Three statesmen who oversaw the fall of the Berlin Wall that led to the collapse of communism in Europe gathered Oct. 31 in Germany's capital to reflect on the changes they helped usher in 20 years ago.

Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush; the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev; and former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl were honored at a ceremony in Berlin. It recalled how the three leaders carried the hope that had built on East Germany's streets and turned it into a political reality — the end to more than 40 years of animosity and division reflected in the concrete barrier that snaked across Berlin.

Kohl, 79, who went on to become the first chancellor of a reunited Germany, appeared the most visibly moved by the moment, recalling the heady days that led up to the Nov. 9, 1989, collapse of the Wall, and Washington and Moscow's willingness to let it fall.