Warsaw - Poles celebrated the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall by toppling a 3-metre-tall Styrofoam replica Monday in Warsaw to cheers and live drum music. Dozens of teens first covered the wall in graffiti, then pushed it over and bounced on the Styrofoam while organizers served juice in champagne glasses.
Michael Gerdts, Germany's ambassador to Poland, said the fall of the wall in 1989 was "symbolic of the end of the division of Europe" and that the young people at the event were the continent's future.
The replica wall, 8 metres wide, was built by art students. The event wasorganized by the Germany embassy and the Polish Robert Schuman Foundation.
One youth at the event, Patrycja Karwowska, 17, said that young people throughout Europe have differing views on the wall's importance. She learned this at the foundation's recent five-day gathering of European teens.
"It was really interesting because you could hear young people from other nations and what they think about the wall," Karwowska said. "People from places like Portugal or Italy, their knowledge was limited. In Poland it's an important part of history, and it's in a lot of movies and stories."
Warsaw resident Kazimierz Kudlacik, 67, remembered watching the fall of the Berlin Wall on television in 1989, and said it marked the real "end of World War II."
"Everyone knew that Germany would have to unite, but nobody expected it would be in such a peaceful way," Kudlacik said. "(Today's event) is a remembrance for young people who don't remember Bolshevism."
