I felt an inner cry of joy when Schabowski stammered on GDR television as he announced freedom of travel to the West. The following day, friends and I went to Berlin on Bornholmer Strasse to see for ourselves how people were dancing on the Wall for joy. Loud shouts of abuse could be heard as thousands declared their rejection of GDR policy. The cry echoed nonstop over the heads of the masses: The Wall must go, the Wall must go. The Wall woodpeckers were busy prying chunks out of the Wall of Shame, thus initiating the Wall's fall. I noticed a ten-year-old boy struggling with a chisel and sledgehammer to secure a chunk for himself. I rushed to his aid so that I could take a piece of the injustice with me too. As I pried the Wall with powerful blows, I felt as if I were hitting my tormentors, who had prevented me from being myself for decades. When private crafts were socialized in 1972, which was tantamount to expropriation, I fought back, which led me to resist state power. From then on, I was investigated, which ultimately led to my arrest. This was followed by an arrest and a show trial, which resulted in a sentence of three years and six months in prison. Here, as is common in dictatorships, a perversion of justice took place. The workers' and farmers' state not only took my property, it also disenfranchised me, abused me, and beat me. After the fall of the Wall, I applied for my Stasi file, which provided evidence of the inhumane and criminal treatment I had received. A court ruled in favor of my application for rehabilitation, and I was also awarded financial compensation. This gave me the opportunity to reopen my craft business, which is now run by my son. So far, I have used my retirement to publish all the highs and lows of my life in four books. As a life and contemporary witness, I consider it my duty to participate in addressing the crimes of the GDR's unjust state through lectures in schools, memorial sites, and assemblies. I was not spared several dictatorships that always imposed their will and worldview on people. Only in the second half of my life, thanks to reunification, was I able to enjoy personal freedom. For me, it is a gift from heaven to be able to make my own decisions and no longer feel the stranglehold.
