Imagine being separated from your family and friends for many years, even though they live just a few hundred meters away on the other side of a concrete wall. If you attempt to bypass the wall to see them, you will be severely punished or maybe killed by armed guards. This scenario may sound implausible, but this is the true story of the people affected by the Berlin Wall, a barrier that once divided East and West Berlin.
At the End of World War II
After World War II, Germany was split into four zones, which were each occupied by a different foreign army. The capitalist French, British, and Americans managed the western parts of the country, while the communist Soviets controlled the eastern section. Capitalists believe that individuals should have the right to make their own money in a market economy and keep what they earn. Communists, on the other hand, believe that wealth should be spread equally across a society, so the rich must give up some of their property to be redistributed to poorer families. The conflict between these two belief systems, and the nations that espoused them, became known as the Cold War (1947-1991). This struggle for dominance between the United States and the Soviet Union led to raised military and political tensions around the world.
In Berlin, as in the rest of Germany, relations between communists and capitalists were particularly tense. Located deep inside East Germany, the capital had also been divided into two zones; West Berlin was in the hands of the allied British, French, and American governments, and the bigger East Berlin was controlled by the Soviets. Hostility between them grew during the 1950s, when millions of skilled workers left impoverished East Berlin to seek employment in the more prosperous West. At the same time, many West Berliners entered the communist zone to buy cheap groceries at stores subsidized by the Soviet government. The East was losing its labor force while shoppers were taking advantage of the communist area’s lower prices. Facing total economic collapse, East German leader Walter Ulbricht proposed building a barrier to prevent people from crossing over from one side to the other.
The Construction of the Berlin Wall
Construction on the barrier began on August 13, 1961. Many people were suddenly separated from their families and friends. West Berliners who happened to be shopping in East Berlin that day were informed that they would not be able to return home without risking their lives; East Berlin workers were cut off from their jobs in the West. Berlin was now a physically divided city.
At first the fence only consisted of barbed wire. It was 155 kilometers long and sat just inside Soviet territory. To deter people from trying to cross, armed East German troops stood at regular intervals and were ordered to shoot anyone who attempted to enter or to leave East Berlin. Then, in June 1962, construction on another fence was started. The second barrier ran parallel to the first, but left a wide-open space of 91 meters between them. This area was covered in gravel to make it easy for guards to spot footprints left by people trying to escape, and filled with landmines. Because so many people were killed trying to cross this alley into West Berlin, it became known as the death strip.
The final two phases of the wall’s construction began in 1965 and 1975. The East German troops replaced the barbed wire fence with a solid concrete wall. Then they fortified it; in the end it had 45,000 different sections, each 3.6 meters high and 1.2 meters wide. There were also 116 watchtowers, 20 bunkers, and only 8 gates, each with armed guards.
Famous Escape Attempts
Despite such great obstacles, more than five thousand people did manage to flee from East Berlin to West Berlin. The first escapees were able to jump over the barbed wire fence through an apartment window or from the roof of a nearby building. In 1964 West Berliners were able to help 57 people escape through a 145-meter-long tunnel dug under the wire fence.
After the completion of the concrete wall, however, defectors had to become more creative in their escape plans. Some were able to escape by sliding along a cable suspended over the fence between two buildings. One man was able to drive a low sports car under the barricade into freedom at Checkpoint Charlie, the main crossing point. Perhaps the most famous story of a successful escape is that of Thomas Kruger, who piloted a small aircraft, stolen from an East German military training camp, into West Berlin. After landing safely he dismantled the plane and sent it in pieces to the East Germans with written messages such as "Wish you were here."
Unfortunately, not everyone who tried to escape East Germany made it across the border alive. As many as 239 people were killed trying to cross. The most famous case happened in 1962, when a young man named Peter Fletcher was shot as he was scaling the outer wall. He fell into the death strip, and even though he was still alive, neither onlookers nor the media could offer him assistance, as East German guards would certainly have shot them. Fletcher’s death was captured on film by the media. As the images of this horrible event circulated around the world, they became a symbol of communist tyranny.
The Fall of the Berlin Wall
Almost forty years after the official separation of East and West Berlin, the prospect of a unified Germany seemed as out of reach as ever. But several unexpected events occurred in 1989. In August of that year, communist Hungary and capitalist Austria opened their borders to each other, allowing thirteen thousand East Germans to flee via this new route. Huge demonstrations began to take place all over East Germany, which caused the leader of East Germany, Erich Honecker, to resign.
The new East German leader, Egon Krenz, had decided to draft a policy that would allow East Berliners to apply for visas to travel to West Berlin. On November 9 the Minister of Propaganda, Gunter Schabowski, was scheduled to meet with the press.
He was informed of the proposed changes, but was still unaware that the policy had not yet been finalized. He announced on the air that all East Berliners would be allowed to cross the border with proper permission. When asked how soon this policy would take effect, he responded that it was effective immediately.
Tens of thousands of East Berliners who had listened to the minister’s statement on television headed to the checkpoints, demanding that they be allowed to cross. The guards had no idea how to handle such crowds and could not control them. As thousands of East Berliners stampeded across the barrier, they were met by anxious families and old friends living in the West. Soon excited Germans were destroying the wall with sledgehammers and even their bare hands. The symbol of a divided country was being destroyed, and citizens rejoiced at the end of the painful era.
Today little of the Berlin Wall remains standing, but a few sections have been left to remind Germans of this sad episode in their history. Germany has since reunited under a single democratic leadership, but the effects of the separation are long lasting. Many talk about the many differences in culture that emerged between the East and West during their time apart. But most are just happy that they have been reunited with their families and friends, and together they look toward a future as one nation.