Checkpoint Charlie

during the operation, the ATF recovered only 94 (Egger, 2016). A government watchdog group, Judicial Watch, stated that at least one of the weapons were reportedly used by Islamic terrorists in the horrific attacks on the French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, in 2015 (2016). Other weapons in the attack were traced to a Slovakian arms dealer, where they were sold as non-functioning “prop” or display weapons (Samuel,…

A fortified border which spans 155 kilometers separates east and west, communism and democracy, and repression from freedom (Walled In: Germany’s Inner Border). This barrier is known to many as The Berlin Wall. It became a significant symbol that represented all of those things depending on which side of the wall you were on. The events leading up to the building and destruction of the wall were very important to not only the Germans, but also to the whole world. The wall itself was a very…

It was an unusually cold day for Berlin in June. The year was 2014. The girl walked north from Potsdamer Platz towards Shonëberger Straße, passing a small piece of The Wall that was left standing, ironically juxtaposed against the high-rising Kolhoff Tower immediately behind it. The wall was crumbling and popping with political graffiti. Behind it, the tower was made almost entirely of glass, looking futuristic as it loomed atop the city skyline. This kind of contrast was not unusual in Berlin.…