ABSTRACT
Younger readers may not even be aware that at one time there were two Germanys: East Germany and West Germany. The decades-long separation was the result of the Cold War, which pitted the United States and its Western allies against the Soviet Union and the Eastern bloc countries it dominated, which included Poland, Hungary, Romania, and East Germany. Although Berlin was physically located within East Germany, West Berlin remained part of West Germany, and this section of the city served as a beacon of hope for the oppressed people of East Germany and an avenue of escape for a lucky (and brave) few. All this ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, which remains one of the signature moments in the human rights movement.
