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The Kremlin Minutes

"We Should Demolish the Wall Ourselves"

+++ Discussion of the situation in East Berlin, Nov. 3, 1989

Kryuchkov: Tomorrow 500,000 people will take to the streets in Berlin and other cities …

Gorbachev: Do you believe Krenz can contain himself? We will be unable to contain them (the East Germans) without the help of West Germany.

Shevardnadze: It would be better if we demolished the Wall ourselves.

Kryuchkov: It will be very difficult for the East Germans if we take it down.

Gorbachev: The West doesn't want German unification, but it does want us to prevent it with our hands. It wants to push us into a confrontation with West Germany -- in order to rule out the possibility of a "conspiracy" between the USSR and Germany.

We will act within a triangle, that is, including both West and East Germany -- but with complete openness.

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