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The Berlin Wall Exhibit at the Ronald Reagan Library is located at 40 Presidential Drive, Simi Valley, CA 93065. The Ronald Reagan Library, dedicated to the 40th President of the United States, is a combination of a memorial, museum, and library. It focuses on the life of President Reagan, his presidency, and American society during his two terms. Another reason many people visit this library is for the resources of The Cold War & Berlin Wall that have their own exhibits within the site. Under the Presidency of Ronald Reagan, much of the Cold War's height had occurred. Ronald Reagan is also known for his famous "Tear Down This Wall Speech" which in turn became an influential channel for the American effect over the Cold War and fall of the Berlin Wall. The site offers an exhibit that holds information of events, first-hand accounts, replicas, and authentic artifacts of this time.

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August 13, 1961 - German border closes between East and West Germany, dividing the city of Berlin into parts. Construction for the Berlin Wall began after the shut down of the border. Nobody within the Berlin Wall was allowed to leave. The Ronald Reagan Exhibit provides information about the day of the closing of the border.

August 22, 1961 - Ida Siekmann becomes the first East German to die by attempting to escape East Berlin through the border; at this time the border had been installing barbed wire and the “death strip” was formed, where a certain distance from one point to the border of the two Germanies was where any Stasi officer may open fire on anyone who attempts to cross. The Ronald Reagan Library offers multiple resources regarding the people who were killed that attempted to escape East Berlin. The exhibit also includes a replica of what a passageway looked like and what it took to escape the city.

Year of 1975 - The Berlin Wall was officially complete. It was reinforced with security towers, armed forces, and attack animals. It was nearly, if not, impossible for East Berliners to escape and flee into West Berlin. The Ronald Reagan Library also provides photos and a real piece of the Berlin Wall at the exhibit and displayed outside of the museum. This wall became a symbol of the Cold War to American leadership and inspired Reagan's famous "Tear Down This Wall" speech in hopes to put an end to the Cold War and the division of Europe.

June 12, 1987 - Ronald Reagan, the U.S President at the time, visits the border of West Berlin and East Berlin and gives a public speech pushing Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the wall and end the division of Europe. At the Ronald Reagan Library, there are pieces of videos that come from the actual event of June 12, 1987. There is also a teleprompter room that is interactive in which it allows guests to feel what it was like to speak live through a teleprompter.

November 9, 1989 - Previous dates to this event, the Soviet Union began to weaken and East Berliners began to peacefully protest to take down the wall. November 9, 1989, was when the border had been opened for East Berliners. The Ronald Reagan Library highlights the fall of the Berlin Wall and provides videos in the theater of the day. The museum also displays a piece of the actual wall right outside for people to touch and see the contrasting sides of what the East Berliners saw and what the West Berliners saw.

November 10, 1989 - People of both sides began to tear down the wall with sledgehammers and other various tools, celebrating the victory and reunification of Germany.

The timeline shows how the lengthy years it must have felt for the people of East Berlin being trapped under the communist dictatorship at the time. There was not much happening from the time that the border was closed until Reagan made his public speech that inspired and brought the spotlight to the Berlin Wall and how much of a symbol it was of the Cold War in general. It was a division of Europe and it was starting with destabilizing the nation Germany.

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Lorenzo Miguel Dela Paz -  Timeline - Graphic Organizer

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unknown exact photographer; owned by National Archives

The photograph shows President Reagan in front of the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin. This gate is part of the actual Berlin Wall, where he is seen making his famous “Tear down this wall” speech. Behind the gate, you can see East Berlin while President Reagan and every other human being visible is on the side of West Berlin. On the stage, we see multiple different flags: the U.S.A, West Germany (black, red, yellow striped), and East Berlin (red with white in center).

The Ronald Reagan Library holds a lot of information and resources on this particular day. There is even a teleprompter at the library that anyone can test out to see what it feels like being filmed while reading off of a moving screen. This particular photo actually shows how close Reagan was to East Berlin, and understanding the violence that went on was likely 50 feet behind him. Communist East Berlin quite literally never let people out. They were stuck in East Berlin and anyone who tried to escape were a target for elimination.

You can see a good amount of the buildings and ground behind the gate of East Berlin in the photo, but what is not visible are the people of East Berlin. The people of East Berlin suffered a great deal that is obviously not captured in this photo. This photo made East Berlin look like a normal city. We see large buildings, greenery, and even a clock tower in the back… but what lies beyond is not represented or seen.

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Primary Source - Speech/Written Document

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Primary Source - Speech/Written Document

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This is the Tear Down This Wall speech, by Ronald Reagan, on June 12, 1987. Related to the photo analysis above, this document is a transcript of the speech that he presented on that day.

Ronald Reagan’s speech came from a voice that had authority with gentleness (not authoritarian) as a president and a voice that resonated and reflected a message by the American people. His speech involved a lot of personal conviction and U.S policies, but called for the unification and democracy of a Germany that stood free and proud. Reagan expressed hope in putting an end to the Cold War and spoke over the Berlin Wall as a physical representation of what division and oppression looked like in society.

This source provides the actual speech that was influential to the American effect of the Cold War and the tear down of the Berlin Wall. It is crucial to read and understand what exactly was said during this speech. It was a public event that the whole world got to see. Such an event like this must not be overlooked and kept hidden. This was the way the American society had spoken over democracy and unifying nations. It was also important to observe the choice of wording and things discussed during the speech. Was Reagan talking out of personal interest, interest that could help the American government, or in interest of the American people?

A lot of this question could simply be answered as this is a speech that is coming from an AMERICAN PRESIDENT. There is American leadership behind all of this, where the western way pressed for a democratic and capitalistic perspective in government. People that lived in the west likely related and resonated with his speech more based on the values that were shared compared to people of governments under the east.

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Primary Source 2 - Interview with East Berlin Officer

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Primary Source 2 - Interview with East Berlin Officer

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“I Gave my People the Order – Raise the Barrier”, was a documented interview with Lieutenant-colonel Harald Jager, an East Berlin officer who was at the wall and one of the first people to cross into West Berlin after the fall of East Berlin. This interview was held on September 11, 2009 with SPIEGEL ONLINE. (This event that the interview revolves around happens on November 9, 1989, the fall of the Berlin Wall).

Spiegel, the interviewer, gets the chance to talk to a lieutenant of East Berlin who experienced the fall of the wall. Harald Jager, the lieutenant, gives his personal story as to what he saw, the things he heard, the things he did, and what he felt during that day as someone who had never been outside of East Berlin.

As someone who had been brainwashed by the Stasi police department, we get to see his past opinions and views of his own fellow citizens. He seemed to have little care or empathy towards any citizen in East Berlin. All members involved with the Stasi were conditioned to never let anyone out of East Berlin, and if someone were to attempt to escape, it was an order to fire and eliminate them. During the fall of the Berlin Wall, even his own team of policemen were conflicted whether or not to open fire on the East Berliners as the wall went down. Thankfully, it was Jager that did not give in into ordering an open fire that day.

This source shows first-hand testimonies of government related individuals who clearly go against the perspectives of the first source. Communist East Berlin had clearly wanted isolation from the world and refused to let its own people leave. We also see a moral dilemma that he faces in the interview, where somewhere deep down, he was conflicted with the fall of the Berlin Wall. Everything he had lived for and lived by was now coming to an end.

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Here is a layout of the museum. You can access the outside of the museum using the tools provided by Google Maps.

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The Ronald Reagan Library holds an actual piece of the Berlin wall. The interesting thing is that you can see the differences in both sides of the concrete slab. One side is bare and white, the East Berlin side. The other side is drawn with colorful graffiti and lively objects (butterflies & flowers), which actually is the side that faces West Germany.

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This is a photo of propaganda by the East Berliners. The communist dictatorship glamourized their way of life and militaristic lifestyle.

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Each tablet at the exhibit offers headphones that allow you to hear first-hand accounts by those who experienced escaping the Berlin Wall and even witnessed people dying trying escape. The Library offers a lot of these audio recordings and come from real people and real accounts.

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This digital resource has the littlest information I have ever seen. The Berlin Wall exhibit is an important part of the Ronald Reagan Library. In person, you will find that there is a lot of interactive things and visual objects that really set the tone and your imagination. The official website could absolutely have more resources when it comes to providing information online.

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The Berlin Wall. This wall will fall. For it cannot withstand faith; it cannot withstand truth. The wall cannot withstand freedom.

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1.  What role did Reagan’s speech play at the fall of the Berlin Wall?

2.  What was the public opinion like in America during the Cold War; particularly when it came to the politics of East Berlin and West Berlin.

3.  Were East Berliners aware of Reagan’s efforts and interests in seeing a unified Germany?

4.  What was public opinion on Americans during the Cold War by East Berliners and West Berliners?

5. Does the library consist of any first-hand stories or accounts of people that were on either side of the Berlin Wall?

FINDINGS:

It simply goes down to the audio recordings. Videos online show the artifacts, photos, and replicas of the era, but the audio recordings that the library provided can only be heard by actually visiting the library. People say and agree upon witness accounts being some of the weaker forms of evidence and are not as reliable, (i know court and museums are different when it comes to that), but in context to history, eye witness accounts are absolute game changers. Throughout this U.S History class in general, the way we went through eye witness accounts of people through documentation and videos were always helpful in understanding the era, time, culture, and customs much better.

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The Ronald Reagan Library surprisingly had little information about the perspective of the America people during the Cold War. As a virtual experience, there were many limitations, but I still believe I was able to get something out of it and both understand the value to in person experiences and understanding the events of the Berlin Wall. The site works well in providing artifacts and visuals. The exhibit itself is such an immersive and interactive experience.

I personally felt that this project allowed me to take an event in history and break it down in a fashionable matter. I've heard about the Berlin Wall in history books and read small articles about it, but allowing yourself to really dive deep into the story of the individuals who were affected can completely intensify the feeling that you already had before.