From: harka@nycmetro.com
Date: Wed, 29 Jan 1997 02:24:09 -0800 (PST)
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Fighting the cybercen
Message-ID: <TCPSMTP.17.1.29.5.27.28.2780269260.1489949@nycmetro.com>
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 -=> Quoting In:dthorn@gte.net to Harka <=-

 > The Cold War was not won by the arms race, it was won in
 > Eastern Europe which was never a major participant. The main
 > instrument that won it was West German TV which broadcast
 > pictures of supermarkets with full shelves into the homes
 > of East Germans every night. The viewers could see that it
 > was not mere propaganda and their relatives confirmed the
 > fact. As a result the East German guards on the Berlin wall
 > simply decided to leave their posts one night.

 In> That's it?  The system collapsed because the guards left their posts?
 In> And no mutiny charges?  Incredible.

Actually not quite right. On November 9th, 1989 the East-German
government established a new law (under pressure from the
demonstrating public), that would allow every East-German to go _up
to_ 30 days/per year to a western country. Visas to do so would be
given out without problems, effective immediately.
At the evening press-conference however, the government speaker
Guenther Schabowskie (can't recall his exact position at that time)
introduced that new law and then he made the BIG error: after
hearing the new provisions of the new travel law, a foreign
journalist stood up and asked him "Does _that_ mean, that every
East-german citizen could right now go to the western border and
gain free entry to West-Germany (or West-Berlin) without problems?"
And my man Guenther was looking desperately in all his papers (funny
as hell! :)) and then, after finding no pre-made answer, he said:
"Yeah, I guess so!"...
After which the journalists sped out and cabeled their
interpretation of the situation: "The wall is open!".

Which in fact was quite a dangerous situation then, cause
East-Germans heard that and actually went to the west-german border
(and West-Berlin as well). The Border-Control guards however were
even less informed then my man Guenther :), with the difference,
that they had the order to shoot in case of "Desertion of the
Republic".
But faced with hundreds of people, who were all talking about some
new travel law, they just shrugged and opened the gates without
being stupid (they after all, were mostly young men in 1 1/2 or 3
year military service/draft, who were normal people just like
everybody else).
In fact, for acting in such a way, a lot of people gave them flowers
and champaigne later on in that wild night of celebration...

Ciao

Harka

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