The world celebrated the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on Nov. 9, 1989 followed by the 20th anniversary of Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Revolution on Nov. 17. BBG broadcasters provided extensive and wide-ranging coverage of these anniversaries as many who lived through those events discussed the vital role of Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

VOA covered the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall with reporting from United States, Germany, Poland, Hungary and Africa. Correspondents looked at why the wall was built, what led to its collapse, and what the past 20 years have meant for the countries that emerged from behind the Iron Curtain. VOA interviewed key policymakers in 1989 including James Baker, then-US Secretary of State, and one of the early leaders of Ukraine’s Rukh movement, Volodymyr Yavorivskyy.

Numerous VOA languages built special Web pages to showcase their multimedia coverage.

RFE/RL also provided a comprehensive look at the "Revolutions of '89", with exclusive interviews and feature stories examining the tumultuous events of that year and their impact today. Notable interviews included former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who spoke about his role in the disintegration of the Soviet bloc, and former dissident and Czech President Vaclav Havel, who called the November 17, 1989 student demonstration in Prague "the snowball that triggered an avalanche."

VOA and RFE/RL both interviewed former Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze, who later became leader of Georgia.

Shevardnadze told RFE/RL’s Georgian service in an exclusive interview that he feels he should have shared Mikhail Gorbachev’s 1990 Nobel Peace Prize.

Radio and TV Marti, broadcasting to one of the world’s few remaining communist countries, also had extensive coverage of the anniversary. Special reports highlighted the history of the wall, the circumstances that led to its fall and the impact on the rest of Eastern Europe, and the lessons for the future of Cuba in light of democratic reforms.

Alhurra and Radio Sawa also covered the events in their newscasts and Alhurra aired the documentary The Berlin Wall: Escape to Freedom.

In commemorating the events of 1989, BBG broadcasters are looking back at a story in which they figured prominently. VOA and RFE/RL (then two separate entities, RFE and RL) were a vital source of news, information and culture for those behind the Iron Curtain, and were some of the only sources of reporting in their languages on the revolutions as they were happening.