Hello and welcome to the History Hour podcast from the BBC World Service with me Max Pearson,

the past brought to life by those who were there.

This week we're focusing on the events surrounding the fall of the Berlin Wall 30 years ago, a moment which ended the post-war settlement in Europe,

and which was prompted by a wave of unrest across the eastern block.

I remember when we put on the door leading to our offices a huge sign, solidarity, to see this sign was extremely moving and sign of a change.

Among others, we'll hear from those who fled East Germany as the protests grew.

I could hear behind me the policeman the officer had already grabbed me and asked for my papers.

I tore my arm away from the officer and grabbed my two youngest children and jumped into

the embassy and the gate slammed.

It was a heavenly sound.

And from those who are among the very first to embrace their new freedoms.

We were one the first.

We were the first to cross.

We really were the first and I only really believe we were in the West when we were sitting

in a Mercedes taxi.

That's all coming up in this podcast and to put these events in context I'm joined from Berlin

by Dr Bodom-Rosek Senior Fellow at the Berlin Center for Cold War Studies. And you, Brodo, literally grew up in the

shadow of the war? Yes, one can say so very much. I was born in West Berlin in 1968 and I lived in the western part of West Berlin that was in this time the the British zone so we had

West Berlin under the command of the Western Allies.

So I remember, you know, being kind of a time-witness of the Cold War, I have photographs showing

me on top of British tanks because we used to go to the military shows at the Alexander barracks of the British Army and we literally played in the shadow of the war.

This was because at the very edge of Berlin the war was not crossing only

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