GERMANY-WALL-COMMUNISM

People from East Germany greet citizens of West Germany at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on December 22, 1989. On November 09, Gunter Schabowski, the East Berlin Communist party boss, declared that starting from midnight, East Germans would be free to leave the country, without permission, at any point along the border, including the crossing-points through the Wall in Berlin. The Berlin concrete wall was built by the East German government in August 1961 to seal off East Berlin from the part of the city occupied by the three main Western powers to prevent mass illegal immigration to the West. According to the "August 13 Association" which specialises in the history of the Berlin Wall, at least 938 people - 255 in Berlin alone - died, shot by East German border guards, attempting to flee to West Berlin or West Germany. PATRICK HERTZOG (Photo by Patrick HERTZOG / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK HERTZOG/AFP via Getty Images)