Graphic report The Wall that separated two worlds, in detail
The essence of a journalist is his
nose
: to realize that he is facing good news.
The
smell
of
Riccardo Ehrman
was extraordinary: not only was
the only one who noticed correspondent at a press conference that this
was a important information, but to one that would change the world
.
Another frigid day in November was passing in East Berlin in 1989 when the spokesman for the Politburo of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), Günther Schabowski, appeared before a group of journalists, including the Italian Ehrman, sent by the agency news agency Ansa to cover East Germany because of her good knowledge of the German language.
Schabowski had purposely left the announcement of a new Travel Law to last that he intended to go unnoticed, but Ehrman realized what it could mean, when he mentioned that East Germans could "travel abroad without a justification, reason of travel or place of residence ". Ehrman persisted and asked the question that brought down the Berlin Wall a few hours later.
"When will it come into effect?" To which the powerful communist hierarch responded nervously: "Ab sofort!" ("Immediately!").
What followed is known to all of us. The concrete scar that separated and shamed the German population and Europe collapsed.
"It was the best moment of my life", this Jew born in Florence would always tell, who
was locked up in a concentration camp with his parents at the age of 13
.
"I do not have hatred towards the Germans, but towards the Nazis", would be another of his forceful phrases.
Ehrman studied law before becoming a journalist.
Because of his good English, the American agency Associated Press (AP) sent him to Ottawa (Canada).
Later, his passage through East Berlin would come working for Ansa.
At his home, near Alexanderplatz, he even had a microphone in every room
(except in the bedroom ... where he had two).
After his historical coverage in the current German capital, Ehrman decided to retire in Madrid, where he died this past Tuesday at the age of 92.
Along with
smell
, the second quality that must accompany a journalist is passion.
And Ehrman kept it until his last days.
In Madrid, another cold winter morning, and now in his eighth decade of life, the Italian journalist who made history in the heart of Europe went to the Isabel la Católica Institute (next to the Retiro) accompanied by Margarita, his Spanish wife.
Before a group of anonymous and expectant students, Ehrman recalled in the auditorium with all kinds of details how was the iconic press conference of November 9, 1989, how the citizens of the GDR celebrated the arrival of democracy and freedom, how words can break down walls and how worth fighting is worth.
Thank you, Riccardo Ehrman.
Rest in peace.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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