Dateline: Shadow of the Wall

This month marks 25 years since the Berlin Wall came crashing down -- not literally, but in its very essence.

November 11, 1989.

This month marks 25 years since the Berlin Wall came crashing down -- not literally, but in its very essence.

It was the night the crossing on Berlin's Bornholmer Strasse was opened, suddenly ending the physical divide between East and West and dramatically altering European history.

Karl Heinz Richter had helped mastermind escapes across the Wall from the East side before he was caught, imprisoned and eventually deported to the West.

Hasso Herschel had escaped from East to West himself, then helped as many as a thousand others escape over the years.

And Harold Jager was the East German officer who, without approval from superiors, decided to open that critical gate on the night of November the 9th, 1989.

Amos Roberts spoke with all of them for tonight's Dateline program and tells Ron Sutton what struck him most.

(Click on the audio tab above to hear the full interview)