OH+Questions


 * Topic: Berlin Wall **
 * Interview Subject: Joel Wallskog (Joey's father) **

Could you describe the tension between the Soviet Union and the United States and it's citizens? How did you feel in the Cold War? I felt insecure. Also, I believed most of the propaganda, which suggested the Soviets were out to get us. They were always the enemy in any movies, books, and TV shows. I understand that you visited the Berlin Wall before during this tension. Could you describe this? What was it like before the country was reunited? In Berlin, the differences between the two countries was crazy. West was rebuilt, East was not. Relaxed versus high tension. East was very dreary, lots of police. What do you remember about the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the reunification between West and East Germany? I naturally thought about Reagan, the person who challenged the Soviets. I also remember seeing the people of both sides Berlin tearing down the wall on TV. Did this affect the American people? If so, how did people respond? The event that symbolized the end of the Cold War and the power of Communism. It also represented the failure of Communism. After the deconstruction of the Berlin Wall, you visited again. How was this visit different than the last? Was there still great amounts of tension? There was nearly no tension. the city was reunited. The wall was gone. There was no sign of it besides the monuments of it. A lot of East Berlin had been modernized. What impact did the Berlin Wall have on the German people as well as the American people? The German people were united again. They were deprived of their unity from the Soviets. Would you consider this the downfall of the Soviet Union's Iron Curtain? Why or why not? Yes. It was symbolic of the Cold War. The wall represented the barrier between the two countries. As the wall fell, so did the power of the Soviets