New Kennedy Museum in Berlin Draws Emotional Responses

Tears rolled down Marianne Monjau's cheeks as she watched a short film of John F. Kennedy's famous 1963"Ich bin ein Berliner" speech in West Berlin at a new permanent exhibition to the slain U.S. president.

Monjau, 64, had been a student in Communist East Berlin when she heard a live radio broadcast of Kennedy's stirring affirmation of support to the city trapped precariously in the middle of Communist Eastern Europe, and watching his speech at the new museum brought back a flood of tearful memories.

"He was revered by all of us all over Berlin after that," said Monjau, who later got a Kennedy silver half dollar from a friend in Poland and has held onto the coin for 40 years."That speech gave us so much hope. It made me cry then too."

The brief film of Kennedy's eight-hour visit to West Berlin on June 26, 1963 -- where he was cheered by millions on the streets and outside the city hall where he gave his speech -- is a centerpiece of the exhibition called"The Kennedys".