Abstract
First of all, I would like to thank you for the honor of being invited to speak here on this special occasion, twenty years after the fall of 1989, which changed not only Germany but all of Europe. I will start with some personal memories and impressions of the days and weeks in fall 1989. After that I would like to explain in detail how Germany has addressed its German Democratic Republic (GDR) past. The main point of my statement will be to try to clarify how we use the files of the former State Security Service and what effect that has on our society. But now back to fall 1989.
The following consists of lightly edited remarks delivered by Marianne Birthler on October 31, 2009, at a special luncheon for the conference on German Unification: Expectations and Outcomes.
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Notes
Jorge Semprum, “Niemand wird mehr sagen können: Ja, so war es,” Die Zeit, April 14, 2005.
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© 2011 Peter C. Caldwell and Robert R. Shandley
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Birthler, M. (2011). Epilogue. In: Caldwell, P.C., Shandley, R.R. (eds) German Unification. Studies in European Culture and History. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230337954_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230337954_9
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