Kennedy Berlin Wall Speech

                                Kennedy Berlin Wall Speech

                                   John F. Kennedy 
                                       
                                    June 26, 1963

    I am proud to come to this city as the guest of your distinguished Mayor, who has symbolized
throughout the world the fighting spirit of West Berlin. And I am proud to visit the Federal
Republic with your distinguished Chancellor who for so many years has committed Germany to
democracy and freedom and progress, and to come here in the company of my fellow American,
General Clay, who has been in this city during its great moments of crisis and will come again
if ever needed.

    Two thousand years ago the proudest boast was "civis Romanus sum." Today, in the world of
freedom, the proudest boast is "Ich bin ein Berliner."

    I appreciate my interpreter translating my German!

    There are many people in the world who really don't understand, or say they don't, what is
the great issue between the free world and the Communist world. Let them come to Berlin. There
are some who say that communism is the wave of the future. Let them come to Berlin. And there
are some who say in Europe and elsewhere we can work with the Communists. Let them come to Berlin.
And there are even a few who say that it is true that communism is an evil system, but it permits
us to make economic progress. Lass' sie nach Berlin kommen. Let them come to Berlin.

    Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect, but we have never had to put a
wall up to keep our people in, to prevent them from leaving us. I want to say, on behalf of my
countrymen, who live many miles away on the other side of the Atlantic, who are far distant from
you, that they take the greatest pride that they have been able to share with you, even from a
distance, the story of the last 18 years. I know of no town, no city, that has been besieged for
18 years that still lives with the vitality and the force, and the hope and the determination of
the city of West Berlin. While the wall is the most obvious and vivid demonstration of the
failures of the Communist system, for all the world to see, we take no satisfaction in it, for
it is, as your Mayor has said, an offense not only against history but an offense against
humanity, separating families, dividing husbands and wives and brothers and sisters, and
dividing a people who wish to be joined together.

    What is true of this city is true of Germany--real, lasting peace in Europe can never be
assured as long as one German out of four is denied the elementary right of free men, and that
is to make a free choice. In 18 years of peace and good faith, this generation of Germans has
earned the right to be free, including the right to unite their families and their nation in
lasting peace, with good will to all people. You live in a defended island of freedom, but your
life is part of the main. So let me ask you as I close, to lift your eyes beyond the dangers of
today, to the hopes of tomorrow, beyond the freedom merely of this city of Berlin, or your
country of Germany, to the advance of freedom everywhere, beyond the wall to the day of peace
with justice, beyond yourselves and ourselves to all mankind.

    Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free. When all are free,
then we can look forward to that day when this city will be joined as one and this country and
this great Continent of Europe in a peaceful and hopeful globe. When that day finally comes, as
it will, the people of West Berlin can take sober satisfaction in the fact that they were in
the front lines for almost two decades.

    All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man,
I take pride in the words "Ich bin ein Berliner."


评论:

    美国总统的对外演讲都通俗易懂，没有晦涩的词汇，具有启明灯般的魅力。

    1945年二战结束后，德国被整体分为西德和东德，西德归美英法控制，东侧归苏联控制，
将当时的德国分裂为两个国家：

                西德  Federal Republic of Germany   联邦德国
                东德  German Democratic Republic    民主德国

    其中首都柏林整体位于东德境内，受苏联控制，鉴于柏林的重要性，美英法要求将柏林也一分为二，同
样是西侧归美英法控制，称为西柏林；东侧归苏联控制，叫东柏林。这样西柏林就成了红色海洋中的一个异
类小岛，偏偏就是这个小岛吸引了无数的东德市民。

    单看国名，大家基本都会认为民主德国更好，会选择去民主德国。不幸的是，魔鬼都会掩盖自己的丑陋
而采用花哨光鲜的外表。从1945年之后的10多年里，大批的东德市民无法忍受贫困高压的生活而逃向西德，
西柏林则成为逃向西德的很好的中介。于是近代一直被西中欧国家视为贪得无厌的大章鱼的俄罗斯，想出了
一个鬼点子: 造一面墙。

　　1961年8月13日，绕着整个西柏林建了一圈的铁丝网，其中东西柏林交界处则是防范更加严密的砖墙，
有持枪警卫守护。表面是为了围住西柏林，而东德市民很清楚：是他们自己被关在了监狱中。很多家庭因此
被分隔两地，柏林墙也随之成为东西冷战的最显著的标志。肯尼迪总统在1963年到西柏林发表了上述演说，
明确说了民主不是完美的，自由国度也会有很多困难，但是自由国度绝不会建一面墙来限制自己的国民。这
面墙虽然挡住了大多数的东德市民，却让全世界的人都看清了孰优孰劣。因此肯尼迪说，如果谁还糊里糊涂，
到柏林墙这里看看就啥都明白了。由于西柏林成了自由国度瓦解独裁专制的最前线，因此总统又说如果将来
德国统一了，欧洲大陆也大同了，那柏林人的贡献是巨大的，做为一个柏林人将是很自豪的：
Ich bin ein Berlner （我是一个柏林人）。后来德国人将肯尼迪演讲的这个广场就改名为肯尼迪广场。

    接下来的28年，大批东德人为了投奔自由而翻墙成功，很多人为此而丧命。苏联一方先后提升了几次防
卫强度，投入了大量的资金，仍然有人用各种奇异的手段翻墙成功: 藏车里、挖地道、渡河、驾驶飞机穿越、
伪造通关文件......到了1980年代后期，东德有9万秘密警察，近20万告密者，东德 1/3 的人口都处于秘密
警察的监视之下。到了1988年，美国 Reagan 总统又到了柏林墙下，公开呼吁:

         Mr Gorbachev，Open this gate!
         Mr Gorbachev，Tear down this wall!

    进入1989年，独裁者想进一步升级Wall的防卫强度，好在还没有实施，1989年11月9日，阻挡时间长达
28年之久的柏林墙被推倒，东德人民重获自由。

    第二年，两德统一。为世界和平做出重大贡献的 Gorbachev 获得 Nobel Peace Prize。

    20年后的2009年年底，当年柏林墙倒掉的当事人 Gorbachev，Bush, Kohl  来到柏林墙参加纪念仪式。
欧盟成员国不断扩大，欧元成功运作，基本实现了欧洲的大同。

    短短20年，当年受贫穷困扰的红色区域德国、匈牙利、捷克、斯洛伐克、斯洛文尼亚 都成了发达国家；
波兰、罗马尼亚、保加利亚人均收入也都已超过1万美元。

    东亚这边，一直受美国控制的日本早就成了发达国家；而韩国即使在北朝鲜的干扰下，中间经历过军政
府的独裁，仍旧摆脱了20年前亚洲四小龙的束缚，昂首成为了发达国家；同为中国人的台湾和香港也都已经
步入了发达地区的行列；南边的印度是目前最大的民主政权，发展势头强劲，有些中国人习惯性的想进去靠
行贿手段取得特权然后投资，发现权利分散，行不通；越南连总书记都开始差额选举，变天指日可待。

    Wall 没能阻止世界大势的走向，肯尼迪总统当年所期望的梦想都陆续实现了。