May 1989: Hungary cut through the barbed wire! It was the first opening of a Europe split in two. Episode 3 of the series on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

A-Z: I for Iron Curtain

From 1952 to 1989 a barbed wire border   crossed Europe,

It separated the East   under Soviet control,

Europe was split into two opposing   political and economic blocks.

In East Germany a wall   cut the city in two.

On either side of the Curtain and Wall   they dreamed of reuniting.

It took 28 years for the Iron Curtain   to open in Hungary,

and two months later the Wall finally fell.

For the 20th anniversary of the fall of the   Berlin Wall, let's take a trip into the past.

In May 1989 Hungary decided to   open the Iron Curtain.

In September they opened their frontiers   with western Europe.

It was an event that changed   the face of Europe forever.

She lived with her parents in East Berlin.

She tried everything to get to the West.

No one knew the whole escape route   in advance.

They only always revealed the next   meeting point.

and that's where we started to move   in queues,

We had to stick together,   we were afraid of being caught.

We arrived at the Klingenbach   border checkpoint,

and from then on the escape fortunately   went through successfully.

she tried her luck with the Iron Curtain.

It was at the border between   Austria and Hungary

where her dream came true   in August 1989.

A picnic between Austrians, Hungarians   and Germans took place.

Janina realised that the picnic   was a cover,

allowing East Germans   to cross the Iron Curtain.

with others she left the cars behind   and made the final journey on foot.

The secret crossings between Hungary   and West German grew

thousands of young people   rushed to the other side,

taking refuge in churches   and embassies.

There were only three possible solutions   to this problem.

Firstly, to send the refugees   back to the GDR.

Secondly, to allow the East Germans   to stay in Hungary.

On September 10th 1989, the Hungarian   government opened its borders

to East Germans, because the   Soviet Union had weakened.

It was experiencing a deep economic   and political crisis.

The USSR could no longer rule   with an iron fist,

and thousands took the opportunity   to escape.

The Berlin Wall no longer had a purpose,   and fell two months later in November,

and communist governments fell   one after another:

East Germany, Czechoslovakia,   Romania and Bulgaria.

The opening of the Iron   Curtain and the fall of the Berlin Wall

reunited Germany   and the rest of Europe too.

Are you still with me?   You need to stay tuned

in the next episode we'll look at the   revamped Berlin Wall. Til then, Bye!