Cold+War+DBQ+Pr.+3

= = toc**
 * Analyze the various viewpoints on the Fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War

Document 1
//Source: Elizabeth Perdomo, born on May 18, 1960. In 1989, she was a babysitter in Chicago Illinois.//

"The fall of the Soviet Union affected me greatly since my family traditionally upheld communists ideals, or what your classmates would probably know as 'socialist' ideals. My people looked to Russia and Cuba as heroic examples. They blame the U.S. for their troubles, since they associate the rich and oppressive Guatemalan government with American owned businesses within our country. So, most of the people adore the communists as saviors fighting the 'big bad wolf' of capitalism. My brother even took on a more active role in fighting against the government and the exploitation of capitalism. He was a member of the student rebel force in Guatemala. He was caught, tortured and politically exiled to Mexico for 22 years. His socialist ideals kept him from moving to the U.S. with me."

Document 2
//Source: Peter Cha, born on August 2, 1959. In 1989, he was the pastor of a Korean American Church in Chicago and lived in Villa Park, Illinois.

"As a child growing up in South Korea, I was given a 'black and white' education: all communists are evil while all democrats are good. There were no shades of gray. This intense hatred of communism sprouted from the division between the north and the south after the Korean War, which permanently separated families and loved ones. As for understanding the tension between capitalism and communism, I understood it pretty well. Everyone lived in a state of constant paranoia, keeping a look out for North Korean spies and guerillas that were being sent over the border. Once, when I was playing with some of my friends at the playground, we saw two men wearing muddy boots and masks. We immediately reported the men to the police, but when they came back to the playground with us the two strangers could not be found. Instances such as these made the Cold War very real." //

Document 3
//Source: Eunice Han, born on November 13, 1933. In 1989, she was retired in South Korea.

"When the Berlin Wall fell, I felt very bitter. Why did the German wall tumble down, yet the invisible wall between North and South Korea stayed standing? Speaking frankly, Korea was a victim of WWII and a victim of the Cold War. It wasn't even directly involved in the war. We were unfair victims, divided between two ideologies and the greed of the USSR and the U.S. So why did the wall come down in Germany, when they were actually involved in WWII, but the Korean wall didn't come down? If sometime was resolved, the KOREAN wall should've come down before the Berlin Wall. Even today, the invisible wall dividing Korea still stands." //

Document 4
//Source: Brian Cohen, born on June 20, 1963. In 1989 he was a consultant located in Chicago.//

"We were taught in school that diplomacy and detente were necessary to prevent a hot war from erupting. In a Russian History class in high school, we studied collectivism as an economic system, and recognized that it couldn't work due to the sheer size and volume of the Soviet Union. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, I was able to join the Peace Corps. Today's generation views the world differently because they have the opportunity to travel to places such as the Czech Republic."

Document 5
//Source: Lyuda Cohen, born on May 31, 1976 in Ukraine.//

"We were taught in school that the United States was evil, and the Soviet Union was good. An example of this was the United States dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We believed that we had to build up our nuclear power to protect ourselves from the United States. When we studied the United States' involvement in World War II, it was always the United States and a coalition of other European countries, like Great Britain. We were taught that the majority of the war was won by the USSR, and that the USSR destroyed the Nazis pretty much single-handedly in the East. "The general reaction to the fall of the Soviet Union was one of shock and chaos. Not many people fully understood how the Soviet Union could have collapsed. After the Soviet Union fell, we had a huge problem getting food, clothes, and salaries delivered on time. We had to stand in long queues just to buy butter."

**Document 6**
//Source: Donald Cohen, born October 16, 1934. He worked as an attorney in 1989.//

"We weren't really affected by the end of the Cold War. I received a Communist newspaper, "The Daily Worker," for a couple of years, and I was once called a Commie by the dean at my school because I was a liberal, but this really did not affect me personally. However, some of my friends were not accepted to law school because they were Communists. "The Vietnam War crept up slowly. U.S. involvement began with sending "advisers" in the early to mid 60s, and this just escalated until we suddenly needed more and more troops to "prevent Communism from spreading to the entire world." "Overall though, I think the Cold War was essentially a good thing, since it prevented any atomic war from actually occurring. After the Cold War ended, many small conflicts and acts of terrorism began to occur, taking the place of the standoff between the two major powers."

Document 7
//Source: Myron Spigelman, born July 19, 1933. In 1989 he owned Wizard Dry Cleaners.//

"The only way you can win a war is with total victory. It worked for us against Germany and Japan in World War II. I was not pleased when America pulled out of Vietnam, because we had not achieved total victory. When the Wall fell, I felt like we had triumphed over communism, which I looked at more as fascism. This became total victory when the Soviet Union collapsed; it was a total American victory over an evil Communist dictatorship."

Document 8
//Source: Lee Blumenfeld, born September 5, 1960. In 1989 he was a business school student at Stanford University.//

"The fall of the Wall and the Cold War in general didn't have much of an impact on my life. In business school the only things we mentioned about the Wall were the ways it would change global business now that it was gone." "My earliest memory of learning about the Cold War was learning about the overtures we had made to the Communist countries; Nixon in China, going to the USSR, Kissinger, etc. I only experienced the back end of the Cold War, and I am grateful that I did not have to live with the fear of the 1950s."

//Document 9//
Source: William Goodell, born December 15, 1961. In 1989 he was a fellow in the pediatric oncology department of the University of Chicago hospital.

"I went to college at Georgetown, in Washington D.C., so there was always a fear of nuclear war in the back of our minds. We all had to know where the fallout shelters were in case the USSR decided to nuke the capital. Other than that, it's not like the Cold War had a big impact on my life. I don't even remember where I was when I heard that the Wall had fallen. I remember seeing clips of Germans smashing it with sledgehammers, but I didn't think much about it at the time." "I think that the generation after the Cold War is much more complacent and more willing to give up than the generations before it. The patriotic spirit in this country was huge during WWII and even Korea. But starting with Vietnam, we didn't know how to oppose war without being traitors. NOw it has gotten to the point where we know how to oppose war, and with no real tangible threat, Americans have become unwilling to fight for anything and too willing to quit. The USSR was a tangible threat; terrorism is not. This worries me."

//Document 10//
//Source: Yuhee Kim, born January 6, 1959. In 1989 she was a graduate student at Northwestern University//.

"From a very early age, we were taught to hate Communists in South Korea. They were called the Balgan Saram, the Red People, which became an insult on the par of any other obscenities. There was certainly deep seated hatred between the South and the North, but I never saw the two halves as willing participants in the Cold War. We were more victims if anything else, a people who had only the briefest repreive after the brutal Japanese occupation before being torn assunder by two superpowers who seemed more interested in destroying each other than in even upholding their own political ideals. This tension began to die down greatly as I began studying for my doctorate, although no one could have expected the fall of the Berlin Wall."

//Document 11//
//Source: M.G. Kim, born April 22, 1956. In 1989 he had just completed his doctorate at Northwestern University.//

"The fall of the Berlin Wall was a real shock to me. I don't think anyone could have seen it coming this quickly. Sure, there was an easing of tensions as news programs showed Reagan with Gorbachev speaking civilly and even smiling, but the reunification of Germany just a short time after the U.S.S.R.'s war in Afghanistan?" "The generation after the Cold War has became much more conscious of the realities and costs of conflict. No more 'Us vs. the Bad Guys', but an understanding that the enemy is human as well. However, there are still some moments when I see that old pre-Vietnam nationalistic bravado return. After 9/11, there were those delusional 'patriots' who bombed mosques and burned the Qur'an. These moments disturb me."

Document 12
= = Source: Deborah DeSantis, born November 18th, 1957. Age 10 during the Vietnam War.

"It made me think more about right and wrong but I really didn't understand the specifics of the war at the time. I was too young."

Document 13
Source: Robert Boton, born November 28, 1959. "I was scared watching the news every night and seeing all the "deaths" and "casualties". i was only one year away from the draft." (refferingn to the Vietnam War) "The Cold War caused Americans to celebrate their way of life with their early acess to merchandice and their civil liberties, contrasted to the Soviet Union." "I went to a suburban high school that was not very political. The Vietnam War had ended and we were just happy to not have to deal with the draft. What I learned in school were the basics. However, in Hebrew school, we learned the ugly truth about the Soviet regime by the way they treated the Jews."

Document 14
Source: Mark DeSantis, born January 26th, 1953. Television Station Marketing Director/ WUSA-TV Washington, D.C.

"The Soviet Union was considered evil (as in the Evil Empire as described by President Reagan); America was on the side of good, and represented freedom. Still does to me." "Most of my friends were in the draft, as I was. My brother Pat was drafted and was in the Army during the Viet Nam War, but as luck would have it, he was stationed in Alaska for most of his time. Many of my friends dodged the draft. I was not faced with that decision since they used the lottery and my number (they picked numbers using birth dates) was 311. At that point only the first 100 numbers in the lottery were generally drafted, so I was never called. My brother lost friends in the War who were not as lucky as he was. For a brief time I became part of the peace movement and went to rallies and protests. It was a very rough and interesting time."

//Document 15//
//Source  : Thomas King, born December 21, 1955. In 1989 he was employed at a small business.//

"To be candid, the end of the Cold War didn't affect me too much. By that time, the air of tension had loosened up quite a bit. There were certainly dramatic economic changes with the collapse of the Soviet Bloc, but other than that, my life didn't change much." "I think that this post Cold War generation is far less willing to paint other nations as the bad guys. As to whether this is good or bad for America, I'm not sure."

**Document 19**
//Source : Jeoung Hwa Yang, born on June 5, 1959. In 1989, she was a secretary for a small business in South Korea.//

"While my mother and father were simple farmers, I faced a new world of opportunities. When the Berlin Wall came down, some nationalists were on the streets as I heard about mass amounts of people wanting reunification. I wondered how long Korea will be two countries. As the North continues to be under the rule of a psychotic dictator and many continue to die, does the leader have to die for reunification to occur? Some of my family is in the North waiting for the line to be finally broken."

**Document 20**
//Source : Soo Chul Jeon, born on February 16, 1960. In 1989, he was working for the South Korean government as one of its financial advisers. //

"While growing up in the pillars of change, my forefathers had fought courageously to defend our land from the communists. Due to the constant threat of having a communist country at our border, I servered the military at an early age of 18. If you ever wondered why we have such a small family, most of our relatives died from the war. I saw many families wanting reunification when the Berlin Wall came down; people came up to officials and asked Germany (Dougle) is unified, when is it our turn? People wanted to be reunified with a country and its people that had betrayed us?"

Document 21
//Source : Gong Yong Yang, born on April 25, 1962. In 1989, he was working on being a computer technician in South Korea.

//"While Korea had many great aspects, discrimination was common against any form of supporting communism. Just like the Red Scar in America, South Korea had its own "red Scars." During that era, the use of computer became commercial and the West advertised everywhere. From cigars to toys, everyone enjoyed the new goods in South Korea, while the North faced complete isolation.

D**ocument 22**
Source: Joan Felz, born November 11th, 1960. In 1989, she was working as a social worker.

"[When the Soviet Union fell] it just made me feel safer, because then we didn't have to worry about nuclear weapons that could destroy our country. "[When Eastern Europeans started to immigrate to the U.S.] I was ok with that, I am a very tolerant person."

Document 23
Source: Jenifer Felz. born April 2, 1972. In 1989, she was working as a social worker. " I hid under a couple desk in my day [to test for a nucelar attack]"

Document 24
Source: Keeanu Reeves. September 2, 1964, he was Ted Theodore Logan in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. media type="file" key="Audio.wma"
 * Document 25**

"The fall of the wall symbolized a great victory for demcracy and capitalism. In capitalism, the people who work hard and strive for success will achieve the prosperity which they deserve while the lazy and weak will not succeed. That's why capitalism is great."
 * Source: Venkata K. Kancharla. born March 1969 (Day unknown). In 1989 he was studying for a degree in civl engineering.**


 * Document 26**

"When the wall fell I was very dissapointed and angry. I believed that communism was great because it ensured equality for all people. A communist country is a united and strong country if it has the right leadership which can represent the common people. I have high hopes for communism now, especially in South America and Asia where it is gaining suport."
 * Source: Dr.Kondiah Muvva. MD Homeopathic medicine. Communist party. Born 1941. In 1989, he was practicing medicine in Kandukur, India.**


 * Document 27**

"I felt angry and saddened by the fall of the USSR just like my father. At that time I believed that communism was great because it did not discriminate by religious affilations and castes. It aso didn't limit people's opportunities by how much money they had."
 * Source: Santhi Muvva-Kancharla. born February 24, 1969. In 1989 she was studying for a degree in math and teaching.**


 * Document 28**

Source: Ina Nechamkin. Age 76 "The Russians were out to get us." "They looked big and bad." "You view the world differently. However, your generation is dealing with issues that our generation never could have dreamed of having."


 * Document 29**

Source: Loren Edelheit. Age 41 "The only reason i was born was because my dad did not want to go to war. When the news of the draft came about, my mom got pregnant with me awfully fast."


 * Document 30**

Source: Steve Edelheit. Age 43 "I am too young to remember any specific impact." "Your generation views the world through a different viewpoint because you have had everything handed to you and have not had to work for anything." "My parents generation had a big work drive. My generation has half that. Your generation has close to none of that drive."

Document 31
//Source: Dr. David Li. Born in 1958 in Shanghai, China. In 1989, just settled in Chicago and started graduate school.// "The only people who followed capitalism were those who were middle-aged, because you have the full ability to work and fight for your rights and country. On the other hand, during the Cold War, I was able to find a part time job in the lab because of the increased government funding in the sciences."

Document 32
//Source: Dr. Yi-Yin Ku. Born in 1959 in Xi'an, China. In 1989, she started work in Chicago.// "Ever since I was little, I was forced in believing that Capitalism and the West were bad and very hostile. When moving to the United States, despite what others told me on how horrifying attitudes the Americans had, I realized that I was living behind closed doors. Capitalism seemed to benefit everyone, and after seeing the wall fall, I just smiled, knowing that the future will be better."

Document 33
//Source: Justin Ku, Ph.D, M.D. Global Services. Born in 1962.// "You are exposed to all sorts of information and points of views that children your age back during the Cold War and earlier couldn't even imagine. When I was little, the only attitude I had towards anything had to always support the Communist Party (in China). I had no say or thought. Even textbooks were biased to stir up pride and nationalism ! You are very fortunate because now you can form your own opinions, and not let the government monitor your every move."


 * Document 33**

//Janet Ha. Korean-American. DOB: 4/17/65// Completely surprised the Wall fell down because the Wall appeared to be a monument-like object, imposing and eternal. With Germany reunified, she hoped communism was nearing its end and Korea will be united soon.

**Document 34**
//Mike Ha. Korean-American. DOB: 9/7/62// Mild reaction because Germany was largely unrelated to him. With Germany reunited, The Koreas hopefully would be reunited, but practically, it would not happen for a long time because the economic strength of the Koreas are vastly different. The South is the Top 10 strongest whereas North is one of the poorest. Furthermore, current event knowledge is limited in North Korea.

Document 35
//Raymond T. Schlude Jr., life actuary for Milliman and Robertson, living in Chicago,// //Born: January 8th 1957//

“I recall the rise of Bill Curtis in the media during the Vietnam War. He started out as a Chicago reporter, but then went national for CBS. I remember watching him reporting from Vietnam, while two soldiers were providing cover for him. After that, I can recall my father refusing to watch Bill Curtis because he thought those boys shouldn’t risk their lives for a reporter. Despite that, I think I was completely oblivious to the early years of the Cold War because the children were sheltered from it. We never discussed it during school, and the administration kept it that way.”

Document 36
//Elizabeth Ann Ropele, receptionist for Milliman and Robertson, living in Chicago, Birth: November 2nd, 1965// “I recall the relief our family felt when my sister’s husband was sent to a base in Germany instead of Vietnam. As a member of the military, he was waiting to be drafted, but fortunately he was sent to a more stable region. The threat of him being drafted is the most important thing I remember. Also, I remember the Democratic National Convention in Chicago with all the protesters flooding the streets. The spill over from Grant Park caused the shops to close, and peace flags were flying in the air. My father had to board up the windows of our bar, while the protesters passed by. I had to remain in my room, sheltered from the chaos.”

Document 37
//Layla Ropele, unemployed, Pennsylvania, Birth: September 8th, 1980// “The cold war had some effect on my life, but it was limited by what I saw in the media. I recall Ronald Reagan’s speech, and his words stuck in my head because it was the first political event I followed intently. After the wall fell, I remember a more open society; hence, displayed in the Berlin Wall episode of //Seinfield//. People were less afraid of what to say because of a feeling of liberation. I believe my generation was less sheltered from the Cold War than my parents' generation, because my parents were more liberal than my grandparents”

**Document 38**
Source: David Rebnord Math professor at Iowa State University born: August 20 1960 lived in Ames in 1989

He reported that he was exceptionally surprised that the wall fell in the short space of time that it did. He remembers most the the 'remarkable' pictures and the celebrations in Berlin.The major part that he remembered was in relation to the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. He said that the gate was used by the nazis and the communists to oppress the Germans.

Document 39
Source: Marilyn Green-Rebnord an editor for a medical paper in Ames As she was pregnant with her first baby her mind was not as focused on international news. She watched the news on television. She saw the celebrations. She also exhibited surprise that the wall fell for similiar reasons as David Rebnord. Beyond that her memory of the event was minimal.

Document 40
Source: Robin Green worked for Texas Instruments as a computer programmer in Dallas

She found about the fall of the wall through the news. Her initial response was related to the olympics and how the East Germans used performance-enchancing drugs aka. steroids.She also remembers how people took chunks of the wall as souvenirs of the demolition. She was very happy and surprised regarding the wall. She also laments not having a piece of the wall for her own. Then she wondered how much it would cost through ebay.

Document 41
Source: Toby Walanka, DOB: 1951 in USA, Mother in USA "Make love, not war" "I don't remmeber where i was when the Wall fell or the Soviet Union fell. I remember learning that there was always the threat of a bomb being dropped on us by the Russians, we'd hear a siren and go to a shelter. The subways were the designated shelter areas if a bomb was dropped. I remember the Vietnam War changing everything, when i was a senior in high school, almost everyone knew that we weren't getting anything done. I don't really believe the Cold War affected my life while it was happening, i don't remember too much avout it. Pop culture was affected by the Vietnam War - make love not war- and other protests against war. I believe all generations see the world in a different ways because of the times they were born in, the economy, the wars, the status of the US."

Document 42
Source: Andy Greenawalt, DOB: 1961 in USA, businessman, father of three "We didn't know how, but we knew they could destroy us, and we could destroy them." "I don't think i know where i was when the wall fell, I don't really remember it that much. We learned at school that we hated Russans, and we didn't know how, but we knew they could destroy us, and we could destroy them. We also were taught that they were communist and we were democratic, and communism was bad. We knew communisim was where the government ran businesses- no private enterprise- and everyone lived the same, it was all very uniform. We learned the Vietnam War was North vs. South, and we were helping the South, but the North was communist. Everyone kept seeming to ask, 'Why are we involved?' I believe that the Cold War absolutely affected my life, we were afraid all the time. Vietnam War created hippies and protests against the government.I don't remember life changing other than we weren't afraid anymore. I believe you definitely see the world differently, i believe your generation has a false sense of security, you don't realize the dangers outside the US."

Document 43
Source: Janice Greenawalt, DOB: 1961 in USA, Former Teacher, Mother of three "We were right, they were wrong" "I can't remember when it fell exactly, or where i was. We learned that the Russians were bad, our government was capitalist, their's was communist, we were right, they were wrong. There was a lot of internal dissention towards the Vietnam War, not a lot of people agreed with it. I don't believe the Cold War directly affected my life that much, i don't remember it that much, i was pretty young. The pop culture was just more speaking out against the government, more demonstrations leading to more media attention. I believe your generation doesn't feel as scared of war, you aren't as directly affected or threatened, even by the war on terrorism."


 * Document 44**

Source:Mark Anderson, 38 years old, lived in Ilinois in 1989 "I rememeber as a kid having to do drills in school where we went under the desk to practice incase the Russians dropped a bomb on us"


 * Document 45**

Source:Vicku Vir, 24 years old in 1989 living in India "I dont really remember the war effecting my life at all"


 * Document 46**

Source:Amit Vir, 28 years old in 1989 living in India "When did the Berlin wall fall?" "I dont remember either the Cold War or Vietnam War changing my life in any way"

Document 41
Source: THE one and only: Mr Biesieda [may have spelled this wrong]. History teacher in Stevenson high school.

According to Mr. B, the cold war was a significant event of the century. It happened fast and he knew that it was a big deal. When questioned about his experience on the Vietnam war, Mr. B talked about his neighbor that was strange when he came back. "He practiced karate is his backyard and was not the same as before". During this cold war period Mr. B was around 14 and still "trying to hit my [his] first baseball. He had to practice bomb shelter drills in school, and at that time, he was not old enough to understand the tension, even though he knew it was there. Overall, the cold war was big, but it didn't have a major personal impact in Mr. B's life.

Document 42
Source: Mr. Batina. Math teacher in Stevenson high school. Was around 18 during the cold war period.

Overall, Mr. Batine didn't really work with me on this interview. It was like the cold war happened, but didn't really impact him. He made it the cold war period sound insignificant to himself and it seemed like he was trying to block back some events. He didn't seem to fell comfortable talking about the cold war. Yet despite all this, he still took part in the cultural part of that time period. "You know, in that time people grew their hair out long, and i too did that for a while...".

Document 43
Source: Mr. Singh. Born December 1960 in India. The war didn't really affect my father. My dad didnt know what or when the cold war was. He says that it didn't really affect his life.

Document GOD
Source: Mr. GabaSweep. Occupation: GOD. So Mr. GabaSweep, how are you today? "I am fine, how did you call me?" Oh i am just another part of you that does not know you too well... or wait i know you, but i /have/ no want to interview you. "OK, shoot". So what did you think of that cold war period? "Hmmm, what era was that again??? Oh right, with the animals that called themselves humans and later proclaimed me dead" Ya, thats the time. "Ya, that was a funny part of the age. [sidetracking] You know, humans always want to fight over something, so first they make up these other gods and relegion and then they argue which one's is better. They even start to fight over each other's beliefs as if its their buisness and start wars and crusades. But that all ended after the church started taking advantage of the poeple. If my memeory still serves me, i think this was the time when there was "massive science" and nationalism. Many people got sucked into conspiracy theories. They believed that the 'others' would actualy use the nukes on them, and then they would have no choice but to do the same. I mean, if you are going to get anhialated, why not anhialate the others as well right? Ooooh man, that was some time period. And the funny part was how everyone thought everyone was involved in this. HA, you can never get everyone to do one thing, If you could do that, you would have peace a LONG time ago. There is always going to be that 1 guy in finland that will sit down and say NAY! < Backtrack (>linux<) > That era was a strange one indeed. I have got to go, some guy in Norway thinks chimpanzees can fly. Ill give you my full analysis after a couple of days.. SO BE PATIANT AND WAIT! I have been doing that forever.

**Document 22**
//Source:// Emily Zalov, DOB: 8/27/67, occupation in 1989: None, was a student, 1989 Location: West side of the Soviet Union

In 1989, the fall of the Berlin Wall led to my broken engagement. I was to be married in 2 months to a German man, but when the wall fell, he left the USSR to try to begin life anew in the West side of Germany, the capitalist side. In addition to losing my possible marital relationship with that man, many of my friends left to find a new life in West Germany. To them, starting a life in Western Germany was too unfathomable to even dream about, so when the wall came down, nearly all of my German friends left within the same week- some even left that same day. The sad part about it is that I haven't heard from any of them for more than 20 years, not even from the man who I was to marry. The fall of the Berlin Wall changed my life from the second it fell.

Document 23
//Source:// Nick Zalov, DOB: 9/17/64, occupation in 1989: Lieutenant in military, 1989 Location: Border of Western USSR

Many people believed that the fall of the wall would lead to chaos and instability with huge waves of immigration going into West Germany, but my regiment was specifically designed to repress violence should any situation like that happen. With the fall of the Berlin Wall, many German-born soldiers in the army began to consider leaving the army to see relatives in West Germany. As suspected, however, many of these "visiting" claims were false and soldiers deserted the army altogether, leading to a strict enforcement of policy where soldiers had to fulfill their terms and could only leave then. The fall of the wall didn't affect me personally as much as others mostly because my heritage tied me to the USSR.

Document 24
//Source:// Rasayat Zalova, DOB: 4/12/60, occupation in 1989: telephone operator, 1989 Location: Moscow

When the wall came down, I remember being very happy for what was to come. Thinking that the USSR was finally collapsing, I praised capitalism for being the cause of the downfall of the Soviet Union. I despised the USSR even though that was the place of my birth because of all the corruption going on under the table. I was truly ashamed to call myself a Soviet at the time, but I do remember feeling immense pride when Gorbachev received the Nobel Prize for establishing peace and relieving tension because of the enormous divide the wall caused between East and West Germany.

Document 25
//Source:// Andzej Kurdziel, DOB 4/4/45, occupation in 1989: Factory worker, 1989 Location: Krakow: Poland

With magazines and the TV talking of the Berlin Wall it seemed all was to change. Although Polish people weren't exclusively involved pop culture drastically changed as de-russification (?) was occurring and the new trends and media sought to westernize former Soviet holdings.

Document 26
//Source: Renata Skrzekut, DOB: 8/5/68, occupation in 1989: X-Ray Technition, 1989 Location: Krakow//: Poland

Although my education never really included //cold war topics and the constant struggles of the cold war were always present for other countries, Poland never really experienced live changes because of it. However, with the fall of the Berlin Wall, more opportunities of expansion and movement into Germany for things like trips and vacations were made available.//

Document 44
//Source:// Wojciech Skrzekut, DOB 9/4/69, occupaton in 1989: Factory worker, 1989 Location: Limanowa: Poland

In my education as a child i was taught with a rather restricted view as the only thing enforced was that of the division between capitalism and communism. However, it seemed that over time the Russian strength that presided in Poland shifted away and the times of no freedoms and censorship were abandoned.

Document 45
Source: Emily Epstein, DOB: 12/12/57, occupation in 1989: Stay home Mother, Location: Buffalo Grove

" The fall of the Berlin wall didn't have any personal affects on my life. The Vietnam war affected me in that because i was so younge, I was worried my brother and cousins were going to be drafted."

Document 46
Source: Lilia Kantor; Born in USSR in Moscow, Lived in USSR in 1989

" I was in Russia, in Moscow when the Berlin wall fell. Things really changed in 1989, a lot of reforms happened. Life started changing rapidly, and the general understanding about what happend during the cold war came out. An example is we got access to literature that wasn't allowed before."

Document 47
Source: David Epstein, DOB: 4/1/52, occupation in 1989: business, Location: Buffalo Grove

"Ever since i was born there was an over hanging thread. When I went to school we had to go in the hallway, put our heads between our knees and hoped that the H-bomb didn't enaliate us."