Berlin Wall, WW2, some History, Divide, Art, a great Prince Song, the Kiss, Unity and Love

Unification is stronger than divide.

Let’s learn a touch of history with a touch of good art and cool music!

(This will be a very quick brief overview at a high level. I urge you to read, research, visit and learn more on your own please.)

World War 2 was Allies vs. Axis Powers. World War 2 was started September the 1st 1939 -1945.
(note-Thank you @patriotwargamer for your help with these dates)

The Axis Powers in World War 2 were German (Berlin), Italy (Rome-Mussolini was in charge at that time) and Japan (Tokyo). Note do not confuse Axis Powers with Axis of Evil (a term used years later by USA President Bush to define other countries).

Berlin Germany was epicenter to a lot of the World War 2 Holocaust and Hitler atrocities including the mass killing of Jews, Homosexuals, and also Jehovah’s Witnesses, Gypsies and more.

DURING World War 2 the Soviet Union (dissolved in 1991) fought alongside the USA as ALLIES
AFTER World War 2, there was The Cold War 1947-1991. The Cold War was actually a term coined from author George Orwell two months after Hiroshima (1945) in an essay he wrote called You and the Atom Bomb.
The Cold War defined the tension between East (Soviet Union) and West (USA) after World War 2.

After World War 2, Berlin Germany was split into two areas; East (Eastern allies side-the GDR, German Democratic Republic which was communist) and West (Western allies side which included USA).

Apparently many did not want to be in the East. There was such a huge exodus and mass defections from East to West, the idea of “containment” spawned the idea for the Berlin Wall (1945-1961).

The Death Strip, 30-150 meters in front of the wall, was worse than the wall itself (which anyone can see today was not that tall). There were thousands of guards (over 11,000) tasked with shooting anyone that would try to escape from the east to the west. Families were split apart. Many people escaped, but many people died.

Read more about the Berlin Wall here:
https://www.rt.com/news/201255-berlin-wall-anniversary-25/

The wall was up from 1961-1989.

The USA president from 1981-1989 was Ronald Regan.

Prince wrote a song (released with his Controversy album 1981) called Ronnie Talk to Russia. The lyrics included, “Ronnie talk to Russia before it’s too late.”

In I987 Ronald Reagan gave his famous speech with this meaningful line, “Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall.”

In 1989 the Berlin wall came down. (USA president at that time was actually George Bush Sr.)

That was 28 years ago.

Love and Unity are the vibe today in Berlin. Berlin is an industrial city with some interesting and artsy features and aspects, but is not a planned-to-be-pretty city like Paris. The freedom and “never again” attitude of the people, however, make it a beautiful place. Tons of food from every culture (tons of vegan food too!), brilliant art, commerce and unification. Berlin also does a visibly excellent job of educating everyone there.

If you know anyone who questions the holocaust, refer them to the Topography of Terror museum in Berlin Germany. The museum features a full library as well: http://www.topographie.de/en/the-historic-site/

Today you can visit the VERY HIP East Side Gallery, a portion of the Berlin wall that is still standing for use as an outdoor art gallery, covered in amazing paintings including The Kiss:

http://www.disappearingman.com/berlin-wall/the-kiss/

I also found this gem. Berlin is clear that walls are not the answer:

Walls are not OK.

Racism is not OK.

Slavery is not OK.

The holocaust was NOT OK.

Genocide is not OK.

Nazis are not OK.

Glorifying any of this shit is NOT OK.

Education is required. We need to know what is NOT OK. Please comment and share so we can reach the goal of Love and Unification.

Photos are my own. Come on over and visit me at Michele The Trainer's Website