Twenty Years Ago Today: Peter Jennings Reports “Astonishing News” Out Of Germany

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by Glynnis MacNicol | 10:31 am, November 9th, 2009

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CLAMOR IN THE EAST; EAST GERMANY OPENS FRONTIER TO THE WEST FOR MIGRATION OR TRAVEL; THOUSANDS CROSS
By SERGE SCHMEMANN, Special to The New York Times
Published: Friday, November 10, 1989

East Germany on Thursday lifted restrictions on emigration or travel to the West, and within hours tens of thousands of East and West Berliners swarmed across the infamous Berlin Wall for a boisterous celebration.

Border guards at Bornholmer Strasse crossing, Checkpoint Charlie and several other crossings abandoned all efforts to check credentials, even though the new regulations said East Germans would still need passports and permission to get across. Some guards smiled and took snapshots, assuring passers-by that they were just recording a historic event. Politburo Announcement

The mass crossing began about two hours after Gunter Schabowski, a member of the Politburo, had announced at a press conference that permission to travel or emigrate would be granted quickly and without preconditions, and that East Germans would be allowed to cross at any crossing into West Germany or West Berlin.

”We know this need of citizens to travel or leave the country,” Mr. Schabowski said. ”Today the decision was taken that makes it possible for all citizens to leave the country through East German crossing points.”