Gates That Never Close Again

On the night of November 9, 1989, East Berliners gathered at the checkpoints that had imprisoned them for twenty-eight years. When the gates finally opened, thousands streamed through with tears running down their faces. Strangers embraced strangers. Families separated for decades fell into each other's arms at the Brandenburg Gate. Nobody slept that night in Berlin. The city blazed with celebration, and for the first time in a generation, people walked freely in every direction without papers, without permission, without fear.…