Local Remembers A Day that Divided a Nation

Fifty years after the Berlin Wall was built, the scars from the emotional physical wounds remain.

“Not only families, but buildings, farms, streets were forcefully divided, but also the German psyche,” said Anke Otto-Wolf, of Redlands, an author and speaker.

To keep the lessons of that era fresh in the minds of the community, Otto-Wolf will speak during a remembrance ceremony Aug. 13 at Ronald Reagan Park in San Bernardino.

A piece of the Berlin Wall is located at the park. The event marks the 50^th anniversary of when the East Germany regime began to build the wall and divided families, a city and a country.

Otto-Wolf said she would speak about the political situation in post-war Germany, the early fifties in Germany, and how it resulted in the forming of the former East Germany.

She also plans to read from her book “My Peace of The Wall.” Informative videos about Berlin will be available. People are encouraged to participate in a question and answer session.

A native of Berlin, Otto-Wolf represented her hometown earlier this year during a dedication of the wall piece at the park, according to a news release. She presented a congratulatory letter from the Governing Mayor of Berlin to San Bernardino Mayor Pat Morris and fellow councilman Chas Kelley and chairman of the nonprofit Friends of Reagan Park, Robert Rego.

“I am not celebrating Aug. 13,” Otto-Wolff said. “Matter of fact it was one of the saddest days in my life. But I am celebrating the 1989 destruction of the Wall. I would like to see this day as a get-together of like-minded people, exchanging and sharing experiences and memories, or to learn more about this cataclysmic time in world history in which the US played a leading role.”

The event is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday. Organizers are encouraging guests bring a blanket, chairs and a picnic.

Ronald Reagan Park is in San Bernardino at Irvington and Chestnut avenues off I-215 North, after the University Parkway exit.