
in e na ional ac o s played in o changing emphases o e ime. Memo ialisa ion o he Wall p esen ed a complex se o
challenges a ound concep ions o shame, guil , and p ide in ha ing achie ed ‘ eedom and uni y’ wi hou (much) bloodshed
in 1989-90.
The alloca ion o guil is a pa icula ly in e es ing aspec o his issue. Mos ob iously, o cou se, he e we e he bo de
gua ds a he on line who had o shoo would-be escapees. They we e p edominan ly consc ip s a he han olun ee s,
d a ed in o bo de du ies du ing hei compulso y mili a y se ice. O e he 28 yea s in which he Wall was in exis ence,
mo e han hal a million young men expe ienced he exc ucia ing combina ion o bo edom and e o ha such se ice
en ailed, and we e caugh be ween he push and pull o ea s and inducemen s, cons an ly e alua ing he likely esponses o
hei colleagues and supe io s. They wo ked in e e -changing pai s, and we e kep unde close su eillance; he e was a high
pe cen age o S asi in o me s among bo de gua ds. How o po ay hese men was p oblema ic, as e idenced in
con o e sial ep esen a ions in ilms and documen a ies. Thei p edicamen —no ha ing much choice abou whe he o
no o shoo , o o delibe a ely miss hei a ge — aised wide ques ions abou who was ac ually esponsible o ha ing gi en
hem he o de s o shoo . We e he pe pe a o s in ac hose in command, a he han he consc ip s a he on line? Bu
he ques ion o guil could no s op he e. Fo who was ac ually esponsible o he e y ac ha he e was a Wall in he i s
place? Was i he Socialis Uni y Pa y (SED) unde Wal e Ulb ich , o was i a he he So ie s who should be held o
accoun ? Was he Wall in some sense jus i iable—be e a Wall han a wa , as many on he le ended o pu i ? And,
indeed, once ic ims and pe pe a o s had come unde he spo ligh , wha o he esponsibili y o bys ande s? Why was i
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ha he wes e n powe s, and pa icula ly Wes Ge many unde he hen Chancello Kon ad Adenaue , chose no o
in e ene in Augus 1961? He e, igh -wing and le -wing iews cu iously coalesced, as many conse a i es who suppo ed
Adenaue ’s s ance also appealed o he a gumen ha a Wall was be e han wa . Mo eo e , o e ime i became
no malised, a ea u e o he ozen peace in he Cold Wa . O e he yea s, wes e n ou is s who s ood on he iewing
pla o ms looking o e he dea h s ip came o pe cei e his simply as an in e es ing ea u e, a he han a s imulus o
p o es . E en on he GDR side, mos Eas Ge mans had li le choice bu o esign hemsel es o he ac ha he Wall
exis ed, and o igno e i as bes hey could, accommoda ing hemsel es o he egime and making he bes o hei li es o an
inde e mina e u u e.
Ha ison ske ches in some de ail he di e ing iews o memo y ac i is s on hese issues, bu does no explici ly o e he own
assessmen s; one has o u n o o he books (including some o he own p e ious wo k) o each an e alua ion o he
his o ical issues.39 He conce n he e is a he o elucida e wha he a gumen s we e among he p o agonis s in hese memo y
ba les. The e is, hen, in e ec no ‘ex e nal adjudica o ’ o eali y check on he memo y con es s; only a de ailed endi ion
o who el wha was a s ake a any gi en ime, and wha comp omises we e eached among hose wi h he esou ces o
engage in shaping he isible and symbolic landscapes o memo y o he Wall.
Ha ison’s wo k is a imes mo ing, when she desc ibes indi idual expe iences. A imes, i is densely in o ma i e and on
occasion he de ails h ea en o become o e whelming. Bu Ha ison i mly keeps he eade on ack as she po ays he
laye s o emo ional and poli ical as well as his o ical complexi y in coming o e ms wi h his ecen pas .
The book also aises wide ques ions which go beyond he scope o he s udy. The mos in iguing, o me, ha e o do wo
pa icula ea u es o ep esen ing, a e he e en , li e wi hin a dic a o ship.
One conce ns he somewha p oblema ic ways in which pe pe a o s can ep esen hemsel es, o be po ayed by o he s, as
being also in some sense ‘ ic ims o his o y’ - a dange ous endency when applied o he p eceding Nazi dic a o ship. I was
his so o slippage ha occasioned he ow o e U.S. P esiden Ronald Reagan’s ill-chosen ema ks conce ning his isi o
he Bi bu g ceme e y wi h Chancello Helmu Kohl in May 1985, when Reagan sugges ed ha young men in Ge man
uni o m se ing he Nazi egime we e essen ially also ic ims, on a pa wi h ic ims in he concen a ion camps. While ha
pa icula ly eg egious commen a oused in e na ional ou age, many Ge mans ne e heless el —o a leas la e claimed—
ha hey had been cons ained in o suppo ing he Nazi cause. The ques ion o deg ees o choice and indi idual agency is
key no only o legal de ences (‘only obeying o de s’) bu also o how people y o li e wi h a di icul pas and subsequen ly
po ay hemsel es in a good ligh , despi e complici y o in ol emen in pe pe a ion.
The o he ques ion, which again Ha ison’s wo k adumb a es bu ba ely de elops, ela es o he po ayal o ela i ely happy
pe sonal memo ies o he sense o ha ing li ed wha was seen as a ‘no mal li e’ unde a egime ha has been disc edi ed. The
issue o nos algia o he GDR is gene ally explained in e ms o ose- in ed memo ies o a sense o secu i y, and widely
discoun ed; he memo ies o ‘good imes’ unde Nazism in he 1930s a e a ely jux aposed wi h he ques ion o ‘a whose
expense.’ These pa e ns o memo y and sel -jus i ica ion a bo h a pe sonal and public le el in ela ion o he wo
dic a o ships would bea u he discussion and compa a i e analysis.
This ascina ing book does much o illumina e he ways in which con es ed ques ions abou he memo ialisa ion o he
Be lin Wall we e deba ed by a ange o ac o s in an e ol ing s o y. This exhaus i e accoun will ce ainly a ain a classic
s a us on his opic, and aises wide issues ha , building on Ha ison’s wo k, dese e u he discussion.
39 See o example: Hope M. Ha ison, D i ing he So ie s up he Wall: So ie -Eas Ge man Rela ions, 1953-1961 (P ince on:
P ince on Uni e si y P ess, 2003); Pa ick Majo , Behind he Be lin Wall: Eas Ge many and he F on ie s o Powe (Ox o d: Ox o d
Uni e si y P ess, 2010).
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Re iew by William Glenn G ay, Pu due Uni e si y
is o ies o he p esen se e as a cla i ying lens. So much ge s los in he blu o day- o-day e en s; e en he keenes
obse e s o con empo a y Eu ope can quickly lose ack o EU o NATO o G-7 summi s om one season o he
nex . Along comes an au ho such as Adam Tooze, whose 2018 ome C ashed p o ides an essen ial o ien a ion o
he pas en yea s— om he inancial c isis o Eu o-aus e i y o he ise o populism. In Tooze’s na a i e, dispa a e e en s
ha i ually all his eade s ha e li ed h ough ake on a g ea e semblance o cohe ence. We begin o cha he passage o
ime in la ge uni s han days o weeks, and o disce n he con ou s o longe - e m de elopmen s. Fo all he limi a ions ha
a ‘p esen is ’ ou look can impose, a well-c a ed wo k o con empo a y his o y es ablishes key na a i e lines ha ende he
immedia e pas mo e legible.40
Hope M. Ha ison’s A e he Be lin Wall co e s a longe ime span han Tooze’s book, bu he e, oo, eade s will ind
lee ingly obse ed—o e en pe sonally wi nessed—ce emonies con ex ualized as a dis inc his o ical p ocess o memo y
o ma ion. She demons a es con incingly ha a new memo y cul u e has eme ged in uni ed Ge many o e he pas hi y
yea s. To be su e, ‘his o y and memo y’ is a long-es ablished gen e in he Fede al Republic. Sco es o monumen s ha e been
e ec ed in ecen decades o mou n Ge many’s ic ims du ing he e a o he Wo ld Wa s. Holocaus memo y emains he
mos signi ican locus o commemo a i e poli ics, as Ha ison eadily acknowledges; ye he Cold Wa is eme ging as a
seconda y node o o icial memo y, wi h he Be lin Wall a i s symbolic co e. In depic ing h ee decade’s wo h o
con o e sies su ounding he Wall and i s meaning, Ha ison o e s ich insigh s in o how Ge mans concep ualize na ional
iden i y oday.
Gi en ha he Fede al Republic mo ed i s sea o go e nmen o Be lin mo e han wo decades ago, he p ominence o Wall
memo y migh seem sel -e iden . Ye Ha ison shows ha i ook de e mined indi iduals—memo y ac i is s, as she calls
hem— o a e he comple e demoli ion o he Be lin Wall in he win e o 1989-1990. Thei swi in e en ions helped o
p ese e ce ain sec ions o he o iginal conc e e, including he “Eas Side Galle y” (a ow o pain ed and epain ed slabs)
and a mo e mundane, mo e ep esen a i e bo de s ip a Be naue S asse. Ha ison iden i ies Man ed Fische —a
Lu he an pas o whose pa ish spanned he Wall a his loca ion—as he mos p ominen ad oca e o a pe manen memo ial
a Be naue S asse; bu she goes on o ske ch ou he pe sonali ies and ca ee s o nume ous o he ci y and ede al
adminis a o s wi h a hand in unding wha became a museum, chapel, s udy cen e , and ou doo display.
Despi e i s his o ical signi icance, Be naue S asse was somewha ou o he way and less amous han o he poin s along he
Wall’s 140-km ou e enci cling Wes Be lin. In one o he mos engaging chap e s, Ha ison highligh s he sa y
showmanship o Raine and Alexand a Hildeb and —p op ie o s o a p i a ely owned, ou is - iendly museum a
Checkpoin Cha lie. His o ians o en sni a he abloid-s yle sensa ionalism on display he e, wi h ales o da ing escapes
and g uesome dea hs along he Wall du ing i s 28-yea exis ence. To Ha ison’s c edi , she akes he couple se iously as
memo y en ep eneu s. In 2004, o example, he newly widowed Alexand a ins alled hund eds o c osses ac oss om
Checkpoin Cha lie—allegedly ep esen ing e e y single Wall ic im. Hildeb and ’s esea ch was sloppy and he
p esen a ion p oblema ic, ye he public esonance was undeniable. In demons a ing he insa iable ou is demand o
knowledge abou he Wall, he Checkpoin Cha lie spec acle helped o shake loose municipal and hen ede al suppo o
sys ema ic esea ch in o hose who died along his un o gi ing conc e e ba ie .
Memo y s udies ypically poin o anni e sa y celeb a ions as he p incipal d i e s o memo y cul u e.41 The Be lin Wall
o e s a igh o a ion o his o ical da es o commemo a e: Augus 13, 1961 ( he building he Wall); No embe 9, 1989 ( he
40 Adam Tooze, C ashed: How a Decade o Financial C ises Changed he Wo ld (New Yo k: Viking, 2018).
41 Fo examples in a Ge man con ex , see Ma y Fulb ook, Ge man Na ional Iden i y a e he Holocaus (Malden, Mass.: Poli y
P ess, 1999), Jon Be nd Olsen, Tailo ing T u h: Poli icizing he Pas and Nego ia ing Memo y in Eas Ge many, 1945-1990 (New Yo k:
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all o he Wall); and Oc obe 3, 1990 ( he euni ica ion o Ge many, which is o en seen as he logical culmina ion o he
Wall’s collapse). Gi en he Ge mans’ penchan o ound anni e sa ies, his made o apid- i e sequences: 1999 (10 yea s
since he all), 2000 (10 yea s o uni y), 2001 (40 yea s since he Wall’s cons uc ion); 2009 (20 yea s), 2010 (20 yea s),
2011 (50 yea s); and so o h. Each anni e sa y miles one has ea u ed a bu s o museum exhibi s, schola ly lec u es, book
publica ions, and solemn speeches. Mos spec acula a e he wall- umbling exe cises in cen al Be lin. Ha ison ecoun s
dominoes alling in 2009, balloons lying in 2014, and p epa a ions o musical pe o mances ac oss he ci y in 2019. E en
du ing ‘o ’ yea s, Augus 13 and No embe 9 did no go unobse ed. Lowe -p o ile e en s shi ed inc easingly o he
Be naue S asse loca ion, which by 2011 had inally es ablished i sel as he p incipal eposi o y o Wall memo ies.
Ha ison’s s udy ollows wo main s ands— he auma ic memo ies o 1961 and he joyous e olu ion o 1989. When
wa an ed, she expands he scope beyond Be lin i sel . In ecoun ing deba es abou he mo al agency o bo de gua ds, o
example, she d aws on li e a y and ilm examples se along he ‘g een’ bo de be ween Eas and Wes Ge many.42 She la e
documen s e o s by he ci izens o D esden and Leipzig o o eg ound hei own ci ic cou age in challenging he
dic a o ship. This is a poin Ha ison ein o ces wi h a wonde ully ly ical passage explaining he pe sis en associa ion o
1989 wi h Ludwig an Bee ho en—no jus he 9 h Symphony wi h i s “Ode o Joy,” bu also he 7 h Symphony and he
ope a Fidelio (36-46). In gene al, he Camb idge edi o s ha e g an ed Ha ison conside able leeway o ollow h ough on
he subjec ma e , esul ing in a book ha is ichly de ailed and a deligh o ead.
Fo his o ians o Cold Wa Ge many, he memo y cul u e depic ed he e di e ges s a kly om he eno o much academic
w i ing. Well-known schola s do make an appea ance in Ha ison’s s udy—as expe s es i ying be o e pa liamen a y
commi ees, o example. Ne e heless, Ge man poli icians a e seen he e c a ing hei own his o ical pe spec i es. Mo e
o en han no , his in ol ed b anding he Ge man Democ a ic Republic (GDR) as a ha sh dic a o ship, a s a e lacking in
basic eedoms, a egime ha penned in i s subjec s and mu de ed would-be escapees a he Wall. Such a iewpoin an he
isk o aliena ing hose ha bo ing a ce ain nos algia (“Os algie”) o he o me Eas Ge many. Ha ison inds some o he
explana ion o his in pa y poli ics: when he Social Democ a s in Be lin o med a coali ion wi h he Le Pa y, which had
descended om he old uling Social Uni y Pa y o Eas Ge many—Mayo Klaus Wowe ei ook pains o show ha he
Social Democ a ic Pa y (SPD) leade s we e no GDR apologis s. In he Bundes ag, oo, depu ies b ushed aside his o ians’
e o s o p omo e a mo e nuanced iew (241-243).
The lip side o his unabashedly nega i e iew o he GDR was a conscious e o o build up 1989 as a i s -o -i s-kind
Ge man e olu ion om below. Ha ison is clea abou he sho comings o his in e p e a ion: i neglec s he wide
Cen al Eu opean con ex and i unde plays he con ingen , acciden al ci cums ances ha p omp ed he Wall’s chao ic
opening on No embe 9.43 Ne e heless, e en planne s sough o d aw p ominen Eas Ge man dissiden s in o he o icial
commemo a ions—pa icula ly om 2009 onwa d—in he hopes o unde sco ing he alues o ci il cou age and he
eedom o exp ession. Ha ison obse es ha hese lesse -known Ge man ole models we e cons an ly ups aged by o eign
gues s such as Russia’s o me pa y leade and p esiden Mikhail Go bache , Poland’s o me p esiden Lech Wałesa, and
Hunga y’s o me p ime minis e Míklos Néme h. E en as Ge mans sough o de ine Wall memo ies on hei own e ms,
ou side powe s demanded a mic a he podium. The anni e sa y galas in Be lin we e oo glamo ous o pass up, and
Ge many’s Cold Wa his o y was, in he end, e y much a Eu opean and global his o y.
Be ghahn, 2015), and Edga Wol um, Geschich spoli ik in de Bundes epublik Deu schland: De Weg zu bundes epublikanischen
E inne ung 1948-1990 (Da ms ad : Wissenscha liche Buchgesellscha , 1999).
42 On he “g een” bo de , see As id Ecke , Wes Ge many and he I on Cu ain: En i onmen , Economy, and Cul u e in he
Bo de lands (New Yo k: Ox o d Uni e si y P ess, 2019).
43 Ma y Sa o e, The Collapse: The Acciden al Opening o he Be lin Wall (New Yo k: Basic Books, 2014).
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Ha ison’s boldes claim is ha he mo i o a ci izens’ e olu ion has eme ged as a kind o s a e doc ine o he Be lin
Republic—a ounding my h ha unde sco ed Ge many’s undamen ally sound democ a ic cul u e. She pai s his eading o
1989, exp essed mos clea ly om 2009 onwa d, wi h he mo e commonly ci ed eeme gence o he na ional lag du ing he
2006 Wo ld Cup. The ne esul , in Ha ison’s iew, was a no el and uniquely posi i e sel -unde s anding o Ge man
na ional iden i y. I memo y cul u e in he 1980s had p oduced con i ion and sel - es ain in ela ion o he Holocaus ,
he newe memo y cul u e su ounding 1989 yielded libe a ion and some hing app oaching no malcy. This is an in iguing
sugges ion wi h signi ican implica ions o Ge man his o y mo e gene ally.
One migh quali y Ha ison’s hesis wi h a side glance a he s uden p o es s in 1967-68, which many a ‘68e ’ emembe s as
he ue b eak h ough o democ acy in Wes Ge many. Meanwhile, he yea 2018 saw ememb ances o he op-down
pa liamen a y e olu ion o 1918—also, coinciden ally, alling on No embe 9. (As did he “Nigh o he B oken Glass” in
1938; his is why he Oc obe 3 Ge man uni y holiday emains dis inc om he No embe 9 Wall es i i ies.) The e a e, in
sho , many his o ical da es signpos ing he ad en o democ acy in Ge many. The de ea o May 1945 is now commonly
p esen ed as a libe a ion om Nazism—as seen du ing he 75 h anni e sa y on May 8, 2020, when “ hank you,” “me ci,”
“Спасибо” and “Danke” we e p ojec ed on o he B andenbu g Ga e in homage o he ic o s o Wo ld Wa II. Ye amids
all hese anni e sa ies, which some imes implici ly compe e wi h one ano he , No embe 9, 1989 is c ys allizing as he mos
consequen ial ounding momen o some hing his o ically new: a uni ed, democ a ic Ge many a peace wi h all o i s
neighbo s. Ha ison’s book shows how he Be lin Republic has used his o ical memo y o consolida e and celeb a e he
achie emen s o i s ha d-won democ a ic cul u e. I he opening o he Be lin Wall is claimed, igh ly, as a powe ul momen
o global ans o ma ion, he s o y o Ge man democ acy in he wen y- i s cen u y is equally impo an o he u u e o
Eu ope and he in e na ional communi y.
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Re iew by S ephan Kieninge , Independen His o ian
ope M. Ha ison’s splendid book is a emendous achie emen . I is a uniquely new s udy o Ge many’s pos -
1989 s uggle o e he his o y and he memo y o he Be lin Wall. Combining a chi al esea ch and o al his o y,
i depic s he e olu ion o anni e sa y poli ics and mo e gene ally E inne ungspoli ik ( he poli ics o memo y) in
Ge many connec ed o he Be lin Wall since 1989. Ha ison’s book ocuses on memo y ac i is s, hei na a i es and hei
con ibu ion o public deba es on he his o y o he Be lin Wall. One o he main cha ac e s in he book is Man ed Fische ,
a pas o who unde ook i eless e o s o p ese e he memo y o he Be lin Wall. Fische had been he pas o o Wes
Be lin’s econcilia ion pa ish since 1975. The Be lin Wall di ided his pa ish, i su ounded he massi e ed-b ick chu ch
and i p ohibi ed i s use o any hing o he han as a pos o bo de soldie s in he dea h s ip. In Janua y 1985, en yea s
a e Fische ’s a i al, he Ge man Democ a ic Republic (GDR) au ho i ies blew up he Chu ch o Reconcilia ion – and
Fische o ganized a h ee-day ce emony o bid a ewell o he chu ch. In he umul uous ime a e he oppling o he wall,
Fische and some o he ac i is s we e able o p ese e emnan s o he wall a se e al loca ions. Fische ’s i eless wo k o e
many yea s con ibu ed o he eme gence o he Be lin Wall Memo ial ha educa es hund eds o housands o people each
yea abou he his o y o he Be lin Wall and Be naue S asse.
Ha ison’s book b eaks new g ound in showing us how ac i is s such as Man ed Fische made a emendous con ibu ion
o u n he ocus o Ge many’s memo y o he Cold Wa and he Be lin Wall in pa icula . The book is mas e ully old.
Ha ison combines mic o and mac o pe spec i es; he na a i e in e wea es Fische ’s pe sonal s o y wi h he b oade
deba es on E inne ungspoli ik. I is also supe bly in o med and deeply o iginal. Ha ison’s coun less in e iews gi e he
eade a di ec glimpse in o he idea and mo i es o Fische and o he p o agonis s. Ha ison poin s ou ha Fische was no
happy wi h he so-called wall-pecke s who began o chip away a he Wall. In an in e iew wi h Ha ison, he no ed ha “I
couldn’ b ing mysel o hamme on he Wall and ake a piece as a sou eni . I was a dea h machine, no a sou eni . I was
dange ous. We mus e ain pa o i so people will ha e some idea o wha i was like. I had an ins inc bu no a plan. I jus
knew ha we needed o secu e he c ime scene, p ese e he clues. And o do ha , we needed o ge some o he Wall
decla ed a his o ic landma k and could no be ouched” (82).
Ha ison’s book is a ou de o ce engaging he eade in he con es s o e he pas and u u e o uni ed Ge many. The book
ells he con lic s o e he es ablishmen o he Be lin Wall Memo ial wi h empa hy, passion, and analy ical cla i y d awing
om nume ous sou ces om he Landesa chi Be lin and he Ge man His o ical Museum (Deu sches His o isches
Museum, DHM). The sou ces shed new ligh on he congenial e o s by Fische and Helmu T o now, a his o ian wo king
as he head o he depa men o his o y and memo ial si es a DHM, who had he same ins inc s Fische did ha some o
he Wall mus be sa ed as a memo ial. T o now ough an uphill ba le among his Wes Ge man colleagues who assumed
ha he as majo i y o Be line s simply wished he emnan s o he Wall away. Fische had plen y o pas o al opponen s o
p ese ing he Wall a Be naue S asse. The leade s o he Sophien Chu ch communi y and he Laza us Pa ish we e
undamen ally opposed o Fische ’s and T o now’s plan. Bo h ins i u ions we e esiden s o he sec ion o Be naue S asse
whe e hey sough o p ese e he emnan s o he Wall. Pas o Johannes Hildeb and o he Sophien Chu ch was
adaman ly opposed o p ese ing any pa o he Be lin Wall. As Ha ison w i es, “ he ac ha many o he g a es in he
Sophien ceme e y had been mo ed by he [Socialis Uni y Pa y] SED au ho i ies only inc eased his passiona e eelings ha
he Wall mus be comple ely elimina ed. He ce ainly did no wan o see he s a e again aking he land om he ceme e y
g ounds, no e en o a Wall memo ial” (90). In u n, Ha ison in es iga es Fische ’s and T o now’s con o e sial plan o
he u u e o Be naue S asse consis ing o h ee componen s, a memo ial o he ic ims o he Wall, a museum, and a
econs uc ion o a sec ion o he o me bo de s ip (94). Policymake s in Be lin we e imp essed by he way Fische
p esen ed he case o he es ablishmen o he memo ial. Ha ison shows ha Fische “sough o ise abo e […] local
disag eemen s on Be naue S asse appealing o a wide in e es in emembe ing he Wall. Fische epea edly s essed […]
bo h he Wall’s impac on he on he esiden s o Be naue S asse and he global signi icance and memo y o he Wall. […]
Be naue S asse was known a ound he wo ld as he Wall S ee . T agedies occu ed he e. The demoli ion [o he
emaining sec ions o he Wall] would obli e a e a piece o agic Ge man his o y, and ha canno be in anybody’s in e es ”
(96). E en ually, on Augus 13, 1991, a e mo e bu eauc a ic in igh ing, he Sena e o Be lin backed he c ea ion o a
memo ial si e a Be naue S asse, 30 yea s a e he e ec ion o he Wall. Ha ison ei e a es ha he inaliza ion o he
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Memo ial in 1998 “ma ked an impo an i s s ep in b oadening Ge man memo y cul u e o include ic ims o he Be lin
Wall” (110).
Ano he impo an con ibu ion o he book is i s analysis o he connec ion be ween na ional iden i y, his o y, and
collec i e memo y. As Ha ison pu s i : “How na ions emembe hei pas – wha hey choose o ma k o o igno e – says
much abou wha hey alue, how hey see hemsel es in he p esen , and how hey wan o be in he u u e” (15). Ha ison
depic s Wes Ge man P esiden Richa d on Weizsäcke as one o he i s in luen ial memo y ac i is s. On May 8, 1985,
on he o ie h anni e sa y o he Ge man su ende o he allies in Wo ld Wa II, on Weizsäcke ga e a cu ing-edge
speech calling on he Ge mans o accep esponsibili y o he Holocaus , speaking a leng h abou he need o “look u h
s aigh in he eye” (17). As Ha ison no es, on Weizsäcke decla ed ha he Ge mans should see ha “May 8 was a day o
libe a ion. I libe a ed all o us om he inhumani y and y anny o he Na ional-Socialis egime” (18). Von Weizsäcke
wan ed he Ge mans o look back on May 8 no p ima ily as a day o de ea , bu as a new s a on he pa h o democ acy.
In he 1990s, on Weizsäcke ’s hough s on esponsibili y played a c ucial ole in he eme gence o o e all concep o he
memo y o he Wall. The ic ims and he pe pe a o s had o be named, and he Gesam konzep (o e all concep ) o
emembe ing he Be lin Wall ook a much s onge line agains he Eas Ge man leade s han had ini ially been called o in
he d a plan (208). Mo eo e , as Ha ison no es, he na a i e o he Wall’s memo y also included he ole in he Eas
Ge man ci ic opposi ion mo emen in b inging down he Wall. “People o e came he wall wi h hei own powe . This can
and should make one p oud,” one o he ini ia o s o he Bundes ag mo ion no ed (209). Ha ison shows ha ano he ocus
o discussions abou a mas e plan conce ned he meaning and he lessons o he Wall. In June 2005, he Ge man Bundes ag
adop ed he Gesam konzep in a unanimous o e. Ha ison quo es Ge man pa lamen a ian S ephen Hilsbe g, who
passiona ely desc ibed he educa ional asks o memo izing he wall: “We can’ jus o ge abou [ he Wall] as i we had a
bad conscience […] We mus show i all, and no jus d yly, co ec ly, and in de ails and wi h schola ly me hods bu also
emo ionally and engagingly. We mus gi e emo ional answe s – he opposi ion o dic a o ship, he su ge o eedom and
democ acy. We mus show he impo ance o democ acy as a gua an o o eedom, independence, sel - eliance and
emancipa ion. Democ acy sol es p oblems much be e han dic a o ship” (307-8). The o e all app oach looked a he
Wall in he b oade con ex o Eu opean and global his o y du ing he Cold Wa .
Ha ison makes an impo an poin in emphasizing ha o me GDR o icials s ill objec o a c i ical iew o he Wall,
a guing ins ead ha SED policymake s, he a my, and bo de soldie s had been ul illing hei du ies in p o ec ing he
GDR’s secu i y (212). She dese es c edi o he p ecise analysis o he con lic ing na a i es abou he Wall and he
inc easing ede al in ol emen in memo y poli ics emphasizing he need o c ea e a posi i e na a i e abou he all o he
Wall (chap e 8). Ha ison w i es ha “Bundes ag membe s belie ed i was impo an o celeb a e he Eas Ge man
opposi ion mo emen , he all o he Wall, and uni ica ion by building a monumen . Wi h he Holocaus Memo ial o
2005 and o he monumen s and memo ial si es in Be lin dedica ed o he Nazi and Eas Ge man pe iods and hei ic ims,
policymake s a gued ha i was high ime o a posi i e monumen o celeb a e he a e ul de elopmen s o 1989-90” (306).
She aces back he o igins o he ad ocacy o a F eedom and Uni y Monumen , no ing ha in No embe 9, 2007, he
Bundes ag issued a dec ee p oposing he si e o he o me Na ional Kaise Wilhelm Monumen on he Schloss eihei o
he new s uc u e, nex o he si e o he Ci y Palace Be lin ha since 2013 has been in he p ocess o being econs uc ed. As
o 2020, cons uc ion wo k o he F eedom and Uni y Memo ial is unde way.
A e he Be lin Wall includes a subchap e on ex e nal app oaches o emembe ing he Wall (326 ) ha looks in o he
con o e sies abou he meaning o he Wall ou side o Ge many and c i ical iews o he main Ge man na a i e abou he
all o he Wall. Ha ison poin s ou ha “ he Poles we e incensed when he Eu opean Commission p oduced a sho ilm
‘20 h anni e sa y o Democ a ic Change in Cen al and Eas e n Eu ope,’ which comple ely le ou Solida i y.” (328)
Ha ison depic s in e na ional pe cep ions o he e en s in 1989 a guing ha “ o coun ies a he away om Ge many and
no in ol ed in he e olu ion o 1989 […] he all o he Wall was iewed in a much mo e Ge man cen ic-way” (330). I
migh be p omising o u u e esea ch p ojec s o look e en deepe in o ex e nal pe cep ions o Ge many’s memo y policy
a e he Wall and ex e nal images o he new Ge many and he Be lin Republic in gene al. Who a e he Ge mans? Can
hey be us ed? Do hey us hemsel es? To wha ex en has Ge many become a mo e no mal s a e?
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How do he Ge mans see hemsel es in he p esen ? How do we wan o be in he u u e? Wha is ou iden i y? These
ques ions a e a he hea o Ha ison’s conclusion on he ele ance o ‘memo y as wa ning’ in he con ex o he 2015
e ugee c isis. Ci ic ac i ism is all he mo e impo an in he ace o ising in ole ance in ecen yea s. Hope Ha ison
concludes he book by again quo ing Man ed Fische : “We can ne e si s ill and hink ou wo k is inished. We mus keep
con on ing new challenges o we won’ ma e ” (423). Ha ison’s book will ma e . I will be a e e ence poin . I will
ame he memo y and iden i y discussions o he u u e.
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Response by Hope M. Ha ison, he Geo ge Washing on Uni e si y
am e y g a e ul o H-Diplo o commissioning hese e iews and o he e iewe s o pu ing such ime and hough
in o eading and commen ing on my wo k. While a book is a conc e e hing ha ep esen s yea s o ha d wo k (a leas
in my case!), i is also some hing magical. Once you c ea e i , i is ou in he wo ld o people o ake wha hey will om
i . People he au ho has ne e me and p obably ne e will mee ead and in e ac wi h he book in a way ha eels
mi aculous. Especially in hese di icul days o he Co id-19 pandemic, I easu e he chance o in e ac wi h colleagues
a ound he wo ld ia his ound able.
Any au ho is happy o ead ha he colleagues ind he book o be mo ingly w i en and comp ehensi ely esea ched. I am
pa icula ly g a i ied ha William Glenn G ay app ecia ed he way I w o e abou he connec ion o he all o he Be lin
Wall wi h pe o mances o Bee ho en’s Nin h Symphony and his ope a Fidelio, since hose we e some o my a o i e w i ing
momen s. Bu o cou se I am no called on o w i e an au ho ’s esponse because o he e iewe s’ p aise o my wo k; a he
I will ake up hei ques ions and c i iques.
My book ocuses on he poli ics and cul u e o Ge man his o ical memo y o he Be lin Wall, pa icula ly he na a i es pu
o wa d in public spaces and a public ce emonies. I was in e es ed in unpacking how ce ain na a i es ha e domina ed he
public sphe e a a ious momen s o e he pas hi y yea s. To do his, I in es iga ed he ole o pa icula indi iduals who
d o e he p ocess o c ea ing hese na a i es. I conside ed how hose indi iduals and p ocesses i in o b oade deba es and
de elopmen s. Some o he e iewe s—Pe i Ahonen, Ma k Fenemo e, and G ay— aise some ques ions abou my ocus on
indi iduals in gene al and on some indi iduals ins ead o o he s.
Ahonen wonde s whe he I o e emphasize he impac o some indi iduals ins ead o b oade o ces. This is o cou se an old
his o ical deba e. I mean o show bo h indi iduals and b oade o ces and he in e sec ion be ween hem. Too many s udies
o his o y and collec i e memo y neglec o unco e exac ly how ce ain na a i es gain ac ion. They o ge ha eal people
a e in ol ed in c ea ing he way his o y is emembe ed. My app oach iden i ied key public si es connec ed o he Be lin Wall
(especially he Be lin Wall Memo ial and Checkpoin Cha lie), memo y policies a he ede al and s a e le el, and
commemo a i e e en s (especially on anni e sa ies o he ise and all o he Wall) and hen in es iga ed he back s o y o
he key indi iduals in ol ed in hese. I also no ed whe he and when he e o s o hose indi iduals had b oade suppo in
socie y and/o he poli ical sphe e and when hey did no .
On he ole o he b oade Ge man public, Fenemo e wan ed me o look mo e a memo y consume s and public opinion
su eys. I did some o his, bu my ocus was no on he ecep ion o his o ical na a i es; i was on hei c ea ion. The e is
much wo k o o he s o do on he ecep ion side o memo y policy.
Ahonen, Fenemo e, and G ay we e su p ised I did no de o e mo e a en ion o he ole o p o essional his o ians in he
memo y policies I analyzed. A mul iple poin s in he book, I desc ibe he ole o his o ians and hei own conce n a bo h
he ex en o which he go e nmen was making his o y policy and a hei own oles in ad ising he go e nmen . Ma in
Sab ow, Be nd Faulenbach, Kon ad Ja ausch, Man ed Wilke, and Hans-He mann He le a e among he his o ians whose
in luence I analyze. Bu hey we e no he only indi iduals in luencing his o y policy.
Among he o he indi iduals in luencing public memo y o he Wall, Ahonen asks why I did no say mo e abou Ka in
Gue oy, he mo he o Ch is Gue oy, he las pe son sho by Eas Ge man bo de soldie s when he ied o escape om
Eas o Wes Be lin in Feb ua y 1989. Ka in Gue oy has been he mos widely w i en abou (including by Ahonen
I
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himsel )44 amily membe o someone killed a emp ing o each Wes Be lin. Fo his eason, I chose o w i e abou he ole
o ano he pa en , Ho s Schmid , and his igh o jus ice in memo y o his son Michael, who was killed in an escape
a emp in Decembe 1980. Ho s Schmid was jus as in ol ed as Ka in Gue oy in he ials o hose who killed hei sons
and he la e ials o he mili a y and poli ical leade s in which hey we e bo h co-plain i s. While Ch is Gue oy’s case was
he i s ial o hose in ol ed in killing would-be e ugees in 1991, Michael Schmid ’s was he second.
I hink pe haps Fenemo e wan ed me o w i e a di e en kind o book, one mo e heo e ically ocused on bo de s and
“bo de scape.” My in e es , howe e , was in he e y eal, auma ic impac o he di ision o Be lin and Ge many on
Ge mans and how ha impac ed his o ical memo y o he Wall. Discussions abou he Wall a e deeply emo ional o many
Ge mans, and ha emo ion was one o he hings I was wan ed o con ey. Tha emo ion is no doub why some e iewe s
ha e been mo ed by my book. Simila ly, while Fenemo e wished I had w i en concep ually abou he idea o he pas
haun ing Ge mans, he indi idual and b oade social eali y o ha is in ac desc ibed on e e y page o my book.
Ma y Fulb ook a gues ha I did no explici ly o e my judgemen s abou he memo y con es s and he Wall i sel and
wishes ha I had. I s uggled wi h his issue as I w o e he book and discussed i on mul iple occasions wi h colleagues. In
he end I consciously ied o keep my own assessmen s ou o he book as much as possible and o le he Ge mans speak o
hemsel es. O cou se, i I did no hink i was impo an o emembe he Wall and o g apple wi h he his o y o hose
who buil i , li ed wi h i , and helped b ing i down, I p obably would no ha e w i en he book.
S ephan Kieninge akes up my discussion o Ge man na ional iden i y and how ha is seen domes ically and ex e nally.
Bo h he and G ay place my wo k in pa in he b oade li e a u e examining whe he he Ge mans can be seen as “no mal”
o whe he hey will always be seen as uniquely ain ed because o he Holocaus . As I desc ibe, wen y yea s a e he all o
he Wall, Ge man memo y policy ega ding he Wall e ol ed om a ocus on he Wall as ano he Ge man mass c ime wi h
pe pe a o s and ic ims in o a pe spec i e ha highligh ed he Eas Ge man people’s call o eedom and democ acy in a
“Peace ul Re olu ion” ha b ough down he Wall and he Communis egime behind i . This new ounding my h o
uni ed Ge many made Ge many and Ge mans appea no only mo e “no mal,” bu indeed admi able.
Since he e ugee c isis o 2015 and he a endan ise o he a igh in Ge many, p oponen s o his ounding my h ha e
emphasized he u gen impo ance o de ending ci ic eedoms, democ acy, and human igh s o all. Tha is he kind o
ci ic ac i ism hey endo se, d awing on he lessons o he Communis Wall and also he Nazi Holocaus , as I desc ibe in he
book. Ye , as we ha e seen on he s ee s o Ge many, he U.S., and o he coun ies, ha is no he only kind o ci ic ac i ism
people a e p ac icing hese days. The a igh has a e y di e en image o which igh s should be de ended, o whom, and
o wha ends. Ba les o e he pas and he p esen and he ela ionship be ween he wo a e con inually e ol ing. I hope my
book elucida ed ha in a pe suasi e and powe ul manne in he case o emembe ing he Be lin Wall.
44 Pe i Ahonen, Dea h a he Be lin Wall (New Yo k: Ox o d Uni e si y P ess, 2011), 255-57. See also Ma y Elise Sa o e,
The Collapse: The Acciden al Opening o he Be lin Wall (New Yo k: Basic Books, 2014), 174-75; and Andy Ecka d , “Vic ims o he
Be lin Wall ne e o go en: no joy o mo he o las young man killed a emp ing escape,” NBC News, No embe 12, 2004.