Cherished Souvenir

I recently came across an interesting souvenir that my parents had brought back from their first trip together to Europe: a piece of the Berlin Wall.

 

When Germans in East Berlin were allowed to cross freely into West Berlin, in November, 1989, my parents were excited to visit Germany, which had been divided into two countries - East and West Germany - after World War 2. 

My father's half-sister, Emma, lived in East Germany. He hadn't seen her since he left Poland in 1929, when he was 19 years old. She had been a young child at the time.

I don't know how or when she moved from Poland to Germany. Was she married at the time? I don't know. But family members had been in contact with her by mail. So off my parents went.

One of the souvenirs they brought back with them was a packaged piece of the Berlin Wall.

Included in the box is  a certificate of authenticity and a map showing where in the wall the piece of concrete was taken from.

Is it legit? (It was packaged, not in Germany, but in the USA!) 

I have no idea - but my father loved the idea that he owned a concrete piece of the wall which, for over 40 years, had been a symbol of oppression - but which now was proof of the endless possibilities of freedom and peace.