AH Vignette: Memory

What was once a Great Wall stood crumbled. Graffiti sprinkled what sections had not been torn down in an attempt to forget what had happened here, to forget the Wall and what had transpired there. But some would not forget.

At a point once known as Crossing Station #3 a sign stands in memory of those who died, not just trying to cross the wall, but those on the fateful day in 1963. Signs in Russian, German and English commemorate the fighting that was touched off by the stubbornness of Molotov and Morse. The once great capital of Europe torn apart by violence as the world focus suddenly lurched back from Cuba. Quite literally the world had stood minutes from nuclear holocaust. But now Crossing Point #2 stands as a memorial. Only visited by those who remember.

A group of high schoolers, Americans it seemed to the burnt out tour guide, maybe here for a concert or something. Sighing she began her talk.

"After the Second World War this city was divided into four occupation zoned, French, British, American and Soviet, with a supposedly "rotating" international sector. Of course when refugees from the Red Army started hiding there the Communists marched in and stopped the rotation. The Western Powers protested, but who were they to start a nuclear war?"

The students quieted a bit, but remained chatty. Their guide pressed on.

"When the refugees began really pouring after the purges of 1962 Primer Molotov sent the Red Army to wall off the Western sectors, cutting them off from the bulk of the country far to the west. The Wall went up and our beautiful city, heart of European culture for centuries was ripped in two. Many still tried to cross, almost all failed and where shot, or captured and tortured."

A teen dressed in all black with a nose piercing asked, without raising his hand "How were they tortured?"

The tour guide was appalled, the torture was not the point. Did they not see how terrible this whole endeavor was?

"Err…I do not know." She said "Anyway the city became an even bigger hotspot, even with the lofty heights set by the Twin Airlifts. The tanks pointed at each other. The Cold War at its finest. But the world turned their eyes away for a moment to Cuba, where Soviet troops poured in to help Castro defeat the lechones. Of course when the submarines started getting closer and closer to Florida a crisis erupted in earnest. It was in this scenario that this place here came into play."

Even with the promise of an end to the exposition the students seemed uninterested. Typical Americans, but the guide had little else to do.

"The details are fuzzy, but a young family attempted to jump a section of the wall near that sign post…"

"There's no wall there." Said one of the teenagers.

"Well there was then." The guide snapped, then recomposed herself. "Anyway, they made a run for the wall, no one knows who they were, they all disappeared in what followed. Like so many others they would have been shot. But on duty that day was a new American guard, who seemed horrified by it and ran out to stop it. We don't know who…"

"Why?"

"Because no one wants to know the man who nearly destroyed humanity, besides he got shot pretty quickly. From there things escalated at a horrifying pace, the Americans at the Crossing immediately fire back, at which point the Red Army fires on the Crossing hut. Both sides call for reinforcements and soon the wall is crumbling, not from peace as you may remember it, but from the lion of war tearing this ancient city to pieces. It is what we all feared, the Americans and Soviets in open battle. The Soviets had the man power advantage and were pressing through here, while in the skies jets clashed. Your President, Morse, was minutes away for ordering a global first strike on various cities, including here. But Secretary of Defense Eisenhower, that great winner of the Second World War, did not want to fight a Third. You've heard of him correct?"

The students shook their heads. She let out a small gasp.

"Well……look him up on Euler at some point." She urged. "Eisenhower talked Morse down and they called the embassy who called Molotov, who also was moments away from launching warheads. They agreed to a ceasefire along the original lines and a conference in Helsinki. They worked it out, despite hot heads on both sides calling for war. The hundreds who died here in this city were not the start of millions. Many fled the East as the Wall crumbled, but it was soon rebuilt. The Specter of war still hung in the air until 1991 when the wall fell in peace, just like the rest of the Iron Curtain."

None of the Americans seemed interested.

She sighed. "Now, more then ever, it is important to remember the lessons learned here. While some may say confrontation is needed in Estonia, I say that I would do almost anything to avoid the Cold War happening again. Memory. That is what is important, the memory of how close we flirted with extinction the memory of the importance of keeping a cool head."

The kids still seemed uninterested and began looking at their phones, before an unseen teacher called them back towards their busses.

The tour guide sighed and turned her head towards the spot where, as a young girl, her father had decided to make a suicidal dash for freedom. Where she'd only been saved by a strange man wearing a strange striped flag.

She was disappointed in the Americans, not teaching their children what had happened here. But she supposed she could not blame the teenagers, there were far more interesting places to see in Vienna.​
 
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Beautiful. I could really feel the the world forgetting this tumult even though the topic at hand was World War III almost happening.
 
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