#412
Miscommunication
On the evening of November 9th, 1989, the party leader of East Berlin Günter Schabowski was giving a press conference on the new rules opening up the Berlin wall for travel and emigration. Near the end of the conference a reporter asked Schabowski when it would take effect. “Umm… As far as I know it takes effect immediately, without delay.” Mr. Schabowski responded. However, no one told the border guards this and as thousands of Germans approached from both sides of the wall they began to get nervous as they had standing orders to shoot anyone who attempted to cross. By 19:17 the group already numbered 70,000 and someone had cut the phone lines so the Guards couldn't get clarification. Finally Harald Jäger opened the gates –figuring that being shot for treason would be a quicker death than being torn apart by a crowd if they fired upon it. Today november the 9th is remembered as the day the wall came down, and it started with the interjection “Umm”
