Good Bye Lenin! Page #8

to celebrate the anniversary of our socialist Fatherland.

But in contrast to reality...

as a dignified farewell.

Pst!

Yes? Camera running. Start at 3.

Dear citizens of the

German Democratic Republic.

If you've lived to see the wonder

of watching our blue planet...

from the depths of the cosmos...

As mum hardly couldn't wait,

we simply moved the GDR's anniversary...

from October 7 to October 2, 1990:

The eve of the reunification.

And?

Here. My best film yet, buddy.

Too bad no one but your mother

will ever see it.

Thank you, Denis. Without you, it would never...

- Yeah, it's alright. Here you go.

Zoom off, before it gets sentimental.

And tell me how it was!

On the occasion of today's annual anniversary of the GDR,

Erich Honecker resigned...

from all his functions.

What?

We ensure our friends in the world

that the socialism...

(Reporter) In his speech on the ceremony for

the GDR's anniversary...

in the Republic's palace, Erich Honecker

justified his decision by saying that

the changes achieved in the GDR in the past few months...

completed his political life's work.

Erich Honecker congratulated...

the new SED's CC General Secretary and

Chairman of the GDR's council of state:

Sigmund Jhn.

- What, Jhn?

In 1978, Sigmund Jhn was the first German

cosmonaut in space.

The new head of state addressed the

GDR's population in the evening.

Dear citizens of the

German Democratic Republic.

If you've lived to see the wonder

of watching our blue planet...

from the depths of the cosmos,

you see things differently.

Up there, in the depths of space,

the people's lives...

Up there, in the depths of space,

the people's lives...

seem small and insignificant. You ask yourself

what humanity has accomplished.

Which objectives did we set,

which objectives did we realize?

Today is our country's anniversary.

It's a very little country,

seen from the cosmos.

But still thousands of people

came to us last year.

People who we looked to as enemies and

who want to live here with us today.

We know our country is not perfect.

But what we believe in,

inspired a lot of people

in the whole world.

Maybe we have drifted off course

from time to time.

But we collected ourselves.

Socialism doesn't mean

living behind a wall. Socialism means

reaching out to others,

and living with others. Not just to dream

about a better world,

but to make the world a better place.

but making it a better world.

I have therefore decided

to open the GDR borders.

Shortly after the Fall of the Wall,

thousands of FRG citizens...

seized the opportunity

to visit the GDR for the first time.

Many want to stay. They're looking

for an alternative to...

the hard battle for survival in the capitalistic system.

- Isn't that wonderful?

Not everyone wants to join in with career addiction and

aggressive marketing.

Not everyone wants

to fight his way through life.

(Song) Such a day,

so wonderful like today...

These people want a different life.

They realize that cars,

video recorders and TVs are not everything.

They are ready to

realize a new life with nothing but

good will, vigour and hope.

Amazing.

My mother survived the GDR

by 3 days.

I guess it was the right thing,

that she never did learn the truth.

She died happily.

She wished for us to

scatter her ashes to the four winds.

That's not allowed in Germany.

Not in the West and not in the East. But we didn't care.

Up there she is floating and

maybe she is looking down at us.

And sees us as tiny

dots on our little Earth.

Just like Sigmund Jhn back then.

The country my mother left

was a country she had believed in

and which we kept alive

until her last second.

A country that in fact never existed like this.

A country that in my memory

will always be connected to my mother.

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