dodis.ch/53169 Telegram1 from the Polish Ambassador in East Berlin, Janusz Obodowski2, to the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Krzysztof Skubiszewski3

For immediate action

East Berlin, 10 November 1989, 1.00 a.m.

Following Schabowski’s4 statement about the opening of borders with the West, the border with the FRG has burst. Masses of people are crossing into West Berlin. Some are moving back and forth. Rallies at the W[est] B[erlin] border.

1: Telegram No. 0-1789/IV (incoming, translated from Polish): Archives of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs AMSZ, ZD 24/91, w. 3, t. 9. Delivered by: 10 November 1989, 4.00 a.m.↩

2: Janusz Obodowski (1930–2011), dodis.ch/P57588, Polish Ambassador in East Berlin 1986–1990.↩

3: Krzysztof Skubiszewski (1926–2010), dodis.ch/P57377, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs 12.9.1989–26.10.1993.↩

4: Günter Schabowski (1929–2015), dodis.ch/P56902, member of the SED Politburo and spokesman of the GDR government 1989.↩