NEWS: Germany To Destroy Checkpoint Charlie Memorial, page 1

posted on Jun, 27 2005 @ 01:16 PM

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A privately-funded memorial to those killed trying to escape the Communist regime of the former East Germany is scheduled to be destroyed on the Fourth of July. The memorial consists of 1,067 crosses bearing the names, and in some cases photos, of East Germans killed by guards while trying to cross into West Berlin. The decision stems from a lawsuit by a German bank that leased the property to the monument's creator. The government of Berlin, largely controlled by former communists from East Germany, supports the destruction of the monument.

washingtontimes.com
BERLIN -- A privately built memorial to the victims of the Berlin Wall is to be bulldozed on July 4, when a lease on the property near the former Checkpoint Charlie runs out, angering backers of the project and conservative politicians.

But the Socialist-led city government in Berlin has said that it is content to see the memorial taken down and there has been no move to prevent it from the government of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who is in Washington today seeking support for a permanent German seat on the U.N. Security Council.

Alexandra Hildebrandt, director of the private Checkpoint Charlie Museum, said a demolition crew has been scheduled to arrive at the site of Checkpoint Charlie at 4 a.m. next Monday to remove the memorial, made up of 1,067 crosses representing people killed trying to escape from East Berlin.

Checkpoint Charlie was the main crossing point between East Berlin and the American sector of the divided city during the Cold War. The museum, built on the site, has exhibits on the varied means used by East Germans to escape across the wall.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

I think this is really disgusting. Germany wants to sweep its history under the rug again now with destruction of a monument to the brave people who died seeking a better life away from the socialism and communism that they now seem to be falling back towards in Europe. Also, I doubt the choice of July 4th for the destruction of this monument was no accident.

Related News Links:
medienkritik.typepad.com
www.wjla.com

[edit on 6/27/2005 by djohnsto77]

looking4truth

posted on Jun, 28 2005 @ 01:41 PM

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I feel sick at the thought of this. But what doesn't get reported is that alot of Germany apperantly agrees. The socialist government of Chancellor Schroeder has lost huge ground in recent elections. The socialist look likely to be thrown out of power all together along with Mr. Schroeder by of all people a conservative christian woman and the Christian Democratic Union. The socialists can keep on copying Stalin and erase history as they see fit but all they succede at doing is isolating themselves.

Maybe this kind of sick display of what socialisism really stands for will help push the purveyors of that ideaology back under the rock they crawled out from.

[edit on 6/28/2005 by looking4truth]

soulforge

posted on Jun, 28 2005 @ 01:52 PM

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Well...It's Private, and it's ugly...

Honestly, I'd be happy to see ANY kind of memorial to those killed because of the wall.

Is there an official Berlin Wall Memorial?

boogyman

posted on Jun, 28 2005 @ 03:35 PM

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Whats the big deal here?
Its on private property the tenant's lease has expired so the tenant is being evicted.

There's no leftist conspiracy here to sweep history under the rug. If I were to build a monument memorializing the Native American genocide in my apartment would the landlord have to keep it after I move? Absolutely not he would be well within his rights to use his property as he sees fit.

the_oleneo

posted on Jun, 28 2005 @ 03:40 PM

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Originally posted by soulforge
Well...It's Private, and it's ugly...

Honestly, I'd be happy to see ANY kind of memorial to those killed because of the wall.

Is there an official Berlin Wall Memorial?

There's one... in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Currently there is no official Berlin Wall memorial except for the Checkpoint Charlie Memorial.

the_oleneo

posted on Jun, 28 2005 @ 03:45 PM

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Originally posted by boogyman
There's no leftist conspiracy here to sweep history under the rug.

Did you see this part:

What makes this story all the more disturbing is the obvious conflict of interest involved. As we indicated above, the Communist PDS is currently a member of the coalition that governs the city of Berlin. But prior to 1990, the PDS was known as the SED, the party that ruled East Germany with an absolutist iron fist. It was the SED dictatorship that was directly responsible for the hundreds of murders that the crosses at Checkpoint Charlie memorialize. And guess what? The PDS wants the monument torn down!

Originally posted by boogyman
If I were to build a monument memorializing the Native American genocide in my apartment would the landlord have to keep it after I move? Absolutely not he would be well within his rights to use his property as he sees fit.

If the landlord recognize a golden goose opportunity there, he might at least leave the memorial there and charge a fee to anybody coming to check it out.

Red Golem

posted on Jun, 28 2005 @ 07:29 PM

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It is not an uncommon for governments to try to erase, or pretend an embarassing part of there history did not exist. It has happened before and will continue to happen I am sure.

looking4truth

posted on Jul, 5 2005 @ 01:33 PM

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The memorial was torn down on tuesday. It was nice to see that some germans came out to protest, some even chained themselves to the memorial. After all it was to remember the germans that lost their lives trying to reach freedom.

www.ap.org...

"Where are the Berliners?" asked 59-year-old resident Wilfried Gordan, among the scattered crowd that watched in the rain as a crane prepared to move a slab of the notorious barrier. "It's such a disgrace. There should be 100,000 people out here in protest today."

"Today, they have shot the dead a second time," added Berlin's Burkhardt Sach, 52. "It's a joke, and it stinks."