1989 - The fall of the Soviet Union

The political drama of the fall of the Iron Curtain as told by one of its power brokers and the widow of one of its casualties.

A film by Anders Østergaard and Erzsébet Rácz
year: 2014

[joposepef]

I was born in Budapest in 1953. In 1956, after two failed attempts, my parents successfully escaped on the third attempt, risking their lives. They settled in Chile, where I pursued a career as a fighter pilot for the Chilean Air Force between 1968 and 1992. Several times I tried to travel to my native country to meet the family I had left behind, without success. Hungary was behind the Iron Curtain and it was forbidden to visit my family, with whom it was very difficult to communicate, the letters went through state censorship. In 1990, with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel of the Chilean Air Force, I was commissioned to take a staff course at the Royal Air Force Staff College in Bracknell, UK. The course began in the first days of January, and one of my classmates was a Luftwaffe pilot whose name was Luky; I don't remember his last name. I asked him his opinion about an eventual reunification of Germany, to which he replied that it was a fact, but that it would take a few years. During the August holidays I was able to make a short visit to my native country for the first time, meet my uncles and cousins and visit the graves of my ancestors. In October, the course included a visit to UK forces in Berlin and Paderborn. The famous Checkpoint C in Berlin was unmanned and there was free transit between East and West. On October 3rd, while we were in Paderborn, reunification took place. The first one surprised was Luky. Years later I had the opportunity to visit my native country and my family for a longer time, in what was the most intense and marking experience of my life. I owe it to Németh Miklos.

[allangillis]

Whoever is responsible for bringing this incredible documentary...THANK YOU!!!

[oliverwortley]

what a fascinating hidden gem of a documentary. a documentary narrated and from the perspective of an actual leader and prime minister - that is very rare and unique. I thoroughly enjoyed this documentary and cannot believe I haven’t seen it before, or that it isn’t bigger.

[Brandon-]

I really had no idea that the end of a short documentary would leave me teary eyed and happy for people I'd never met before, but in feeling that emotion is a clarity of seeing people experience the freedom to be truly human without consequence for the days after breaking away. God bless you.

[WellHellooooThere]

My late grandpa was a Superintendent at the Nevada Test Site when the USSR fell. He was the designated "point man" for an entire entourage of Soviet officials who arrived on a Antonov An-225 Mriya to conduct inspections and make sure the US was adhering to the Limited Test Ban Treaty (LTBT). Each Russian had a plain clothes Air Force OSI agent assigned to him that did not leave his side. Apparently the day the USSR fell, the Russians found out via a local newspaper. They ditched their handlers and went to get blackout drunk. The next day they boarded their Antonov and one of the officials turned to my grandpa and said, "We return to a country that no longer exists." Pretty crazy first-hand account!

[vauxpedia]

Miklós Németh was a man way ahead of his time and was very underrated by history for his contribution to Hungary. Great man & a great documentary!

[pacifichistory]

A brilliant piece of truth telling. Bravo to the entire TV documentary team...and the courageous people of Hungary.

[ww]

Poland in 1981 started this process.
I was part of that process.
I was arrested in 1982 , after Amnesty 1984, emigrated to Canada. In 2022, I received from Polish Gouverment status veteran.
My conclusion to my life is to fight for freedom,
You don't know
WHAT IS FREEDOM , UNTIL YOU LOSE IT.

[AnonAnonAnon]

Miklós Németh's father was a very wise man. The world today needs people like him to show and tell us the error of Mankind's ways.

[annemcleod]

Excellent. We knew it was the opening of the Hungarian border to GDR citizens that was the first step in the fall of the Iron Curtain, but this film fills in the context and final stages of this momentous development from the Hungarian perspective. Brilliant use of archival footage, reconstructions and interview with Nemeth himself. A very rare treat.

[Akos]

I was born in 1953 in an industrial neighborhood in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Our neighborhood was home to a large community of immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe, including Hungarian families. I heard their stories about how they fled the communist dictatorship after the 1956 uprising, and in 1989, with the fall of the Berlin Wall, I was able to witness the joy and happiness of some friends, with whom I still have contact. How wonderful it is to be able to visit our homeland free from oppression.

[TABreckenbauer]

So cool is way this documentary is made. Good job

[innerlight]

I'm a german, 58 years old. And I, and I will tell my son to do so as well, will never forget what the people in Hungary, Poland and in the former DDR had done for us.

Thank you.

[valicerr]

One of the best documentaries I ever saw. Greetings from Romania!

[MDW]

On my block when I was growing up in the San Fernando Valley many years ago was a family that had escaped from Hungary during the 1956 Revolution. The father had bribed a border guard to let them across the border into Austria with their two young daughters. They all made it to the U.S. and became naturalized U.S. citizens. The Dad worked for Lockheed in Burbank as an aeronautical engineer for a number of years before he died, while his wife worked at the children's apparel shop my Mom managed. They detested the communists as they saw first hand the bitter truth about totalitarian socialism/communism. Very fine, decent people.

[JimHopper]

This is a remarkable video - the title is misleading, but some of the footage in here is truly amazing! Thank you

[Jeff-qfem]

I am American. 60 years old. I remember being glued to the t.v. when i was able. To be a witness to this historical time was amazing. Freedom is part of the human spirit. It can't be killed. As an American, I can only imagine what it was truly like to become free.

[dichebach]

Wow! This is such a FANTASTIC piece of work! Well done!

[romryan]

Great documentary. I was 12 years old at the time. I lived in Romania in the early 2000's, so I got interested in the Eastern Bloc countries history. This is a real gem of a documentary!

[Trzysetny]

I remember that time. Just turned 10 that year and it was like the biggest birthday present ever. A gift that still keeps on giving❤