World Freedom Day, 2020

Proclamation 10117 of November 6, 2020

World Freedom Day, 2020

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

On World Freedom Day, we commemorate the historic fall
of the Berlin Wall in 1989, which liberated the people
of East Germany from the grip of tyranny. This
watershed event marked the triumph of freedom and
liberty for hundreds of millions of people who rejected
the oppression of Soviet communism and its Marxist-
Leninist ideology. Today, we celebrate the blessings of
freedom in Germany and across the world, and reaffirm
our Nation's support for all who wish to be free.

Following World War II, the Soviet Union built an Iron
Curtain between the East and West, isolating the city
of West Berlin and shutting off the free flow of goods
and people. Determined to prevent the light of liberty
from being extinguished, our Nation stood with the
United Kingdom and France against the Soviet demand
that the West withdraw from Berlin. To defeat this
demand for surrender, the United States Air Force and
our allies fearlessly airlifted food, fuel, and
supplies to the starving people of West Berlin, and
together, we were resolved to restore freedom to the
German people.

For almost 30 years, the Berlin Wall symbolized the
divide between the free world and communism. On its
eastern side, the rights that democratic societies hold
dear--the fundamental freedoms of religion, speech, the
press, association, and petition--were replaced by
forced secularism, oppressive censorship, monolithic
propaganda, and inhumane division. Hundreds of brave
Germans died attempting to escape this brutal fate, as
the Stasi used landmines, armed watchtowers, and barbed
wire to intimidate those who dreamed of freedom and to
kill and harm those who braved any attempt to escape.
Those whose escapes failed, those who facilitated
successful or attempted crossings, and those who
crossed the Stasi in some other way were tortured,
imprisoned, and executed in horrifying violations of
human dignity and rights.

The United States always stood resolutely with the
victims and survivors of the evil ideology that
controlled East Germany and East Berlin. Our valiant
response to Soviet oppression in Germany defined the
Cold War, from President John F. Kennedy's declaration,
``Ich bin ein Berliner,'' in 1963 to President Ronald
Reagan's momentous call, ``Mr. Gorbachev, tear down
this wall!'' in 1987. Our founding principles of
individual, God-given unalienable rights, human
dignity, and equality of opportunity were embraced by
the millions held in Soviet bondage, and ultimately won
the ideological battle of the Cold War. As a result, we
are able to celebrate Germany's reunification today,
reaffirm our alliance, and recognize German
contributions to modern day peace and prosperity.

This World Freedom Day, we honor all those who fought
for freedom, endured injustice, and bravely resisted
totalitarianism before the fall of the Berlin Wall. We
also reassert our longstanding commitment to combat
tyranny, uplift the voices of those held captive by
communist regimes, and halt the spread of this brutal
ideology at home and around the world.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution

and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim
November 9, 2020, as World Freedom Day. I call upon the
people of the United States to observe this day with
appropriate ceremonies and activities, reaffirming our
dedication to freedom and democracy.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
sixth day of November, in the year of our Lord two
thousand twenty, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.