THE WALL FALLS:

In a routine press conference with the world press, East Berlin district leader Gunter Schabowski announces the new travel law. It's Nov. 9, 1989.

"Applications for private trips abroad may be submitted without further preconditions. Permission will be granted immediately."

Word spreads like fire through East and West Berlin. People descend on the border crossings to test the new information. Startled guards lose control of the crowds. By midnight, people dance on the wall that once held them prisoner in their own country.

The gates are open. East Germans are free.

" ...the effect of western media is not to describe. It's unbelievable. You can see until today. If you go to Russia or China, they have no knowledge of a lot of things. In this part of Europe and the Soviet empire, the results of western media, it's not to describe."

– George Gafron