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President Kennedy's "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech was delivered in West Berlin on June 26th, 1963 nearly two years after the Soviet Union erected the Berlin Wall to prevent mass emigration to the West from East Germany. It is one of the most famous anti-communist speeches ever given and signaled to the world that the United States was giving its full support to West Germany. President Kennedy's famous words of support, "Ich bin ein Berliner" gave hope and strength millions of people in East & West Germany.

"Two thousand years ago the proudest boast was 'civis Romanus sum.' Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is 'Ich bin ein Berliner.'

There are many people in the world who really don't understand, or say they don't, what is the great issue between the free world and the Communist world. Let them come to Berlin. There are some who say that communism is the wave of the future. Let them come to Berlin. And there are some who say in Europe and elsewhere we can work with the Communists. Let them come to Berlin. And there are even a few who say that it is true that communism is an evil system, but it permits us to make economic progress. Lass' sie nach Berlin kommen. Let them come to Berlin."