Today is the 32nd anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. It is considered a landmark event in that it signified the collapse of the Iron Curtain that had descended upon Europe after World War II. It was the beginning of the end for communism’s ferocious grip on Central and Eastern Europe.
Americans remember this event, but it represents so much more to those that lived in the region at the time. This was a lesson I learned when I fell in love with a Bulgarian woman.
It is often said that love can be both a great educator and great motivator. I just never expected it to apply to history. Last autumn, I was dating Maria, a woman originally from Sofia, Bulgaria. While driving around Philadelphia one night on our way to dinner, she put on a song in the car and told me the most interesting story behind it. “This was the song that we played when we heard about the news of the Berlin Wall falling,” I remember her telling me. “It was played everywhere throughout the country, and everyone was singing in the streets because we were all so happy it was over.”
For the life of me, I cannot recall anything about the song. But I do remember the look in her eyes, every minute detail of her facial expression, and the sound of her voice as she described the painful joy of the news of the Berlin Wall falling. Maybe it was because I was smitten with her, but that resonated with me. The passion with which she described the wall’s fall could have been its own work of art. It really impressed upon me how horrible the Eastern Bloc must have been during those times.
It is something Americans need to hear at a time when they are more likely than ever to say favorable things about socialism, or to use words like “tyranny” and “oppression” to describe something that isn’t even close. Whenever they can, leftists seize the opportunity to exploit the downtrodden in a quest for absolute power. Their policies, tried and failed by communists during the Cold War, were fair only in that they made life miserable for everyone. This is something Maria frequently told me. It is also a topic that Gordana Schifanelli, a native of the former Yugoslavia and current candidate for lieutenant governor of Maryland, discussed with me.
It was her personal experience with the disastrous left-wing policies of the Eastern Bloc that motivated her to run for office. As we commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall today, Schifanelli is concerned that our country is headed in the direction of an ideology that kept people captive behind a wall and under actual tyranny.
“Sadly, America is marching into socialism so fast,” Schifanelli told me. “Socialism and collectivism is repugnant to the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.”
“I remember the falling down of the Berlin wall,” she said. “People were celebrating in Yugoslavia. For the communists, it was a day of defeat. America won. Capitalism won. American culture won. American pop and rock music won. Hollywood won. The American influence was strong, and communists didn’t like individual freedom and culture of free spirit.”
Schifanelli sees eerie similarities between left-wing ideologies such as critical race theory and her own experiences with communism and socialism.
“Socialism brings conformity and order,” she said. “People were happy with minimal things while me and younger generations wanted Hollywood richness or an idea that we can one day make more money and enjoy luxuries older generations didn’t think were necessary.” She chose to run for lieutenant governor because of the threat posed by left-wing ideologies she recognizes all too well. “I would violate my Citizenship Oath if I turned the blind eye to the dangers to our people and my family,” she said.
“I received my U.S. Citizenship in 2004 at age 33,” she said. “I consciously, and voluntarily agreed to protect and defend my country from all enemies: foreign and domestic, and when I see apparent and imminent danger to our children in schools, harm that collectivism and CRT training can cause them, it is my duty to step up and serve my people.”
When the Berlin Wall collapsed in Germany, people hundreds and thousands of miles away within Europe celebrated the moment. It wasn’t just a wall or a barrier; it was a cultural symbol that represented many of the very things liberals and Democrats are trying to bring into the United States today. And while these politicians declare these causes as progressive, it is abundantly clear by the vivid reaction I witnessed from Maria that day how repressive such policies ultimately are.
As we commemorate the 32nd anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall, we can only hope that history’s lessons about communism will last long enough to save our country from its resurgence.
