West Berlin was one of the greatest party cities on earth in the 1980s. I was there in August 1989 saw the tremendous difference of the west city and the eastern one, and then two months later that wall was sledgehammered down with raucous drinking singing and disbelief amonst us all as we witnessed the end to a huge totalitarian era. Lets never forget this since there are always tyrants wanting to take away all the freedoms they can. In the case of the eastern bloc and USSR no one could travel. If you wanted to leave and head to a western country you risked you very life to do so because if caught you were often shot dead. Their crime? Wishing to live in freedom. Please dont forget this.