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[Beatrice1000]

BERLIN: This monument to Checkpoint Charlie was unveiled on November 15, 2004 – and now they have torn it down…I find this to be a rather odd story – one would think something could have been worked out:

REPORT FROM: German blog, “Davids Medienkritik”
by David Kaspar and Ray D.:

Berlin Outrage: Checkpoint Charlie Monument to be Bulldozed July 4th
Original article: We didn't think it could get much worse in Germany...well, it just did. Davids Medienkritik recently learned that the Berlin city government, made up of a coalition between the SPD (Gerhard Schroeder's Social-Democrats) and the PDS (former SED party that ran Communist East Germany), has decided to allow the razing of the Checkpoint Charlie monument by court order. And get this: The monument, which consists of over 1,000 crosses adorned with the names of those murdered attempting to escape Communist East Germany for freedom, will be bulldozed on the 4th of July! <…>

Berlin's Socialist-Communist City Government: Massive Conflict of Interest

…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! <…>


Berlin Outrage: Checkpoint Charlie Monument to be Bulldozed July 4th (Part 2)
The monument, …. was to be razed in the middle of the night at 4:01 AM on July 4th Berlin time. <…>


The Checkpoint Charlie monument scheduled for destruction July 5th in Berlin (July 4th in the USA): Each cross has the name, and in some cases, photo of a victim of Communism murdered attempting to escape East Germany during the Cold War. Three Americans are among those honored (Davids Medienkritik)


Berlin's Socialist-Communist City Government Behind the Monument's Planned Removal

Unfortunately, the portion of Checkpoint Charlie on which the monument stands is not a protected historic site. It is owned by a bank named Bankaktiengesellschaft (BAG) …. It ..leased the land to the Checkpoint Charlie Museum and its director, Ms. Alexandra Hildebrandt.* On her own initiative and with the help of others, Ms. Hildebrandt began putting the monument together last year. According to John Fund of the Wall Street Journal, it was officially unveiled on November 15, 2004 to mark the 15th anniversary of the Berlin Wall's fall. Since that day the monument has been a thorn in the eye of the city government of Berlin, which is made up of a coalition between the SPD (Gerhard Schroeder's Social-Democrats) and the PDS (former SED party that ran Communist East Germany)….

Perhaps the monument's most outspoken critic has been city official Thomas Flierl of the Communist PDS, who has blamed the site for what he sees as the "Disneyfication" of Berlin. He and others in the Berlin city government have repeatedly called for the crosses to be removed and put pressure on Bankaktiengesellschaft to terminate its lease to the Checkpoint Charlie Museum. <….>


While Americans Celebrate Freedom: Berlin to Bulldoze History
Victims of Communist Violence Threaten to Chain Themselves to Monument

As Americans set off fireworks to celebrate independence and freedom tonight, a different scene will play out half-way around the world in Berlin. There, at the site of Checkpoint Charlie, where Americans stood guard for so many decades and confronted Communist tyranny, workers with heavy equipment and machinery will descend to tear down over 1,000 crosses, each individually dedicated to those murdered attempting to escape Communist dictatorship for freedom.

The planned demolition, intentionally scheduled for 4:01 AM to minimize visibility and public outrage, could develop into a massive public relations nightmare for the city of Berlin. A group comprised of victims of Communist violence has announced that they will chain themselves to the crosses of murdered family members and friends before they see the city take them down. <….>


Update: The Monument Has Been Destroyed

Berlin: Checkpoint Charlie Monument Forcibly Destroyed

We really don't have much left to say about this outrage. The anger inside all of us right now is simply too much. Even we believed that the city government and the bank would have the good sense to seek a compromise...but they didn't. …<…>.



"A Second Death": That is how some family members of those killed described the forced removal of the crosses dedicated to their loved-ones (Davids Medienkritik)




The Face-Off 1961: Checkpoint Charlie was the front-line of the US effort to contain Communism. ALL OF Germany is a democracy today because millions of American soldiers stood guard for decades across Europe. We won't forget!
(Davids Medienkritik)

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*Alexandra Hildebrandt is the owner of the WALL MUSEUM near Checkpoint Charlie (from: The Brussels Journal, “A Day of Shame,” 7/5/05)

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[I B Squidly]

The deutchers have a thing about holidays. After the war the US Army took Hitler's Obersalzberg complex and made it the Irwin Walker Hotel/Golf & Ski club, an r&r for field officers. The German government wanted it back for a park. The Army agreed but were miffed and set conditions. The bombed shell of Hitler's Berghof had become a shrine where hundreds and thousands gathered on Nazi holidays. The army wanted that stopped. So, the Germans got the property, waited 18 months and ceremoniously dynamited the place on Hitler's Birthday.
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