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The year that changed Europe
Hungary
Total time 3:14
Arpad Bella and Johann Göttl were border guards – facing each other over the Hungarian-Austrian frontier. One day they had enough and turned a blind eye as hundreds broke through the border and made their way to freedom in the West. They look back at those momentous hours which heralded the collapse of the Berlin Wall.
More infoLithuania
Total time 3:22
The Baltic Way – over two million people came together to form a human chain that crossed Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Facing the likelihood of a draconian reaction from the authorities, people nonetheless turned out on a massive scale, to join hands across the Baltic States in a universal demonstration of unity. Aldona Pocienè and Vladas Vildžinus talk about what it was like to defy the authorities and join their countrymen in changing history.
More infoGermany
Total time 3:01
The system in East Germany under Erich Honecker and the Stasi secret police was not to be taken lightly and journalists knew what would await them if they tried to tell the world what life was really like. Roland Jahn - Editor "Kontraste" was based in Berlin and imprisoned for his dealings with Western media. He and the dissident artist Kathrin Hattenhauer tell the story of the fight for freedom of expression.
More infoEstonia
Total time 2:49
Toxic effluent, noxious fumes - pollution from ill-run heavy industry poisoned Estonia’s environment and devastated lives. Newspaper editors Rein Sikk and Raivo Riim faced down their fear and took on the authorities in a series of articles drawing people’s attention to the environmental degradation unfolding around them. Now they tell their story.
More infoPoland
Total time 2:38
Political prisoner and exile, Michal Bojanowski remembers the atmosphere of oppression that smothered his country and looks back at the first glimmers of hope as the Solidarnosc movement took off. Demonstrations and acts of individual courage are recognised and celebrated in this snapshot of Poland’s struggle towards democracy.
More infoCzech Republic
Total time 2:37
The 17 November 1989 students organised a peaceful demonstration in Prague, which was to trigger the Velvet Revolution. However things were touch and go on this very first day of protests as demonstrators on one of the town’s main roads found themselves being hemmed in by the police. Exits were shut off and armoured vehicles started herding the protestors, mostly students, together. Hana Bošková and Ji?í Hollan met in the crowd, standing shoulder to shoulder in uncertainty as riot police moved in.
More infoSlovakia
Total time 2:53
The square named after the Slovak uprising against Hitler was the scene of the protests calling for a new era and democracy. Actress Zuzana Ciganova remembers the time with pride and paints us a picture of a people’s movement facing down danger and taking its demands right into the corridors of power.
More infoSlovenia
Total time 2:45
In this clip Dusan Necak and Bozo Repe, both professors at Lubijana University remember a different revolution - a more peaceful transition to democracy which started with General Tito’s death and culminated in the fall of the wall. They recall how the country waited with bated breath to see what the outcome of "perestroïka" in Russia would be.
More infoRomania
Total time 3:03
Communist Dictator Nicolae Ceaucescu and his wife, captured on the run and executed, over 1 142 deaths, 3 138 injured – the Romanian revolution was the most bloody of all. As the prosecuting council at Ceaucescu’s trial, Dan Voinea was at the heart of it. He talks of his experiences at the time. Lucian Alexandrescu was a political activist and looks back at the demonstrations which bought down a dictatorship and ushered in a brighter future.
More infoBulgaria
Total time 3:16
Only Bulgaria was able to broadcast what was coming out of Romania and show the dramatic events unfolding over the border. This was also the final confirmation for Bulgarians that Communist rule in their own country had failed and two weeks later the Bulgarian National Assembly dissolved the governing authoritarian party. Vladimir Bereanu, TV journalist, received a tip-off that what looked like a stable dictatorship in Romania was about to topple. He recounts what happened on the night of 21st December when his was the only station receiving the signal out of Romania, and he broadcast it to the world.
More infoLatvia
Total time 3:12
Latvians took to the streets in song, singing their way to freedom. Romualds Ražuks was the chairman of the Latvian Popular Front and talks us through that time where freedom lay in the country’s strength of spirit and not in the use of armed force.
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