Days That Shook the World (2003) s01e06 Episode Script
The Romanovs and the Berlin Wall
1
NARRATOR: Communism,
the great social experiment of an age
offered hope to millions.
But sustained by fear,
communism became a monster,
destroying the very things
it set out to achieve.
Two events stand out in this history.
The murder of the Russian royal family
and the night the Berlin Wall crumbled
to the will of the people.
This is a dramatised reconstruction
of events as they happened
on two days that shook the world.
It's the 16th of July, 1918.
On the Western Front, fierce fighting
rages at the Battle of the Marne.
In British-controlled South Africa,
a Mrs Mandela is about
to give birth to her son, Nelson.
In Moscow, Lenin is forging
the world's first communist government,
in a country ravaged by civil war.
In the Urals regions of Russia,
the reign of the Romanov dynasty
is about to reach its tragic end.
It's the 16th of July, 1918.
Deep in the wooded hills near
Ekaterinburg stands Ipatiev House.
Soon after dawn,
17-year-old Leonid Sednev,
the kitchen boy,
starts his dally routine.
(CROWING)
Leonid has been working
at the house since April
The owner was forced
to leave a few weeks ago.
Now, Ipatiev House is encircled
by a high fence
with a sign proclaiming,
"House of Special Purposes."
Upstairs, the house guests
are beginning to stir.
They, too, have been
in the house since April
There are seven of them.
Nicholas, his wife Alexandra,
and their five children.
Olga is the eldest, at 22.
Then come Tatiana and Marie.
Alexei, the youngest child
and only son, is just 12 years old.
He and 16-year old Anastasia
are the two apples
of their father's eye.
But, now, the whole family
are prisoners of the communists.
Just 18 months ago,
Nicholas was Tsar Nicholas II,
Emperor and supreme autocrat
of Imperial Russia.
His wife, the Empress Alexandra,
had grown up in England
and was the favourite grandchild
of Queen Victoria.
As heads of the Romanov dynasty,
they ruled an empire
of 170 million people
stretching from Poland
and the Baltic states in the west
to Asia and the Pacific coast
in the east,
the largest kingdom on Earth.
Now he is merely Citizen Romanov.
Eighteen months of exile and house
arrest have stripped him of his rank
and any deference or respect due to him.
Instead, Lenin and the new communist
government in Moscow determine his fate.
His freedom is restricted to a few rooms
and the garden of Ipatiev House.
He longs for release
but now fears for the future.
In the contemptuous eyes
of the ever-watchful guards,
Nicholas and his family
have become figures of hate.
(SCRAPING)
The captain of the guard is
32-year-old Jacob Yurovsky.
This former photographer and watchmaker
is now an officer in the state secret
police known as the Cheka guard,
an organisation that will later
become the notorious KGB.
Yurovsky is no lover of royalty.
Leonid Sednev
doesn't understand politics.
He has been brought up believing
the Tsar is more powerful
than ordinary mortals, almost godlike.
Leonid is one of millions of peasants
born to a life of harrowing poverty.
His grandparents were serfs,
slaves who were owned by their masters.
Their subsequent emancipation
had brought little improvement
to their lives.
Most were illiterate and still subject
to degrading social justice,
including corporal punishment
for minor misdemeanours.
Their agricultural techniques
were outdated.
Drought and famine were commonplace
in their lives.
Nicholas was not unaware of
the hardship suffered by the peasants.
He even proposed
some limited liberal reforms,
when not, otherwise, partying
on his extensive country estate.
The Empress Alexandra
was made of sterner stuff
and wanted Nicholas
to be more autocratic.
But, although the Royal Family
remained out of touch,
the tradition of deference and respect
within Russian society
maintained the status quo.
Certainly, Leonid Sednev's parents
had brought him up
with an almost superstitious reverence
for the established order
and traditional values.
Following a trail of scattered feathers,
Leonid discovered that one of the hens
has been killed, probably by a fox.
In old Russia,
this has a particular resonance.
It could be seen as an ill omen,
a warning to the household
that they are no longer welcome.
But the guard, Anatoly Yakimov,
has no time for old superstitions.
(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)
Anatoly Yakimov has experienced some
of the worst of life under the Romanovs.
He was a factory machinist
in St Petersburg,
and it was in the cities the enormous
gulf between the rich and the poor
had first lead to social unrest
The repressed working classes
were increasingly drawn to the thoughts
of communist thinker, Karl Marx.
Under his influence,
they began to agitate
for the overthrow of the Tsarist regime.
But Nicholas's attention was elsewhere.
(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)
Nicholas had inherited
a formidable army and navy.
He was immensely proud of them
and was constantly
looking for opportunities
to expand his already enormous empire.
So when his forces were comprehensively
defeated by the Japanese in 1905,
it was a huge blow,
both to him personally
and to his prestige.
Revolution followed defeat.
Discontent in the cities
fuelled the call for political reform,
but the monarchy refused to listen.
When 200,000 protestors took
to the streets in St Petersburg,
hundreds were killed
by the Tsar's troops.
The massacre intensified the drive
towards revolution,
lead by a host of dissident groups.
But the communists were the most radical
and effective opponents of the Tsar.
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov,
otherwise known as Lenin,
was their charismatic leader.
Lenin wanted to build
a communist republic in Russia.
To do this,
he urged the overthrow of the state
and the destruction of the monarchy.
He encouraged the workers
to strike back and take control
Captivity and exile had forced
the Romanovs to rely on their faith.
They are a devout family
and their dally routine
at Ipatiev House begins at 8:00
with prayers before breakfast
(PRAYING IN RUSSIAN)
NARRATOR: The Russian Orthodox Church
was the Romanov dynasty's
greatest support.
The church also tended to back the
interests of indigenous Russians
at the expense of the many other ethnic
peoples within the Russian empire.
Jews were particularly distrusted
by the Orthodox Church
and blamed for the many political
disturbances that took place.
Communism seemed to offer many
of Russia's persecuted jews
a way out of the ghetto.
The revolutionary ideas of
Marx and Lenin
promised them
a future of justice and equality.
Jacob Yurovsky,
the captain of the Cheka guard,
is one of these converts.
He has first-hand knowledge
of the state's vicious anti-Semitism.
The presence of the Cheka guard
has made Nicholas deeply anxious.
NICHOLAS: We feel
that a storm is approaching,
but we know that God is merciful
Our souls are at peace.
Whatever happens,
It will be through God's will
NARRATOR: This morning,
Yurovsky is scouting a location
that will satisfy the demands
of his political masters in Moscow.
He has found what he is looking for.
A final telephone call
will now determine
the fate of the Tsar and his family.
For weeks now, the family have been
on soldier's rations.
But despite their privations,
they stick to a domestic routine
long established by Alexandra
in happier times.
The guard Medvedev
has a particular hatred for the Empress.
Her Anglo-German background
and her haughty reputation
have made her deeply unpopular
throughout Russia,
but her diary tells another story.
ALEXANDRA: One lives from day to day,
but I am still mother to this country,
and I suffer its pains
as my own child's pains.
NARRATOR: Despite her child's
playful personality,
Alexei's pains are very real
His royal blood carries
the curse of haemophilia.
Simply playing with the family pet,
Jimmy the spaniel,
could result in a fatal knock.
Alexei has spent much of his
young life as an invalid
and often has to be carried.
He inherited his defective genes
from his mother.
She had been Queen Victoria's
favourite granddaughter,
but the old English queen
was herself a carrier.
The one person who seemed able
to alleviate Alexei's condition
is the monk, Rasputin.
Rasputin claimed healing powers and
he attracted an enthusiastic following,
especially among society women.
His effect on Alexandra was profound.
ALEXANDRA: When I first met him,
I was struck by his eyes,
those wonderful,
lustrous windows of the soul
which expressed wisdom and God's love.
NARRATOR: But Alexandra's association
with Rasputin caused scurrilous rumours.
What was the true nature
of their relationship?
Were she and Rasputin lovers?
The speculation played
into the hands of revolutionaries,
further weakening the Tsar.
The Tsar's many enemies watched in
disbelief as Rasputin's influence grew.
Yet Nicholas did nothing.
He trusted implicitly in Alexandra,
but the issue was about to
come to a head.
In 1914, the First World War broke out.
It was to be a titanic clash
between royal dynasties
whose outcome would determine
the future of the 20th century.
Nicholas thought that
a short, victorious campaign
against his German cousin Wilhelm
would strengthen his government.
But as the war deteriorated
into a bloody impasse,
Russians at home became
increasingly short of food.
Neither Nicholas, away at the front,
nor Alexandra,
increasingly in thrall to Rasputin,
seemed to know
or care about their plight
in March 1917, the country was paralysed
by a series of strikes.
It was revolution.
This time, the army, weary of war,
joined the uprising,
forcing the Tsar to abdicate,
in favour of
a new democratic government.
Nicholas was at the front
when he heard the dreadful news.
NICHOLAS: I was told that
a terrible revolution had broken out
Hatred for the Empress
had reached fever pitch.
All around, I saw treason,
cowardice and deceit
NARRATOR: The Tsar had fallen.
It was a bitter end to all his dreams
for the Romanov dynasty.
The family were arrested
and forced into exile,
but fate would deliver
yet another blow to Nicholas.
In October 1917, Lenin mobilised
the communists in a bid for power.
Under cover of darkness,
the Winter Palace in
St Petersburg was stormed
by a well-organised force of workers.
The democratic government fell
Lenin had triumphed.
The Tsar and his family were now
at the mercy of committed idealists,
for whom compromise was
a bourgeois vice.
The Romanovs have been
under arrest now for 18 months.
(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)
At first, they were held
in the royal palace at St Petersburg
then exiled to Siberia before
their final move here to Ipatiev House.
All this time, Nicholas has been hoping
to find asylum in England,
but his cousin, George V,
refuses to help.
Communists have other plans.
Yurovsky is marking a trail
from some old mine workings.
He plans to return after dark.
All he requires now is a final decision
from his political masters in Moscow.
The man who must make the decision
is Jacob Sverdlov,
Lenin's 32-year-old deputy.
But Sverdlov is anxious.
The communist's grip on the country
is still precarious.
Forces loyal to the Tsar
are waging civil war in the East
American marines and British troops
have landed in the Arctic north.
The revolution is far from secure.
Lenin has let it be known that
he doesn't want the Tsar and his family
to remain a focus
for counter-revolutionaries.
Sverdlov now makes a call
that will ensure they won't
Jacob Yurovsky is
Sverdlov's man on the ground.
On his way back from the woods, he stops
to inspect some drums of chemicals
and cans of petrol delivered
earlier today to Ipatiev House.
Reassured that everything is in place,
he sets off to interview the family.
There is nothing incorrect
about Yurovsky.
His manner is always formal
There is no hatred apparent in him,
although his coldness is threatening.
He is concerned merely with doing a fob
as efficiently as he can.
He would later write an account
of his experiences.
It lay unread for 70 years.
YUROVSKY: Originally, the intention
had been to bring Nicholas to trial
But this was prevented by
the advancing counter-revolutionaries
who were intent
on freeing the Tsar and his family.
It became urgent, therefore, to resolve
the outstanding matter of the Romanovs.
On the morning of the 16th of July,
I received a coded telegram.
It contained the order
to exterminate the Romanovs.
Execution had to be
carried out that day.
(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)
NARRATOR: Sverdlov knows only too well
that there are still many people
loyal to the Tsar,
actively trying to secure
the release of the Romanovs.
A few days before the arrival
of Yurovsky and the Cheka guard,
the Tsar had received
a note from an army officer
asking him which window
in Ipatiev House was unfastened.
The Tsar had sent a reply and had waited
through the hours of darkness
for his would-be rescuers.
But no one came.
(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)
The soldiers standing guard
over the family
had been encouraged
from the start of their captivity
to treat the Romanovs with contempt.
They are to be ridiculed and humiliated
at every opportunity.
The Empress is an easy target.
(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)
Her superior attitude had long rankled
with many ordinary Russians.
Now was their chance
to bring her down a peg or two.
Despite these humiliations and the
constant pilfering of their belongings,
the family do their best
to remain in good spirits.
Their suffering has brought them
closer than ever before.
(SOBBING)
Not all the guards delight
in petty revenge.
Anatoly Yakimov was initially hostile
towards the Tsar.
But over the weeks, his attitude
towards the family had softened,
as he later recalled.
YAKIMOV: The Tsar's eyes were kind,
and he had
an altogether kind expression.
When I saw the family,
all my evil thoughts
about them disappeared
and I began to pity them,
pity them as human beings.
I kept on saying to myself,
"Let them escape."
"Do something to let them escape."
NARRATOR: After lunch, the guards load
a flatbed truck with acid and petrol
for tonight's operations.
(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)
Yurovsky wants Leonid the kitchen boy
sent away.
Yakimov realises that the captain
doesn't want there to be any witnesses.
Tsar Nicholas is taking his
customary walk with his daughters,
the grand duchesses.
(CHATTERING)
Anastasia sees Leonid leaving.
He looks unhappy.
He says he's been asked
to leave Ipatiev House,
but he doesn't know why.
Anastasia!
NARRATOR: Whatever concerns
Anastasia has for Leonid,
and whatever thoughts
she may have entertained about him,
they would never meet again.
The countdown to execution continues.
Yurovsky talks to Medvedev.
He tells the guard to collect
12 revolvers from each of the soldiers
(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)
and to bring them to him.
A few days ago, Yurovsky had forced
the women to give up their jewellery,
except for some rings
which were impossible to remove.
But the empress has an insurance policy.
Still hoping for eventual release
and a new life in the beloved England
of her childhood,
she is sewing jewellery
into her undergarments,
a precaution that she's made
all her daughters undertake.
From the back door of Ipatiev House,
Yurovsky watches
the Tsar and his daughters,
as they make their way indoors.
Curious to know
why Alexei isn't with them,
he walks over to meet them.
(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)
Anastasia wants to know why Leonid
the kitchen boy has been sent away.
YUROVSKY: I fold her that Leonid
had been taken by his uncle
to visit a sick relative.
She seemed greatly distressed
by his absence.
NARRATOR: Alexei still dreams
of. one day, becoming Tsar,
and stories from Russian history
inspire him.
But reading tires him
and his dreams must wait
Her son's constant poor health
continues to worry the Empress,
right to the end.
The end is now only a few hours away.
Sverdlov has made sure of that
Tragically, the family
still hope for release.
As they gather around the dining table
to share a last meal together,
they have no idea
of the fate that awaits them.
Sverdlov is now concerned only
for the destruction of their bodies.
Secrecy is paramount.
There must be no evidence.
Sverdlov has orchestrated their murder
in a way that would leave
the Communist leadership blameless
while exonerating his agents
on the ground.
(PRAYING IN RUSSIAN)
After execution by firing squad,
the corpses will be disfigured with acid
and then doused in petrol
and set alight
Finally, the remains will be buried
at a secret location in the forest.
No one must discover
their final resting place.
A little after midnight,
Yurovsky leaves his quarters
and climbs the stairs
leading to the upper floor
where the Romanovs are sleeping.
He addresses the bewildered family.
YUROVSKY: In view
of the unrest in the town,
it has become necessary
to move the family downstairs.
NARRATOR: Lead by Jimmy the Spaniel,
they eventually emerge
from their apartments.
Alexei is still too weak to walk
and his father has to carry him
down the stairs.
Following him are the women,
the Empress Alexandra,
Olga, Tatiana, Marle and Anastasia.
The children are drowsy,
bewildered and afraid.
Yakimov is powerless to intervene.
Instead, he hands the dog's leash
to Princess Anastasia as she passes.
Yurovsky leads the family
into a basement below the house.
(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)
The room has been especially selected
because it has plaster walls
which will lessen the likelihood
of dangerous ricochets.
According to Yurovsky,
who later recorded their behaviour,
(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)
the family betrayed no emotion.
YUROVSKY: Entering the room,
the Empress asked,
"Are there no chairs? May we not sit?"
I then ordered two chairs brought in.
The Empress sat in one,
and the Tsar put Alexei in the other.
The rest stood in a row behind them.
(WHIMPERING)
(WHISPERING)
I wasted no further time.
(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)
In view of the fact
that your relatives are continuing
their attack on Soviet Russia,
the Ural Executive Committee
has ordered your execution.
(GUN FIRES)
NARRATOR: After the Cheka guards
had emptied their revolvers
into their human targets,
they realised that
not all the victims were dead.
The jewels sewn into their underwear
had protected the women.
Yurovsky moved among them,
firing shots into their heads.
Reaching for his father's hand,
Alexei is shot through the ear.
At the mine working
scouted earlier by Yurovsky,
the corpses are stripped
and the clothing burned.
The bodies are dumped
into one of the nearby pits.
Yurovsky and his men
will return the following day
to bury the bodies elsewhere.
For a while, Yurovsky will become
something of a Soviet hero
for his part in the murders.
But ill health overtakes him
and he dies in 1924.
Yakimov is captured by pro-Tsarist
forces a fortnight after the killings.
He will fight alongside them until
their final defeat by the Communists.
Leonid Sednev will return
to Ipatiev House the following day.
Grief-stricken at the news,
he leaves, never to return.
Nothing more is known of him.
The final resting place of the Romanovs
remains a secret
until the collapse of communism
and the Soviet Union.
Seventy two years
after their brutal murder,
the Romanovs will be reburied
in St Petersburg.
The Tsar had come home.
It's the 8th of November, 1985.
In America, George Bush has been
President for just 10 months.
In China, the government continues
its crackdown on dissidents
after the Tiananmen Square massacre.
And in Moscow, the Soviet leader,
Mikhail Gorbachev,
continues his drive for reform.
The world watches, as the future
of communism hangs in the balance.
Berlin on the evening
of the 8th of November, 1989.
A city at the front line
of the Cold War.
Countries throughout Eastern Europe
are throwing off Communist tyranny.
Tonight, the divided city of Berlin
is on the brink of a fundamental change,
a change that will destroy
the certainties of a lifetime.
Gunther Moll, a 47-year-old commander
of the East German guards
at Checkpoint Charlie,
is about to go off duty.
He steps outside his command post
to take a last look across the barrier
into the western districts of the city.
He sees nothing out of the ordinary,
and doesn't expect to.
Gunther Moll has been a guardian
of the wall
for most of the 28 years
since it was built
The Berlin wall
is part of his personal landscape.
A gigantic barrier
some 120 kilometres long
which separates
the two halves of Berlin,
the communist East
from the capitalist West.
Gunther Moll's fob is simply
to stop people crossing the wall
From his position,
he can see the Café Adler
in the western half of the city.
Moving among the tables,
he can see the waitress
as she busies about her work.
Although the distance between them
is less than 100 metres,
they are worlds apart,
separated by history and ideology.
Astrid Benner is 29 years old,
just a few months older
than the wall itself.
Having grown up with the Wall
she now works as close to it
as is possible without being shot
She's been at the Café Adler
for two years,
waitressing to finance her way
through art school
Tonight is quiet
But Astrid prefers the summer months,
when the café is busy with tourists.
They come to enjoy the excitement
of drinking a beer
under the shadow of the Wall
From the windows, it's possible to see
the East German guards
and she often feels sorry for them.
She remembers
BENNER: Sometimes we have parties,
and it was fun and colourful,
but over there it was so sad.
I could tell
the young guards were envious.
I would like to have made contact
with them,
but, of course, I couldn't
NARRATOR: Astrid knows
the guards have orders
to shoot anyone approaching the Wall
They will shoot to kill
There are few people in Berlin
who haven't been touched in some way
by the wall's lethal presence.
In the 27 years
since it first split the city,
over 200 people have died
trying to cross from the communist Fast
Killed by bullets
fired by East German guards,
or by mines in the "death strip".
The latest victim,
a 20-year-old student,
was shot just seven months ago.
Many of these deaths were ordered
by this frail 77-year-old man.
His name is Erich Honecker,
and he is the father of the Wall,
its ideological architect
and its guardian for the last 28 years.
By his authority, anyone trying to cross
from East Berlin to West
could be shot without ceremony.
But now Honecker is a man without power,
about to experience the destruction
of the dream of his generation.
Gunther Moll has just handed over
control of the checkpoint to his deputy.
He is now on his way home.
During his long service,
the border guard he commands
has been responsible
for several shootings.
There's no doubt
that these were tragic events,
but Moll has been taught to see himself
as a guardian of communism
and as a protector of the people.
Those who died at the wall
were criminals
and enemies of his country.
(ENGINE STARTS)
For him, life without the old divisions,
life without the wall,
without communism, is unimaginable.
As he drives down Friedrichstrasse,
the street continues behind him
into the brightly-lit West,
but he is driving
into the gloom of the East
where many old apartment blocks
and buildings
still bear the livid scars of war.
As a child, Moll had played
in the ruins of this city.
In 1945, Berlin, once the capital
of the Nazi Third Reich
and centre of Hitler's power,
was a wasteland.
The centre resembled a lunar landscape,
where every building
in a three-mile area
had either been reduced to rubble
or stood like a broken tooth,
gutted and windowless.
In the aftermath of war,
the victors divided Germany.
The western half of the country came
under the jurisdiction of tie Allies.
The eastern half fell into the hands
of Stalin and the Soviet Union.
Berlin lay deep within the Soviet zone.
It, too, was divided.
America, Britain and France controlled
sectors in the west of the city,
while the Soviets controlled
the eastern half.
Stalin was committed
to stamping his will
on all the countries
liberated by the Soviet Union.
Within months of Germany's defeat,
he established a puppet
communist government in Berlin.
As British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill would famously argue,
"An Iron Curtain descended
across the continent"
Behind this Iron Curtain,
Erich Honecker learned
the art of government from Stalin.
For nearly half a century,
he was at the centre of political power
in East Germany.
A devout Communist, he helped mould
the country to Stalin's will
A country at the front line
of the ideological battle
between East and West
BERNIE GODEK:
Which one of you guys wants a dog?
-ALL: Mel
-Who wants mustard?
NARRATOR: Bernie Godek, a major
in the U.S. Army, is cooking hot dogs.
His son Christopher
is nine years old today.
Bernie has been in Berlin
for almost seven years now.
It's part of his job
to spy on the East German guards
and to monitor any unusual activity
along the wall
Hey, guys, hot dogs are on the move!
GODEK: I never told anyone
about exactly what I did,
not even my wife.
I never shared
that information with her,
but that's the way she preferred it
NARRATOR: Today he's been
at Checkpoint Charlie,
where he filmed East German workers
extending the Wall's outer flanks.
Bernie knows that the East German guards
are nervous.
This building work is a symptom of that
But as he helps to create
a party atmosphere,
he has little idea that the Wall
will soon become redundant
and his own job, an irrelevance.
Checkpoint Charlie is one of
eight crossing points along the Wall
It was set up on Friedrichstrasse
just after the war.
Until 1961,
post-war treaties allowed citizens
free access to both halves
of divided Berlin.
But as communism tightened its grip,
the lure of the West
became irresistible.
Berlin weatherman saying
mostly cloudy today
with moderate winds from the south-west
and a high of 35.
(RADIO JINGLE PLAYS)
You're in tune with the
NARRATOR: Astrid Benner
was born in 1966.
Growing up
in the western half of the city,
she was accustomed
to the sights and sounds
of the occupying forces,
at a time when the Allies
were keen to showcase
all that was best
about freedom and democracy.
This is the sound of Henry Mancini.
A thing called Night Side
from the motion picture Hatari!
NARRATOR: American Forces Radio
and early television
carried messages of the good life
to citizens in both halves of the city.
To the communists,
it was part of a propaganda campaign
to undermine their authority.
Citizens of the East were avid listeners
and were easily influenced.
The stark contrast
between their own drab lives
and what they heard about
life in the West was irresistible
and they began to flood
across the frontier.
They came looking for a better life.
They came looking for freedom.
By 1961, East Germany
was haemorrhaging its finest,
as the young and the talented
left the country.
In desperation, the East German
Government appealed to Khrushchev,
Stalin's successor.
With his backing,
they came up with an audacious plan.
At midnight, on the 13th of August,
1961, they made their move.
Under cover of darkness,
the Communist half of the city
sealed itself off behind miles of
barbed wire, barriers and checkpoints.
In the morning, many Berliners
awoke to find themselves
on the wrong side of the new barriers.
Simple chance wrecked many lives.
Thousands were never reunited.
At the Brandenburg Gate,
for so long a proud symbol
of German aspirations,
heavily-armed East German troops
began a regime to seal the border.
The guard duty
that would last for decades.
The whole operation was masterminded
by Erich Honecker.
He was flushed with success.
He had done it
He had saved socialism
from the decadent cancer of the West.
Gunther Moll remembers the day well
Since then, state propaganda
has tried to persuade East Berliners
that the Wall is there
for their own good.
An anti-fascist protection barrier,
allowing East Germans the freedom
to develop a peaceful, socialist utopia.
To some extent, the dream has succeeded.
Gunther Moll certainly shares
these aspirations.
(SPEAKING GERMAN)
Gunther arrives home
a little after 5:30.
He is looking forward
to a relaxing night
in front of the television
watching the football
He and his wife Inga
have been married for 24 years.
It hasn't been a bad life.
The Molls are relatively affluent.
Gunther has risen from humble beginnings
to a position of influence
and responsibility.
As loyal citizens,
they enjoy many benefits.
Their children have been educated
entirely by the state,
part of a comprehensive welfare system
that promises care
from the cradle to the grave.
(NATIONALISTIC RUSSIAN MUSIC PLAYS)
There should be a lot to be proud of,
but the East German state
depends ultimately
on the backing of the Soviet Union.
Underwritten by hard-line
communists in Moscow,
and fortified by the wall,
the ultimate expression
of a paranoid leadership
that distrusts its own people.
(ANNOUNCER CHATTERING ON TV)
As Moll settles down
to watch the football,
he has no idea that Germany
is the on the cusp of historic change,
that the socialist world
is in deep crisis.
East Germany's security
is now threatened directly by Moscow,
as, one-by-one,
the Soviet old guard died,
a new man was waiting in the wings.
Mikhail Gorbachev saw
the urgent need to reform.
His political buzz words
entered the English language:
Glasnost and perestroika,
openness and restructuring,
promised a new beginning.
Only a month ago, Gorbachev came
to Berlin as a guest of honour.
A show of solidarity,
but each man saw the other as Judas,
a traitor to socialism.
Inspired by Gorbachev's reforms,
nelghbouring communist countries
had relaxed their border controls.
Seeing an opening in the Iron Curtain,
tens of thousands of East Germans
were now fleeing the country
through nelghbouring states.
Communist power was unravelling.
As East Germany celebrated
40 years of communism,
the crowd's jeered Honecker,
but cheered Gorbachev.
There was widespread civil unrest
and huge demonstrations
were sweeping the country.
Two million people,
one in six of the country's population,
took to the streets demanding reform
and the freedom to travel
Honecker responded
by branding them all criminals.
(SPEAKING GERMAN)
But he was dangerously out of touch.
Unwilling to march
in step with Gorbachev,
he lost the support
of his own government
and was forced to resign.
The architect of the wall
was now powerless
to protect the country
he'd defended for so long.
It now fell on the new government
to stabilise the situation.
Their first priority
was to stem the flood of refugees.
The shops along the Kurfurstenndamm
in West Berlin
are still open for late-night shoppers.
Restaurants are beginning
to fill with diners
and bars and clubs
are doing good business.
In the West,
it's an evening like any other.
At Checkpoint Charlie,
Sergeant Costas of the U.S. Army
monitors movement in the East.
But across the wall,
there is an air of expectancy.
A government press conference has been
called to discuss the refugee crisis.
Günter Schabowski,
the Politburo spokesman,
speaks to the English media.
We hope people will be convinced
more and more
that it would be better
for them to stay here
because the processes
of renewing our society
are beginning to show results.
NARRATOR: Removed from
the political process,
Erich Honecker settles down
to watch the press conference at home.
Not since 1961, has the government
faced such testing times.
Leadership, strength and a steady nerve
are necessary more than ever.
(SPEAKING GERMAN)
Günter Schabowski
speaks for the government.
Moll is not impressed.
MOLL: It seemed to me
as if the man was bored.
He didn't seem
to take the crisis seriously.
It was the usual hot air.
NARRATOR: Then Schabowski
drops his bombshell
He states that, as from today,
new regulations have been drawn up
to allow East Germans to travel
through East German borders.
Schabowski seems to have announced
the impossible.
The border controls on the Wall
are going to open.
After a stunned silence, a journalist
asks when the law will become effective.
(SPEAKS GERMAN)
Erich Honecker feels shocked
and utterly betrayed.
Gunther Moll can't believe it, either.
It seems totally unreal, unimaginable.
There must be some mistake.
And there is.
The new laws are supposed
to come into effect tomorrow,
but it's too late.
Schabowski has just sounded
the death knell for East Germany.
The news spreads like wildfire.
A photographer has just told customers
at the Café Adler
that the wall is about to open,
and runs off to cover the story.
People immediately start celebrating.
There is a mood
of euphoria and disbelief.
As she pours champagne
for the customers,
Astrid has an idea.
BENNER: 7 thought,
"We are not the only ones
"who should be celebrating.
The border guards
should be celebrating, foo."
NARRATOR: Already excited groups
of people are gathering in the East
making their way to the Wall
But no one knows
how the guards will react
Astrid feels a mixture
of excitement and fear
as she crosses the floodlit asphalt
leading to the barrier.
Under normal circumstances, these
few steps would've been unthinkable,
risking arrest or worse.
(SPEAKING GERMAN)
She gets a chilly reception.
BEHLOW: The guard was very severe,
not at all friendly.
I assumed that he heard
about the news conference,
but, perhaps, he hadn't
So I left him the drinks
in case he changed his mind.
(RINGING)
Moll
NARRATOR: Moll's deputy
at the checkpoint calls.
He's worried about the growing crowds.
MOLL: He told me that people were now
milling around the checkpoint
I was surprised, but told him
the excitement would soon die down.
But I was worried, too.
The situation could get out of control
Excited crowds and armed men
are not a good combination.
NARRATOR: Thousands of Germans
from both sides of the city
now pour through the streets,
all making their way to the eight
crossing points in the wall
At Checkpoint Charlie, Sergeant Brown
has just called for support.
Major Bernie Godek
is being driven to Checkpoint Charlie.
GODEK: I hadn't heard
the press conference
so didn't know people
expected the wall to open,
but I sensed something historic
was going to happen.
I just prayed no one was gonna get hurt
NARRATOR: Along the Wall,
thousands of Berliners are massing
at the eight checkpoints,
expecting the barriers to be lifted
at any moment.
Bernie Godek arrives
at Checkpoint Charlie
and gets an update from his sergeant
At the Bornholmer Bridge,
at Sonnenallee and Checkpoint Charlie,
the East German guards feel overwhelmed
and unsure how to act.
(ALL CLAMOURING)
on TV monitors,
Bernie Godek and Sergeant Brown
watch with a growing sense
of foreboding.
Nothing in all their years of experience
has prepared either man for this.
Gunther Moll
is driving back to the wall
He is anxious now.
The situation is becoming
dangerous and confused.
MOLL: I remember saying to myself
that whatever happens,
I didn't want any shooting
at my checkpoint
There would be no Tiananmen Square,
no gunfire raking across civilians.
That's what I hoped,
but I didn't know how we would cope.
NARRATOR: The border remains sealed.
The guards stand firm.
They won't open the crossings.
(SPEAKING GERMAN)
A woman in tears
calls for the guards to do their duty.
She has heard it on television.
They can travel without delay,
immediately.
That's what Schabowski had said.
(SOBBING)
(WOMAN SHOUTS IN GERMAN)
(SPEAKING GERMAN)
From inside the hut on the western side
of Checkpoint Charlie,
Major Godek can see a crowd of people
on his side of the wall
Beyond that, he sees a line
of East German border guards,
among them,
the small figure of Gunther Moll
(PEOPLE CLAMOURING)
GODEK: I'd seen this commander
many times before.
Of course, I didn't know his name,
but I felt I knew him.
His men didn't seem to be coping well
with the pressure.
NARRATOR: Moll feels totally isolated.
In its paranoia, the East German state
always feared
a coordinated mass breakout
and prevented checkpoint commanders
any contact,
so Moll has no grasp
of the bigger picture.
He calls his superiors for advice.
(SPEAKING GERMAN)
MOLL: I could not believe it
They had no understanding.
I was simply told
to maintain law and order.
NARRATOR: Moll slowly realises
that the buck is being passed to him.
How on earth can he maintain control
without bloodshed?
I don't know, I think
we're gonna have some trouble
NARRATOR: Godek continues
to monitor the growing crowds
and the bewildered behaviour
of the East German guards,
normally so cool and disciplined.
The phone inside his command post rings.
(PHONE RINGS)
Incredibly, it's a radio station
in New York,
wanting to conduct a live interview
with the men inside.
I got a radio station in New York!
The radio journalist is keen to know
what Major Godek can actually see
from his position.
The excitement of the night
is going global
An awful lot of East Germans gathered
on the other side of the border there
and there's an awful lot of activity
in the gate guard checks,
but we don't really know
what's going on, sir.
NARRATOR: The media are broadcasting
these extraordinary events
to an astonished world.
The tide of history
is catching up with Berlin.
But will blood be shed?
have said the same thing,
that the wall is open, as it were
NARRATOR: In the Café Adler, it's chaos,
as Astrid Benner serves beer after beer.
(PEOPLE CHEERING)
Everyone wants to be part of history.
Suddenly, Astrid hears shouting
coming from outside.
Shouting and screaming.
It becomes a chant from the crowd
to the East German guards.
(PEOPLE SHOUTING)
This is the moment of crisis for Moll
Only armed force
will stop the crowds now.
MOLL: I felt pressure from
the people calling to each other,
but I also felt pressure from history.
NARRATOR: Walking to the barrier,
he confronts the crowds.
A camera flash goes off,
freezing the moment for posterity.
They're opening the doors,
they're coming across here!
I can't believe it,
the guards are coming out of the tower.
Can you believe this shit?
NARRATOR: Without a shot being fired,
the guards give way.
The pressure from the crowds
is simply too much.
The barrier goes up
and the people pour through.
East and West Germans are united.
(CHEERING)
At other crossing points along the
border, the barriers are also going up.
For the first time
in its 28-year history,
the wall has succumbed
to the will of the people.
Back at Checkpoint Charlie,
the first East Berliners
begin to arrive.
Bernie Godek feels their excitement
GODEK: There was a carnival
atmosphere in the streets.
The crowds cheered each new arrival
It was a kind of baptism, I guess,
coming over the line for the first time.
(PEOPLE CHEERING)
NARRATOR: The sense of history
is felt by everyone.
Many pause for a moment
before crossing the line
that for decades has marked the great,
ideological fault line dividing Europe
the line between East and West
Each, in their own way,
is making a journey into the unknown,
a journey into the future.
Life will never be the same again.
Honecker is transfixed by the images
he sees on his television.
At the Brandenburg Gate,
crowds vent their feelings of
frustration and hatred for the barrier.
Nothing can keep them apart
Concrete and barbed wire
have suddenly become obsolete.
Honecker is overcome
with a feeling of grief.
He thinks to himself,
"The impossible has happened,
it's the end of East Germany."
But for many, tonight is
the biggest party of their lives.
There are now over 40,000
East Berliners in the streets
mingling with an even bigger crowd
of West Berliners.
The party will continue
for three more nights.
Within a year, the communist government
of the old East Germany
will fall to the will of the people.
Bulldozers and cranes will tear
the Wall up by its ideological roots,
and the people will vote to become
part of a reunited Germany.
Astrid Benner will finish her studies,
and today lives in a district of Berlin
that was once in the East.
Gunther Moll will lose his job.
Stigmatised by his rank
in the old state security forces,
he faces years of unemployment.
Today, he works as a hospital porter.
After seven years watching the Wall
Bernie Godek will retire from the army.
He now lives 14,000 miles away,
in Hawaii.
Erich Honecker flees Berlin to Moscow.
When communism collapses there,
he is deported to Berlin
to face charges of mass murder.
Ill health will prevent
his trial going ahead
and Honecker will escape to Chile,
where he dies in 1994.
Seventy one years
after the murder of the Romanovs,
he remained true
to his communist beliefs.
Socialism had been betrayed.
It would never die.
It simply hadn't worked out,
this time round.
NARRATOR: Communism,
the great social experiment of an age
offered hope to millions.
But sustained by fear,
communism became a monster,
destroying the very things
it set out to achieve.
Two events stand out in this history.
The murder of the Russian royal family
and the night the Berlin Wall crumbled
to the will of the people.
This is a dramatised reconstruction
of events as they happened
on two days that shook the world.
It's the 16th of July, 1918.
On the Western Front, fierce fighting
rages at the Battle of the Marne.
In British-controlled South Africa,
a Mrs Mandela is about
to give birth to her son, Nelson.
In Moscow, Lenin is forging
the world's first communist government,
in a country ravaged by civil war.
In the Urals regions of Russia,
the reign of the Romanov dynasty
is about to reach its tragic end.
It's the 16th of July, 1918.
Deep in the wooded hills near
Ekaterinburg stands Ipatiev House.
Soon after dawn,
17-year-old Leonid Sednev,
the kitchen boy,
starts his dally routine.
(CROWING)
Leonid has been working
at the house since April
The owner was forced
to leave a few weeks ago.
Now, Ipatiev House is encircled
by a high fence
with a sign proclaiming,
"House of Special Purposes."
Upstairs, the house guests
are beginning to stir.
They, too, have been
in the house since April
There are seven of them.
Nicholas, his wife Alexandra,
and their five children.
Olga is the eldest, at 22.
Then come Tatiana and Marie.
Alexei, the youngest child
and only son, is just 12 years old.
He and 16-year old Anastasia
are the two apples
of their father's eye.
But, now, the whole family
are prisoners of the communists.
Just 18 months ago,
Nicholas was Tsar Nicholas II,
Emperor and supreme autocrat
of Imperial Russia.
His wife, the Empress Alexandra,
had grown up in England
and was the favourite grandchild
of Queen Victoria.
As heads of the Romanov dynasty,
they ruled an empire
of 170 million people
stretching from Poland
and the Baltic states in the west
to Asia and the Pacific coast
in the east,
the largest kingdom on Earth.
Now he is merely Citizen Romanov.
Eighteen months of exile and house
arrest have stripped him of his rank
and any deference or respect due to him.
Instead, Lenin and the new communist
government in Moscow determine his fate.
His freedom is restricted to a few rooms
and the garden of Ipatiev House.
He longs for release
but now fears for the future.
In the contemptuous eyes
of the ever-watchful guards,
Nicholas and his family
have become figures of hate.
(SCRAPING)
The captain of the guard is
32-year-old Jacob Yurovsky.
This former photographer and watchmaker
is now an officer in the state secret
police known as the Cheka guard,
an organisation that will later
become the notorious KGB.
Yurovsky is no lover of royalty.
Leonid Sednev
doesn't understand politics.
He has been brought up believing
the Tsar is more powerful
than ordinary mortals, almost godlike.
Leonid is one of millions of peasants
born to a life of harrowing poverty.
His grandparents were serfs,
slaves who were owned by their masters.
Their subsequent emancipation
had brought little improvement
to their lives.
Most were illiterate and still subject
to degrading social justice,
including corporal punishment
for minor misdemeanours.
Their agricultural techniques
were outdated.
Drought and famine were commonplace
in their lives.
Nicholas was not unaware of
the hardship suffered by the peasants.
He even proposed
some limited liberal reforms,
when not, otherwise, partying
on his extensive country estate.
The Empress Alexandra
was made of sterner stuff
and wanted Nicholas
to be more autocratic.
But, although the Royal Family
remained out of touch,
the tradition of deference and respect
within Russian society
maintained the status quo.
Certainly, Leonid Sednev's parents
had brought him up
with an almost superstitious reverence
for the established order
and traditional values.
Following a trail of scattered feathers,
Leonid discovered that one of the hens
has been killed, probably by a fox.
In old Russia,
this has a particular resonance.
It could be seen as an ill omen,
a warning to the household
that they are no longer welcome.
But the guard, Anatoly Yakimov,
has no time for old superstitions.
(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)
Anatoly Yakimov has experienced some
of the worst of life under the Romanovs.
He was a factory machinist
in St Petersburg,
and it was in the cities the enormous
gulf between the rich and the poor
had first lead to social unrest
The repressed working classes
were increasingly drawn to the thoughts
of communist thinker, Karl Marx.
Under his influence,
they began to agitate
for the overthrow of the Tsarist regime.
But Nicholas's attention was elsewhere.
(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)
Nicholas had inherited
a formidable army and navy.
He was immensely proud of them
and was constantly
looking for opportunities
to expand his already enormous empire.
So when his forces were comprehensively
defeated by the Japanese in 1905,
it was a huge blow,
both to him personally
and to his prestige.
Revolution followed defeat.
Discontent in the cities
fuelled the call for political reform,
but the monarchy refused to listen.
When 200,000 protestors took
to the streets in St Petersburg,
hundreds were killed
by the Tsar's troops.
The massacre intensified the drive
towards revolution,
lead by a host of dissident groups.
But the communists were the most radical
and effective opponents of the Tsar.
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov,
otherwise known as Lenin,
was their charismatic leader.
Lenin wanted to build
a communist republic in Russia.
To do this,
he urged the overthrow of the state
and the destruction of the monarchy.
He encouraged the workers
to strike back and take control
Captivity and exile had forced
the Romanovs to rely on their faith.
They are a devout family
and their dally routine
at Ipatiev House begins at 8:00
with prayers before breakfast
(PRAYING IN RUSSIAN)
NARRATOR: The Russian Orthodox Church
was the Romanov dynasty's
greatest support.
The church also tended to back the
interests of indigenous Russians
at the expense of the many other ethnic
peoples within the Russian empire.
Jews were particularly distrusted
by the Orthodox Church
and blamed for the many political
disturbances that took place.
Communism seemed to offer many
of Russia's persecuted jews
a way out of the ghetto.
The revolutionary ideas of
Marx and Lenin
promised them
a future of justice and equality.
Jacob Yurovsky,
the captain of the Cheka guard,
is one of these converts.
He has first-hand knowledge
of the state's vicious anti-Semitism.
The presence of the Cheka guard
has made Nicholas deeply anxious.
NICHOLAS: We feel
that a storm is approaching,
but we know that God is merciful
Our souls are at peace.
Whatever happens,
It will be through God's will
NARRATOR: This morning,
Yurovsky is scouting a location
that will satisfy the demands
of his political masters in Moscow.
He has found what he is looking for.
A final telephone call
will now determine
the fate of the Tsar and his family.
For weeks now, the family have been
on soldier's rations.
But despite their privations,
they stick to a domestic routine
long established by Alexandra
in happier times.
The guard Medvedev
has a particular hatred for the Empress.
Her Anglo-German background
and her haughty reputation
have made her deeply unpopular
throughout Russia,
but her diary tells another story.
ALEXANDRA: One lives from day to day,
but I am still mother to this country,
and I suffer its pains
as my own child's pains.
NARRATOR: Despite her child's
playful personality,
Alexei's pains are very real
His royal blood carries
the curse of haemophilia.
Simply playing with the family pet,
Jimmy the spaniel,
could result in a fatal knock.
Alexei has spent much of his
young life as an invalid
and often has to be carried.
He inherited his defective genes
from his mother.
She had been Queen Victoria's
favourite granddaughter,
but the old English queen
was herself a carrier.
The one person who seemed able
to alleviate Alexei's condition
is the monk, Rasputin.
Rasputin claimed healing powers and
he attracted an enthusiastic following,
especially among society women.
His effect on Alexandra was profound.
ALEXANDRA: When I first met him,
I was struck by his eyes,
those wonderful,
lustrous windows of the soul
which expressed wisdom and God's love.
NARRATOR: But Alexandra's association
with Rasputin caused scurrilous rumours.
What was the true nature
of their relationship?
Were she and Rasputin lovers?
The speculation played
into the hands of revolutionaries,
further weakening the Tsar.
The Tsar's many enemies watched in
disbelief as Rasputin's influence grew.
Yet Nicholas did nothing.
He trusted implicitly in Alexandra,
but the issue was about to
come to a head.
In 1914, the First World War broke out.
It was to be a titanic clash
between royal dynasties
whose outcome would determine
the future of the 20th century.
Nicholas thought that
a short, victorious campaign
against his German cousin Wilhelm
would strengthen his government.
But as the war deteriorated
into a bloody impasse,
Russians at home became
increasingly short of food.
Neither Nicholas, away at the front,
nor Alexandra,
increasingly in thrall to Rasputin,
seemed to know
or care about their plight
in March 1917, the country was paralysed
by a series of strikes.
It was revolution.
This time, the army, weary of war,
joined the uprising,
forcing the Tsar to abdicate,
in favour of
a new democratic government.
Nicholas was at the front
when he heard the dreadful news.
NICHOLAS: I was told that
a terrible revolution had broken out
Hatred for the Empress
had reached fever pitch.
All around, I saw treason,
cowardice and deceit
NARRATOR: The Tsar had fallen.
It was a bitter end to all his dreams
for the Romanov dynasty.
The family were arrested
and forced into exile,
but fate would deliver
yet another blow to Nicholas.
In October 1917, Lenin mobilised
the communists in a bid for power.
Under cover of darkness,
the Winter Palace in
St Petersburg was stormed
by a well-organised force of workers.
The democratic government fell
Lenin had triumphed.
The Tsar and his family were now
at the mercy of committed idealists,
for whom compromise was
a bourgeois vice.
The Romanovs have been
under arrest now for 18 months.
(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)
At first, they were held
in the royal palace at St Petersburg
then exiled to Siberia before
their final move here to Ipatiev House.
All this time, Nicholas has been hoping
to find asylum in England,
but his cousin, George V,
refuses to help.
Communists have other plans.
Yurovsky is marking a trail
from some old mine workings.
He plans to return after dark.
All he requires now is a final decision
from his political masters in Moscow.
The man who must make the decision
is Jacob Sverdlov,
Lenin's 32-year-old deputy.
But Sverdlov is anxious.
The communist's grip on the country
is still precarious.
Forces loyal to the Tsar
are waging civil war in the East
American marines and British troops
have landed in the Arctic north.
The revolution is far from secure.
Lenin has let it be known that
he doesn't want the Tsar and his family
to remain a focus
for counter-revolutionaries.
Sverdlov now makes a call
that will ensure they won't
Jacob Yurovsky is
Sverdlov's man on the ground.
On his way back from the woods, he stops
to inspect some drums of chemicals
and cans of petrol delivered
earlier today to Ipatiev House.
Reassured that everything is in place,
he sets off to interview the family.
There is nothing incorrect
about Yurovsky.
His manner is always formal
There is no hatred apparent in him,
although his coldness is threatening.
He is concerned merely with doing a fob
as efficiently as he can.
He would later write an account
of his experiences.
It lay unread for 70 years.
YUROVSKY: Originally, the intention
had been to bring Nicholas to trial
But this was prevented by
the advancing counter-revolutionaries
who were intent
on freeing the Tsar and his family.
It became urgent, therefore, to resolve
the outstanding matter of the Romanovs.
On the morning of the 16th of July,
I received a coded telegram.
It contained the order
to exterminate the Romanovs.
Execution had to be
carried out that day.
(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)
NARRATOR: Sverdlov knows only too well
that there are still many people
loyal to the Tsar,
actively trying to secure
the release of the Romanovs.
A few days before the arrival
of Yurovsky and the Cheka guard,
the Tsar had received
a note from an army officer
asking him which window
in Ipatiev House was unfastened.
The Tsar had sent a reply and had waited
through the hours of darkness
for his would-be rescuers.
But no one came.
(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)
The soldiers standing guard
over the family
had been encouraged
from the start of their captivity
to treat the Romanovs with contempt.
They are to be ridiculed and humiliated
at every opportunity.
The Empress is an easy target.
(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)
Her superior attitude had long rankled
with many ordinary Russians.
Now was their chance
to bring her down a peg or two.
Despite these humiliations and the
constant pilfering of their belongings,
the family do their best
to remain in good spirits.
Their suffering has brought them
closer than ever before.
(SOBBING)
Not all the guards delight
in petty revenge.
Anatoly Yakimov was initially hostile
towards the Tsar.
But over the weeks, his attitude
towards the family had softened,
as he later recalled.
YAKIMOV: The Tsar's eyes were kind,
and he had
an altogether kind expression.
When I saw the family,
all my evil thoughts
about them disappeared
and I began to pity them,
pity them as human beings.
I kept on saying to myself,
"Let them escape."
"Do something to let them escape."
NARRATOR: After lunch, the guards load
a flatbed truck with acid and petrol
for tonight's operations.
(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)
Yurovsky wants Leonid the kitchen boy
sent away.
Yakimov realises that the captain
doesn't want there to be any witnesses.
Tsar Nicholas is taking his
customary walk with his daughters,
the grand duchesses.
(CHATTERING)
Anastasia sees Leonid leaving.
He looks unhappy.
He says he's been asked
to leave Ipatiev House,
but he doesn't know why.
Anastasia!
NARRATOR: Whatever concerns
Anastasia has for Leonid,
and whatever thoughts
she may have entertained about him,
they would never meet again.
The countdown to execution continues.
Yurovsky talks to Medvedev.
He tells the guard to collect
12 revolvers from each of the soldiers
(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)
and to bring them to him.
A few days ago, Yurovsky had forced
the women to give up their jewellery,
except for some rings
which were impossible to remove.
But the empress has an insurance policy.
Still hoping for eventual release
and a new life in the beloved England
of her childhood,
she is sewing jewellery
into her undergarments,
a precaution that she's made
all her daughters undertake.
From the back door of Ipatiev House,
Yurovsky watches
the Tsar and his daughters,
as they make their way indoors.
Curious to know
why Alexei isn't with them,
he walks over to meet them.
(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)
Anastasia wants to know why Leonid
the kitchen boy has been sent away.
YUROVSKY: I fold her that Leonid
had been taken by his uncle
to visit a sick relative.
She seemed greatly distressed
by his absence.
NARRATOR: Alexei still dreams
of. one day, becoming Tsar,
and stories from Russian history
inspire him.
But reading tires him
and his dreams must wait
Her son's constant poor health
continues to worry the Empress,
right to the end.
The end is now only a few hours away.
Sverdlov has made sure of that
Tragically, the family
still hope for release.
As they gather around the dining table
to share a last meal together,
they have no idea
of the fate that awaits them.
Sverdlov is now concerned only
for the destruction of their bodies.
Secrecy is paramount.
There must be no evidence.
Sverdlov has orchestrated their murder
in a way that would leave
the Communist leadership blameless
while exonerating his agents
on the ground.
(PRAYING IN RUSSIAN)
After execution by firing squad,
the corpses will be disfigured with acid
and then doused in petrol
and set alight
Finally, the remains will be buried
at a secret location in the forest.
No one must discover
their final resting place.
A little after midnight,
Yurovsky leaves his quarters
and climbs the stairs
leading to the upper floor
where the Romanovs are sleeping.
He addresses the bewildered family.
YUROVSKY: In view
of the unrest in the town,
it has become necessary
to move the family downstairs.
NARRATOR: Lead by Jimmy the Spaniel,
they eventually emerge
from their apartments.
Alexei is still too weak to walk
and his father has to carry him
down the stairs.
Following him are the women,
the Empress Alexandra,
Olga, Tatiana, Marle and Anastasia.
The children are drowsy,
bewildered and afraid.
Yakimov is powerless to intervene.
Instead, he hands the dog's leash
to Princess Anastasia as she passes.
Yurovsky leads the family
into a basement below the house.
(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)
The room has been especially selected
because it has plaster walls
which will lessen the likelihood
of dangerous ricochets.
According to Yurovsky,
who later recorded their behaviour,
(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)
the family betrayed no emotion.
YUROVSKY: Entering the room,
the Empress asked,
"Are there no chairs? May we not sit?"
I then ordered two chairs brought in.
The Empress sat in one,
and the Tsar put Alexei in the other.
The rest stood in a row behind them.
(WHIMPERING)
(WHISPERING)
I wasted no further time.
(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)
In view of the fact
that your relatives are continuing
their attack on Soviet Russia,
the Ural Executive Committee
has ordered your execution.
(GUN FIRES)
NARRATOR: After the Cheka guards
had emptied their revolvers
into their human targets,
they realised that
not all the victims were dead.
The jewels sewn into their underwear
had protected the women.
Yurovsky moved among them,
firing shots into their heads.
Reaching for his father's hand,
Alexei is shot through the ear.
At the mine working
scouted earlier by Yurovsky,
the corpses are stripped
and the clothing burned.
The bodies are dumped
into one of the nearby pits.
Yurovsky and his men
will return the following day
to bury the bodies elsewhere.
For a while, Yurovsky will become
something of a Soviet hero
for his part in the murders.
But ill health overtakes him
and he dies in 1924.
Yakimov is captured by pro-Tsarist
forces a fortnight after the killings.
He will fight alongside them until
their final defeat by the Communists.
Leonid Sednev will return
to Ipatiev House the following day.
Grief-stricken at the news,
he leaves, never to return.
Nothing more is known of him.
The final resting place of the Romanovs
remains a secret
until the collapse of communism
and the Soviet Union.
Seventy two years
after their brutal murder,
the Romanovs will be reburied
in St Petersburg.
The Tsar had come home.
It's the 8th of November, 1985.
In America, George Bush has been
President for just 10 months.
In China, the government continues
its crackdown on dissidents
after the Tiananmen Square massacre.
And in Moscow, the Soviet leader,
Mikhail Gorbachev,
continues his drive for reform.
The world watches, as the future
of communism hangs in the balance.
Berlin on the evening
of the 8th of November, 1989.
A city at the front line
of the Cold War.
Countries throughout Eastern Europe
are throwing off Communist tyranny.
Tonight, the divided city of Berlin
is on the brink of a fundamental change,
a change that will destroy
the certainties of a lifetime.
Gunther Moll, a 47-year-old commander
of the East German guards
at Checkpoint Charlie,
is about to go off duty.
He steps outside his command post
to take a last look across the barrier
into the western districts of the city.
He sees nothing out of the ordinary,
and doesn't expect to.
Gunther Moll has been a guardian
of the wall
for most of the 28 years
since it was built
The Berlin wall
is part of his personal landscape.
A gigantic barrier
some 120 kilometres long
which separates
the two halves of Berlin,
the communist East
from the capitalist West.
Gunther Moll's fob is simply
to stop people crossing the wall
From his position,
he can see the Café Adler
in the western half of the city.
Moving among the tables,
he can see the waitress
as she busies about her work.
Although the distance between them
is less than 100 metres,
they are worlds apart,
separated by history and ideology.
Astrid Benner is 29 years old,
just a few months older
than the wall itself.
Having grown up with the Wall
she now works as close to it
as is possible without being shot
She's been at the Café Adler
for two years,
waitressing to finance her way
through art school
Tonight is quiet
But Astrid prefers the summer months,
when the café is busy with tourists.
They come to enjoy the excitement
of drinking a beer
under the shadow of the Wall
From the windows, it's possible to see
the East German guards
and she often feels sorry for them.
She remembers
BENNER: Sometimes we have parties,
and it was fun and colourful,
but over there it was so sad.
I could tell
the young guards were envious.
I would like to have made contact
with them,
but, of course, I couldn't
NARRATOR: Astrid knows
the guards have orders
to shoot anyone approaching the Wall
They will shoot to kill
There are few people in Berlin
who haven't been touched in some way
by the wall's lethal presence.
In the 27 years
since it first split the city,
over 200 people have died
trying to cross from the communist Fast
Killed by bullets
fired by East German guards,
or by mines in the "death strip".
The latest victim,
a 20-year-old student,
was shot just seven months ago.
Many of these deaths were ordered
by this frail 77-year-old man.
His name is Erich Honecker,
and he is the father of the Wall,
its ideological architect
and its guardian for the last 28 years.
By his authority, anyone trying to cross
from East Berlin to West
could be shot without ceremony.
But now Honecker is a man without power,
about to experience the destruction
of the dream of his generation.
Gunther Moll has just handed over
control of the checkpoint to his deputy.
He is now on his way home.
During his long service,
the border guard he commands
has been responsible
for several shootings.
There's no doubt
that these were tragic events,
but Moll has been taught to see himself
as a guardian of communism
and as a protector of the people.
Those who died at the wall
were criminals
and enemies of his country.
(ENGINE STARTS)
For him, life without the old divisions,
life without the wall,
without communism, is unimaginable.
As he drives down Friedrichstrasse,
the street continues behind him
into the brightly-lit West,
but he is driving
into the gloom of the East
where many old apartment blocks
and buildings
still bear the livid scars of war.
As a child, Moll had played
in the ruins of this city.
In 1945, Berlin, once the capital
of the Nazi Third Reich
and centre of Hitler's power,
was a wasteland.
The centre resembled a lunar landscape,
where every building
in a three-mile area
had either been reduced to rubble
or stood like a broken tooth,
gutted and windowless.
In the aftermath of war,
the victors divided Germany.
The western half of the country came
under the jurisdiction of tie Allies.
The eastern half fell into the hands
of Stalin and the Soviet Union.
Berlin lay deep within the Soviet zone.
It, too, was divided.
America, Britain and France controlled
sectors in the west of the city,
while the Soviets controlled
the eastern half.
Stalin was committed
to stamping his will
on all the countries
liberated by the Soviet Union.
Within months of Germany's defeat,
he established a puppet
communist government in Berlin.
As British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill would famously argue,
"An Iron Curtain descended
across the continent"
Behind this Iron Curtain,
Erich Honecker learned
the art of government from Stalin.
For nearly half a century,
he was at the centre of political power
in East Germany.
A devout Communist, he helped mould
the country to Stalin's will
A country at the front line
of the ideological battle
between East and West
BERNIE GODEK:
Which one of you guys wants a dog?
-ALL: Mel
-Who wants mustard?
NARRATOR: Bernie Godek, a major
in the U.S. Army, is cooking hot dogs.
His son Christopher
is nine years old today.
Bernie has been in Berlin
for almost seven years now.
It's part of his job
to spy on the East German guards
and to monitor any unusual activity
along the wall
Hey, guys, hot dogs are on the move!
GODEK: I never told anyone
about exactly what I did,
not even my wife.
I never shared
that information with her,
but that's the way she preferred it
NARRATOR: Today he's been
at Checkpoint Charlie,
where he filmed East German workers
extending the Wall's outer flanks.
Bernie knows that the East German guards
are nervous.
This building work is a symptom of that
But as he helps to create
a party atmosphere,
he has little idea that the Wall
will soon become redundant
and his own job, an irrelevance.
Checkpoint Charlie is one of
eight crossing points along the Wall
It was set up on Friedrichstrasse
just after the war.
Until 1961,
post-war treaties allowed citizens
free access to both halves
of divided Berlin.
But as communism tightened its grip,
the lure of the West
became irresistible.
Berlin weatherman saying
mostly cloudy today
with moderate winds from the south-west
and a high of 35.
(RADIO JINGLE PLAYS)
You're in tune with the
NARRATOR: Astrid Benner
was born in 1966.
Growing up
in the western half of the city,
she was accustomed
to the sights and sounds
of the occupying forces,
at a time when the Allies
were keen to showcase
all that was best
about freedom and democracy.
This is the sound of Henry Mancini.
A thing called Night Side
from the motion picture Hatari!
NARRATOR: American Forces Radio
and early television
carried messages of the good life
to citizens in both halves of the city.
To the communists,
it was part of a propaganda campaign
to undermine their authority.
Citizens of the East were avid listeners
and were easily influenced.
The stark contrast
between their own drab lives
and what they heard about
life in the West was irresistible
and they began to flood
across the frontier.
They came looking for a better life.
They came looking for freedom.
By 1961, East Germany
was haemorrhaging its finest,
as the young and the talented
left the country.
In desperation, the East German
Government appealed to Khrushchev,
Stalin's successor.
With his backing,
they came up with an audacious plan.
At midnight, on the 13th of August,
1961, they made their move.
Under cover of darkness,
the Communist half of the city
sealed itself off behind miles of
barbed wire, barriers and checkpoints.
In the morning, many Berliners
awoke to find themselves
on the wrong side of the new barriers.
Simple chance wrecked many lives.
Thousands were never reunited.
At the Brandenburg Gate,
for so long a proud symbol
of German aspirations,
heavily-armed East German troops
began a regime to seal the border.
The guard duty
that would last for decades.
The whole operation was masterminded
by Erich Honecker.
He was flushed with success.
He had done it
He had saved socialism
from the decadent cancer of the West.
Gunther Moll remembers the day well
Since then, state propaganda
has tried to persuade East Berliners
that the Wall is there
for their own good.
An anti-fascist protection barrier,
allowing East Germans the freedom
to develop a peaceful, socialist utopia.
To some extent, the dream has succeeded.
Gunther Moll certainly shares
these aspirations.
(SPEAKING GERMAN)
Gunther arrives home
a little after 5:30.
He is looking forward
to a relaxing night
in front of the television
watching the football
He and his wife Inga
have been married for 24 years.
It hasn't been a bad life.
The Molls are relatively affluent.
Gunther has risen from humble beginnings
to a position of influence
and responsibility.
As loyal citizens,
they enjoy many benefits.
Their children have been educated
entirely by the state,
part of a comprehensive welfare system
that promises care
from the cradle to the grave.
(NATIONALISTIC RUSSIAN MUSIC PLAYS)
There should be a lot to be proud of,
but the East German state
depends ultimately
on the backing of the Soviet Union.
Underwritten by hard-line
communists in Moscow,
and fortified by the wall,
the ultimate expression
of a paranoid leadership
that distrusts its own people.
(ANNOUNCER CHATTERING ON TV)
As Moll settles down
to watch the football,
he has no idea that Germany
is the on the cusp of historic change,
that the socialist world
is in deep crisis.
East Germany's security
is now threatened directly by Moscow,
as, one-by-one,
the Soviet old guard died,
a new man was waiting in the wings.
Mikhail Gorbachev saw
the urgent need to reform.
His political buzz words
entered the English language:
Glasnost and perestroika,
openness and restructuring,
promised a new beginning.
Only a month ago, Gorbachev came
to Berlin as a guest of honour.
A show of solidarity,
but each man saw the other as Judas,
a traitor to socialism.
Inspired by Gorbachev's reforms,
nelghbouring communist countries
had relaxed their border controls.
Seeing an opening in the Iron Curtain,
tens of thousands of East Germans
were now fleeing the country
through nelghbouring states.
Communist power was unravelling.
As East Germany celebrated
40 years of communism,
the crowd's jeered Honecker,
but cheered Gorbachev.
There was widespread civil unrest
and huge demonstrations
were sweeping the country.
Two million people,
one in six of the country's population,
took to the streets demanding reform
and the freedom to travel
Honecker responded
by branding them all criminals.
(SPEAKING GERMAN)
But he was dangerously out of touch.
Unwilling to march
in step with Gorbachev,
he lost the support
of his own government
and was forced to resign.
The architect of the wall
was now powerless
to protect the country
he'd defended for so long.
It now fell on the new government
to stabilise the situation.
Their first priority
was to stem the flood of refugees.
The shops along the Kurfurstenndamm
in West Berlin
are still open for late-night shoppers.
Restaurants are beginning
to fill with diners
and bars and clubs
are doing good business.
In the West,
it's an evening like any other.
At Checkpoint Charlie,
Sergeant Costas of the U.S. Army
monitors movement in the East.
But across the wall,
there is an air of expectancy.
A government press conference has been
called to discuss the refugee crisis.
Günter Schabowski,
the Politburo spokesman,
speaks to the English media.
We hope people will be convinced
more and more
that it would be better
for them to stay here
because the processes
of renewing our society
are beginning to show results.
NARRATOR: Removed from
the political process,
Erich Honecker settles down
to watch the press conference at home.
Not since 1961, has the government
faced such testing times.
Leadership, strength and a steady nerve
are necessary more than ever.
(SPEAKING GERMAN)
Günter Schabowski
speaks for the government.
Moll is not impressed.
MOLL: It seemed to me
as if the man was bored.
He didn't seem
to take the crisis seriously.
It was the usual hot air.
NARRATOR: Then Schabowski
drops his bombshell
He states that, as from today,
new regulations have been drawn up
to allow East Germans to travel
through East German borders.
Schabowski seems to have announced
the impossible.
The border controls on the Wall
are going to open.
After a stunned silence, a journalist
asks when the law will become effective.
(SPEAKS GERMAN)
Erich Honecker feels shocked
and utterly betrayed.
Gunther Moll can't believe it, either.
It seems totally unreal, unimaginable.
There must be some mistake.
And there is.
The new laws are supposed
to come into effect tomorrow,
but it's too late.
Schabowski has just sounded
the death knell for East Germany.
The news spreads like wildfire.
A photographer has just told customers
at the Café Adler
that the wall is about to open,
and runs off to cover the story.
People immediately start celebrating.
There is a mood
of euphoria and disbelief.
As she pours champagne
for the customers,
Astrid has an idea.
BENNER: 7 thought,
"We are not the only ones
"who should be celebrating.
The border guards
should be celebrating, foo."
NARRATOR: Already excited groups
of people are gathering in the East
making their way to the Wall
But no one knows
how the guards will react
Astrid feels a mixture
of excitement and fear
as she crosses the floodlit asphalt
leading to the barrier.
Under normal circumstances, these
few steps would've been unthinkable,
risking arrest or worse.
(SPEAKING GERMAN)
She gets a chilly reception.
BEHLOW: The guard was very severe,
not at all friendly.
I assumed that he heard
about the news conference,
but, perhaps, he hadn't
So I left him the drinks
in case he changed his mind.
(RINGING)
Moll
NARRATOR: Moll's deputy
at the checkpoint calls.
He's worried about the growing crowds.
MOLL: He told me that people were now
milling around the checkpoint
I was surprised, but told him
the excitement would soon die down.
But I was worried, too.
The situation could get out of control
Excited crowds and armed men
are not a good combination.
NARRATOR: Thousands of Germans
from both sides of the city
now pour through the streets,
all making their way to the eight
crossing points in the wall
At Checkpoint Charlie, Sergeant Brown
has just called for support.
Major Bernie Godek
is being driven to Checkpoint Charlie.
GODEK: I hadn't heard
the press conference
so didn't know people
expected the wall to open,
but I sensed something historic
was going to happen.
I just prayed no one was gonna get hurt
NARRATOR: Along the Wall,
thousands of Berliners are massing
at the eight checkpoints,
expecting the barriers to be lifted
at any moment.
Bernie Godek arrives
at Checkpoint Charlie
and gets an update from his sergeant
At the Bornholmer Bridge,
at Sonnenallee and Checkpoint Charlie,
the East German guards feel overwhelmed
and unsure how to act.
(ALL CLAMOURING)
on TV monitors,
Bernie Godek and Sergeant Brown
watch with a growing sense
of foreboding.
Nothing in all their years of experience
has prepared either man for this.
Gunther Moll
is driving back to the wall
He is anxious now.
The situation is becoming
dangerous and confused.
MOLL: I remember saying to myself
that whatever happens,
I didn't want any shooting
at my checkpoint
There would be no Tiananmen Square,
no gunfire raking across civilians.
That's what I hoped,
but I didn't know how we would cope.
NARRATOR: The border remains sealed.
The guards stand firm.
They won't open the crossings.
(SPEAKING GERMAN)
A woman in tears
calls for the guards to do their duty.
She has heard it on television.
They can travel without delay,
immediately.
That's what Schabowski had said.
(SOBBING)
(WOMAN SHOUTS IN GERMAN)
(SPEAKING GERMAN)
From inside the hut on the western side
of Checkpoint Charlie,
Major Godek can see a crowd of people
on his side of the wall
Beyond that, he sees a line
of East German border guards,
among them,
the small figure of Gunther Moll
(PEOPLE CLAMOURING)
GODEK: I'd seen this commander
many times before.
Of course, I didn't know his name,
but I felt I knew him.
His men didn't seem to be coping well
with the pressure.
NARRATOR: Moll feels totally isolated.
In its paranoia, the East German state
always feared
a coordinated mass breakout
and prevented checkpoint commanders
any contact,
so Moll has no grasp
of the bigger picture.
He calls his superiors for advice.
(SPEAKING GERMAN)
MOLL: I could not believe it
They had no understanding.
I was simply told
to maintain law and order.
NARRATOR: Moll slowly realises
that the buck is being passed to him.
How on earth can he maintain control
without bloodshed?
I don't know, I think
we're gonna have some trouble
NARRATOR: Godek continues
to monitor the growing crowds
and the bewildered behaviour
of the East German guards,
normally so cool and disciplined.
The phone inside his command post rings.
(PHONE RINGS)
Incredibly, it's a radio station
in New York,
wanting to conduct a live interview
with the men inside.
I got a radio station in New York!
The radio journalist is keen to know
what Major Godek can actually see
from his position.
The excitement of the night
is going global
An awful lot of East Germans gathered
on the other side of the border there
and there's an awful lot of activity
in the gate guard checks,
but we don't really know
what's going on, sir.
NARRATOR: The media are broadcasting
these extraordinary events
to an astonished world.
The tide of history
is catching up with Berlin.
But will blood be shed?
have said the same thing,
that the wall is open, as it were
NARRATOR: In the Café Adler, it's chaos,
as Astrid Benner serves beer after beer.
(PEOPLE CHEERING)
Everyone wants to be part of history.
Suddenly, Astrid hears shouting
coming from outside.
Shouting and screaming.
It becomes a chant from the crowd
to the East German guards.
(PEOPLE SHOUTING)
This is the moment of crisis for Moll
Only armed force
will stop the crowds now.
MOLL: I felt pressure from
the people calling to each other,
but I also felt pressure from history.
NARRATOR: Walking to the barrier,
he confronts the crowds.
A camera flash goes off,
freezing the moment for posterity.
They're opening the doors,
they're coming across here!
I can't believe it,
the guards are coming out of the tower.
Can you believe this shit?
NARRATOR: Without a shot being fired,
the guards give way.
The pressure from the crowds
is simply too much.
The barrier goes up
and the people pour through.
East and West Germans are united.
(CHEERING)
At other crossing points along the
border, the barriers are also going up.
For the first time
in its 28-year history,
the wall has succumbed
to the will of the people.
Back at Checkpoint Charlie,
the first East Berliners
begin to arrive.
Bernie Godek feels their excitement
GODEK: There was a carnival
atmosphere in the streets.
The crowds cheered each new arrival
It was a kind of baptism, I guess,
coming over the line for the first time.
(PEOPLE CHEERING)
NARRATOR: The sense of history
is felt by everyone.
Many pause for a moment
before crossing the line
that for decades has marked the great,
ideological fault line dividing Europe
the line between East and West
Each, in their own way,
is making a journey into the unknown,
a journey into the future.
Life will never be the same again.
Honecker is transfixed by the images
he sees on his television.
At the Brandenburg Gate,
crowds vent their feelings of
frustration and hatred for the barrier.
Nothing can keep them apart
Concrete and barbed wire
have suddenly become obsolete.
Honecker is overcome
with a feeling of grief.
He thinks to himself,
"The impossible has happened,
it's the end of East Germany."
But for many, tonight is
the biggest party of their lives.
There are now over 40,000
East Berliners in the streets
mingling with an even bigger crowd
of West Berliners.
The party will continue
for three more nights.
Within a year, the communist government
of the old East Germany
will fall to the will of the people.
Bulldozers and cranes will tear
the Wall up by its ideological roots,
and the people will vote to become
part of a reunited Germany.
Astrid Benner will finish her studies,
and today lives in a district of Berlin
that was once in the East.
Gunther Moll will lose his job.
Stigmatised by his rank
in the old state security forces,
he faces years of unemployment.
Today, he works as a hospital porter.
After seven years watching the Wall
Bernie Godek will retire from the army.
He now lives 14,000 miles away,
in Hawaii.
Erich Honecker flees Berlin to Moscow.
When communism collapses there,
he is deported to Berlin
to face charges of mass murder.
Ill health will prevent
his trial going ahead
and Honecker will escape to Chile,
where he dies in 1994.
Seventy one years
after the murder of the Romanovs,
he remained true
to his communist beliefs.
Socialism had been betrayed.
It would never die.
It simply hadn't worked out,
this time round.