posté le 11-05-2013 à 20:16:39
Discours de John F. Kennedy ''Ich bin ein Berliner'' (Berlin, 26 juin 1963)
Il y a beaucoup de gens dans le monde qui ne comprennent pas ou
qui prétendent ne pas comprendre quelle est la grande différence entre le monde libre et le monde communiste.
Qu'ils viennent à Berlin !
Il y en a qui disent qu'en Europe et ailleurs, nous
pouvons travailler avec les communistes.
Qu'ils viennent à Berlin ! Lass sie nach Berlin
kommen (« Qu'ils viennent à Berlin ») !
Notre liberté éprouve certes beaucoup de difficultés et
notre démocratie n'est pas parfaite. Cependant, nous n'avons jamais eu besoin,
nous, d'ériger un mur pour empêcher notre peuple de s'enfuir. (...) Le mur
fournit la démonstration éclatante de la faillite du système communiste. Cette
faillite est visible aux yeux du monde entier. Nous n'éprouvons aucune
satisfaction en voyant ce mur, car il constitue à nos yeux une offense non
seulement à l'histoire mais encore une offense à l'humanité. (...)
Il y
a 2 000 ans, la phrase la plus glorieuse était civis romanus sum
(Je suis citoyen romain). Aujourd'hui, dans le monde de la liberté, la phrase
la plus glorieuse est « Ich bin ein Berliner. »
Tous les hommes libres, où qu'ils vivent, sont citoyens de
Berlin. C'est pourquoi, en tant qu'homme libre, je suis fier de dire : Ich
bin ein Berliner ! (Je suis un Berlinois).
"I am proud to come to this
city as the guest of your distinguished Mayor, who has symbolized throughout
the world the fighting spirit of West Berlin. And I am proud to visit the
Federal Republic with your distinguished Chancellor who for so many years has
committed Germany to democracy and freedom and progress, and to come here in
the company of my fellow American, General Clay, who has been in this city
during its great moments of crisis and will come again if ever needed.
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."
I appreciate my interpreter translating my German!
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.
Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect, but we have never
had to put a wall up to keep our people in, to prevent them from leaving us. I
want to say, on behalf of my countrymen, who live many miles away on the other
side of the Atlantic, who are far distant from you, that they take the greatest
pride that they have been able to share with you, even from a distance, the
story of the last 18 years. I know of no town, no city, that has been besieged
for 18 years that still lives with the vitality and the force, and the hope and
the determination of the city of West Berlin. While the wall is the most
obvious and vivid demonstration of the failures of the Communist system, for
all the world to see, we take no satisfaction in it, for it is, as your Mayor
has said, an offense not only against history but an offense against humanity,
separating families, dividing husbands and wives and brothers and sisters, and
dividing a people who wish to be joined together.
What is true of this city is true of Germany--real, lasting peace in Europe can
never be assured as long as one German out of four is denied the elementary
right of free men, and that is to make a free choice. In 18 years of peace and
good faith, this generation of Germans has earned the right to be free,
including the right to unite their families and their nation in lasting peace,
with good will to all people. You live in a defended island of freedom, but
your life is part of the main. So let me ask you as I close, to lift your eyes
beyond the dangers of today, to the hopes of tomorrow, beyond the freedom
merely of this city of Berlin, or your country of Germany, to the advance of
freedom everywhere, beyond the wall to the day of peace with justice, beyond
yourselves and ourselves to all mankind.
Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free. When
all are free, then we can look forward to that day when this city will be
joined as one and this country and this great Continent of Europe in a peaceful
and hopeful globe. When that day finally comes, as it will, the people of West
Berlin can take sober satisfaction in the fact that they were in the front
lines for almost two decades.
All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore,
as a free man, I take pride in the words "Ich bin ein Berliner."