Angelika Wachs, esta semana, no checkpoint Charlie. Segundo a jornalista Alison Smale, Angelika foi a primeira cidadã alemã de Leste a «derrubar» o muro: e passou com a repórter ao seu lado!(Foto: Gordon Welters/International Herald Tribune)
No dia 9 de Novembro passam 20 anos sobre a queda do muro de Berlim. Muito se tem escrito sobre o assunto mas quero aqui hoje destacar uma iniciativa do New York Times, que convidou leitores de todo o mundo a partilharem as suas recordações e imagens desse dia histórico. No site estão já histórias verdadeiramente fabulosas, destacadas no projecto The view from the Wall. Basta clicar numa imagem para ler uma breve descrição, escrita na primeira pessoa. Um belo exemplo do chamado citizen-journalism.
Mas vale a pena ler os artigos dos verdadeiros jornalistas, sobretudo o testemunho impressionante de Alison Smale, Chasing the story on an night that changed all. Alison, hoje editora executiva do International Herald Tribune, trabalhava na altura para a Associated Press. E acabou, de forma extraordinária, por fazer parte da história:
A pimply young man, barely in his 20s, sat at passport control. He looked at my British passport, and then at Angelika’s papers, which somehow bore a rare stamp permitting her to visit West Berlin. But it was only valid Nov. 17, he objected. I urged him to consider what was happening. He shrugged. He pressed the switch to open the door. We tumbled through.
It was the only moment in my life when I pinched myself to see if I was dreaming. I had just crossed Checkpoint Charlie with this stranger, a woman exactly my age, 34, a citizen of Communist East Germany.
There were only a handful of West Berliners on hand to cheer our arrival. Shouting that it was “unglaublich,” or unbelievable, Angelika ran off to seek a ride to a friend who had escaped west years earlier, and I headed for a cheap bar where I glommed on to that precious commodity, a telephone.
All day, I had not spoken to my Associated Press colleagues in West Berlin — there were only a few land lines, constantly busy, linking East and West. Now I had them on line and screamed: “Guess what I just did! I crossed Checkpoint Charlie with the first East German!”
It was the only moment in my life when I pinched myself to see if I was dreaming. I had just crossed Checkpoint Charlie with this stranger, a woman exactly my age, 34, a citizen of Communist East Germany.
There were only a handful of West Berliners on hand to cheer our arrival. Shouting that it was “unglaublich,” or unbelievable, Angelika ran off to seek a ride to a friend who had escaped west years earlier, and I headed for a cheap bar where I glommed on to that precious commodity, a telephone.
All day, I had not spoken to my Associated Press colleagues in West Berlin — there were only a few land lines, constantly busy, linking East and West. Now I had them on line and screamed: “Guess what I just did! I crossed Checkpoint Charlie with the first East German!”
Essa mulher, que terá sido a primeira a «derrubar» o muro chama-se Angelika Wachs e continua a viver em Berlim. A jornalista conseguiu contactá-la de novo na semana passada e, no próximo dia 16, têm encontro marcado na cidade alemã: «Para beber o copo que acabámos por nunca beber, há 20 anos».
1 comentário:
O sonho de muitos. Beber juntos aquele copo que afinal nunca se chegou a berber.
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