BERLIN, GERMANY
Liz and Lee Heidhues 11.21.2023
Tomorrow is the 60th anniversary of the shocking assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas as he rode in an open limousine at 12:30pm.
I was a high school junior that day and had just completed a driver training class. One of my schoolmates was running through the Tamalpais High parking lot yelling, “Kennedy’s been shot!!!”
My life changed forever that morning.
60 years later we’re in Berlin. A place which is inextricably tied to JFK’s 1000 days presidency. January 20, 1961 – November 22, 1963.
The Kennedy presidency took place during the height of the Cold War between the United States and Russia. Ground Zero in this struggle was the divided city of Berlin. America, Britain, and France controlled West Berlin. The Russians controlled East Berlin.
On August 13, 1961 the Russians cutoff their side of Berlin and began construction of The Wall. It stood as the penultimate symbol of the intractable Cold War for 28 years. In late 1989 the thawing of American-Russian hostility saw the demolition of The Wall and the reunification of Berlin.
The Wall may be physically gone. But its sad, bitter memories live on forever in Germany.
Today we visited a memorial to The Wall and thought seriously about the psychological and physical terror it rained on the People of Berlin for nearly 30 years.
It is a sobering experience. Made more impactful because we are in Berlin on the sad anniversary of John Kennedy’s assassination.
Photos – Liz and Lee Heidhues
Lee's Perspective 