Those who fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it.

It was 1938. "Kristallnacht", otherwise known as "The Night of Broken Glass" was in effect. What lasted for two days, was started by a 17 year old boy. Ultimately, an estimated 60 Million people would die as a result of his actions.

On a day which celebrated the 15th anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch, Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels consulted with Adolph Hitler, and made a speech at the Bürgerbräukeller beer hall in Munich where the Putsch had happened fifteen years earlier. In front of a large crowd of Nazis from all over Germany, Goebbles ordered the destruction of Jewish property. Homes, schools, businesses, synagogues, and even cemetarys were destroyed. An estimated 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps. This night was a foreshadow of the Holocaust yet to come.

When the war over, Germany was split into 4 seperate zones, each one controlled by the Allies. The French controlled the West, the British coltrolled the North, the United States coltrolled the South, and the Russians controlled the east.

The Russians zone stretched from the Russain border to the Brendenburg gate in Berlin. At first, the people who lived in the east side of Germany could cross over freely into the west side. The majority of Germans living in east Berlin did not want to be under Russian rule. So they started to defect to the west for a better standard of life. The Russian government didn't like the idea of such mass defection of citizens to the west.

Therfore in 1961, almost overnight, they built a wall spanning across their eastern controlled sector. The wall stretched the length of eastern Germany, nearly 96 miles. What started off as a barbed wire fence, ultimatey grew into a 13' tall wall, guarded by 302 guard towers and 20 bunkers and land minds.

More than 5000 people risked their lives and sucessfully escaped to the west. But aproximately 3,800 people were arrested trying to cross the border . And another 280 were either injured or killed trying to escape.

On this day in 1989, demonstrators took over Leipzig's streets. Over 70,000 East German citizens openly challenged the communist regime by taking to the streets of Leipzig Germany, demanding freedom and democracy.

Today is the 20th Anniversary of that special day. Because today, 20 years ago, that wall came down.