The 60s were very tense times between the West and Moscow. Moscow’s army could have taken a surrounded West Berlin within a few days. Berlin was ground zero for the Cold War.
In 1961, Moscow built a 100 mile wall around all of West Berlin, complete with assault rifles and mines, meant to kill. It was an attempt to stop people in the east from fleeing to freedom. I wrote about this awful wall here: https://medium.com/@jimsoper/i-hate-walls-25d7ac5388c4
With the new wall, free Berliners needed assurance that the US & NATO would stand with them.
So, on June 26, 1963, US President Kennedy came to Berlin, and said to them:
Two thousand years ago, the proudest boast was “civis romanus sum” [Latin for: “I am a Roman citizen”]. Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is “Ich bin ein Berliner !” [German for: “I am a Berliner !”]
Huge cheers. “Ich bin ein Berliner !” They and Moscow got the message: I am one of you. Berlin will stay free. He was facing down Moscow. This was really important.
Like Georgia and Moldava, Ukrainians are fighting to join the European Union, which represents to them democracy and rule of law. Ukrainians are fighting for their sovereignty, for their families, for their neighbors, for their homes, for their land, and for their nation. If you truly understand Moscow’s long, cruel, imperial history, Ukraine is fighting for the very existence of everything that is Ukraine: people, towns, culture, language, traditions, literature, arts, music, and history. Moscow wants to really erase Ukraine. All of it. So that it doesn’t exist any more. Like Circassia. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circassian_genocide)
Surrendering any of this is just not an option. Ukraine will not negotiate with terrorists. Ukraine will fight to win.
Conclusion: For their courage, solidarity, smarts, and love of democracy and rule of law, I would like to say, as would JFK …
Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is “Я українець” (“I am Ukrainian !”).
