THE BERLIN WALL1961 - 1989

ASTRID, MAYBE SOMEDAY WE WILL BE TOGETHER

CONTENTS

Introduction

Eastern Bloc and the 1950s

The Rise of the Berlin Wall

Building a Wall

Defection Attempts

Living in the Wall’s Shadow

‘Tear Down This Wall!’

1989

4

7

11

15

19

22

28

35

At the end of World War 2 in 1945, Germany was divided into four

administrative sectors, one for each of the victorious combatants; Britain,

the United States the Soviet Union, and one for France. Berlin, as capital city,

was itself divided similarly into four sectors. Being situated entirely within the

Soviet Sector, Berlin provided an ongoing flashpoint in the developing enmity

between the Soviet Union and the West.

The idea, in theory at least, was that the four administrative powers would,

following reconstruction, leave a unified Germany to itself. But this ideal was

not current thinking in the Soviet Union. Amid the ruins of Germany’s once-

proud capital, on the morning of 2nd May, 1945, a convoy of trucks rolled

in from the east. They brought several soviet political officers and some

German communists who had been living in exile in Moscow. One such was

Walter Ulbricht, destined to hold abswolute power in what was to become an

independent German Democratic Republic. It would later be Ulbricht’s proud

boast, that as he entered Berlin he had under his arm a complete set of plans

for the physical, industrial, and political reconstruction of an independent East

Germany along socialist lines, worked out by his own team in Moscow.

Little by little, socialist-style planning took root, while in the political field,

a single-party system was imposed. On 7th October, 1949, the Soviet Zone

formally declared itself an independent State: the ddr, German Democratic

Republic. This followed a manipulated vote in the Volkskammer (People’s

Chamber), and a Constitution was formulated for the new socialist nation. A

vote was promised, but in reality East Germans would have to wait forty years

for it. Elections in East Germany became a farce; citizens were required to vote

under threat of denunciation and repression, and alternative choices there

were none. Thus East Germany produced time and again from 1950 to 1986

miracle voting results showing 98—99% participation and 99% ‘Yes’ votes in

favour of the single party offering.

‘Learn from the Soviet Union for Victory’ became the slogan, for Ulbricht

regarded the Soviet Union as his role model, and as for Joe Stalin, he was

raised almost to deification. The Soviet Union focused its economy on heavy

and chemical industry: East Germany would do the same. So as an excess of

steel was produced, food for the population remained a scarcity. Ulbricht had

no problem with that; ‘We will win, as long as we follow the Great Stalin’, he

told the Second Socialist Party Conference in 1952. Repeatedly, East German

Party literature proclaimed ‘our great love and praise for Joseph Stalin’.

Stalin’s death on 5th March 1953 threw the East German command into

confusion, forcing the country’s leaders to start thinking for themselves.

As they reviewed their own country, they were confronted with increasing

dissatisfaction, unpopularity of the regime, and ‘a vote with the feet’ which was

gradually draining the country of its youth and best brains. In 1950, 198,000

fled to the West, more than 165,000 in 1951, and over 182,000 in 1952.

The answer was a ‘New Course’ which was supposed to provide the population

with more consumer goods. Recent price increases were withdrawn, but not

Walter UlbrichtBorn: 30 Jun 1893Died: 1 Aug 1973

Role: General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany

From: 25 Jul 1950To: 3 May 1971

Joseph StalinBorn: 18 Dec 1878Died: 5 Mar 1953

Role: General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

From: 3 Apr 1922 To: 16 Oct 1952

INTRODUCTION

4

the increase in working hours. The latter was a bad mistake. Building workers

in East Berlin’s Stalinallee confronted by a 10% production quota increase saw

no reason to strain themselves for a meager pay packet, and on 16th June, 1953

they stopped work. Next day their action was repeated in over 350 towns and

cities across the ddr.

Strikes became demonstrations, not just for new economic policies, but also

for free, Germany-wide elections and an end to the all-pervading Socialist Party

rule. The East German government was at a loss. Soviet tanks rolled in, the

uprising was put down and several hundred lost their lives. In that year, another

332,000 would leave for the West. Committed communist poet Bertolt Brecht

suggested it might be easier for the government to dismiss the population and

vote in a new one.

That was it. The gloves were off. Ulbricht tightened his control, branded any

and all vocal opposition as the criminal actions of those favouring a return to

fascism, militarism and atomic war. Citizens’ private lives were opened to public

scrutiny and direction. Religion was ‘out’, weddings were to be conducted in

Registry Offices only, and young people taking Confirmation could lose their

right to education. Under the direction of First Secretary Erich Honecker, all

western-facing television aerials were to be destroyed. The single Trade Union

was to focus on the new slogan: ‘World Competition’ – in other words, more work!

Art too was to be State-directed. Walter Ulbricht wanted no more abstracts

of ‘rotten fish and lunar landscapes’, rather heroic portraits of working men,

with muscular arms, powerful chests and proud smiles on their faces. Historic

buildings were left to fall while new faceless identical blocks were put up in

endless rows. Germany’s legacy of historic palaces became kindergartens or

old people’s homes.

In February 1956 Khrushchev openly talked of the crimes committed

by Joseph Stalin, causing no little embarrassment in Berlin and some

reassessment of policy. For a short time control was relaxed somewhat. Then

disaster struck as once again Soviet tanks rolled – this time into Hungary. How

should the East German Socialist regime react? More stringent controls, or more

constructive action? It was decided to soften the population and win hearts. In

1958 rationing of fats, meat and sugar was ended – though with no guarantees

of sufficient supplies! Economically there was to be a great leap forward;

industrial production was to be expanded, with the illusory aim of overtaking

the West by 1961. At the same time however, many previously independent

firms were nationalized, and peasants were forced into unpopular Agricultural

Cooperatives. So unpopular were they in fact, that peasants unwilling to

cooperate were imprisoned. But discontent remained. In 1959 another 143,000

left, and one year later, 199,000.

Erich HoneckerBorn: 25 Aug 1912Died: 29 May 1994

Role: General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany

From: 3 May 1971 To : 18 Oct 1989

Nikita KhruschevBorn: 15 Apr 1894Died: 11 Sep 1971

Role: General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

From: 14 Sep 1953 To: 14 Oct 1964

5

“WE WILL WIN AS LONG AS WE FOLLOW THE GREAT STALIN”

People carry only a few belongings as they flee to the west.

WALTER ULBRICHT - 1952

6

EASTERN BLOC AND THE 1950s

In 1948, following disagreements regarding reconstruction and a new German

currency, Stalin instituted the Berlin Blockade, preventing food, materials

and supplies from arriving in West Berlin. The United States, Britain, France,

Canada, Australia, New Zealand and several other countries began a massive

‘Berlin airlift’, supplying West Berlin with food and other supplies. The Soviets

mounted a public relations campaign against the western policy change.

Communists attempted to disrupt the elections of 1948, preceding large losses

therein, while 300,000 Berliners demonstrated for the international airlift to

continue. In May 1949, Stalin lifted the blockade, permitting the resumption of

Western shipments to Berlin.

The German Democratic Republic was declared on 7th October 1949. By a

secret treaty, the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs accorded the East German

state administrative authority, but not autonomy. The Soviets penetrated

East German administrative, military and secret police structures and had

full control.

East Germany differed from West Germany (Federal Republic of Germany),

which developed into a Western capitalist country with a social market economy

‘Soziale Marktwirtschaft’ and a democratic parliamentary government. Continual

economic growth starting in the 1950s fuelled a 20-year Wirtschaftswunder

(economic miracle). As West Germany’s economy grew and its standard of living

steadily improved, many East Germans wanted to move to West Germany.

By the early 1950s, the Soviet approach to controlling national movement,

restricting emigration, was emulated by most of the rest of the Eastern Bloc,

including East Germany. The restrictions presented a quandary for some

Eastern Bloc states that had been more economically advanced and open than

the Soviet Union, such that crossing borders seemed more natural —especially

where no prior border existed between East and West Germany.

Up until 1952, the lines between East Germany and the western occupied

zones could be easily crossed in most places. On 1st April 1952, East German

leaders met the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in Moscow; during the discussions

Stalin’s foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov proposed that the East Germans

should ‘introduce a system of passes for visits of West Berlin residents to the

territory of East Berlin [so as to stop] free movement of Western agents’ in

the ddr. Stalin agreed, calling the situation ‘intolerable’. He advised the East

Germans to build up their border defenses, telling them that ‘The demarcation

line between East and West Germany should be considered a border—and

not just any border, but a dangerous one… The Germans will guard the line of

defence with their lives.’

Consequently, the inner German border between the two German states was

closed, and a barbed-wire fence erected. The border between the Western and

Eastern sectors of Berlin, however, remained open, although traffic between

the Soviet and the Western sectors was somewhat restricted. This resulted in

Berlin becoming a magnet for East Germans desperate to escape life in the

ddr, and also a flashpoint for tension between the United States and the

Soviet Union.

Vyacheslav MolotovBorn: 9 Mar 1890Died: 8 Nov 1986

Role: Minister of Foreign Affairs

From: 3 May 1939 To: 1 Jun 1956

Mikhail PervukinBorn: 14 Oct 1904Died: 22 Jul 1978

Role: Soviet East German Ambassador

From: 1958To: 1962

7

In 1955, the Soviets gave East Germany authority over civilian movement

in Berlin, passing control to a regime not recognized in the West. Initially,

East Germany granted “visits” to allow its residents access to West Germany.

However, following the defection of large numbers of East Germans under this

regime, the new East German state legally restricted virtually all travel to the

West in 1956. Soviet East German ambassador Mikhail Pervukhin observed that

‘the presence in Berlin of an open and essentially uncontrolled border between

the socialist and capitalist worlds unwittingly prompts the population to make

a comparison between both parts of the city, which unfortunately, does not

always turn out in favor of the Democratic [East] Berlin.’

With the closing of the inner German border officially in 1952, the border in

Berlin remained considerably more accessible then because it was administered

by all four occupying powers. Accordingly, Berlin became the main route by

which East Germans left for the West. On 11th December 1957, East Germany

introduced a new passport law that reduced the overall number of refugees

leaving Eastern Germany.

It had the unintended result of drastically increasing the percentage of those

leaving through West Berlin from 60% to well over 90% by the end of 1958.

Those caught trying to leave East Berlin were subjected to heavy penalties, but

with no physical barrier and subway train access still available to West Berlin,

such measures were ineffective. The Berlin sector border was essentially a

‘loophole’ through which Eastern Bloc citizens could still escape. The 3.5

million East Germans who had left by 1961 totalled approximately 20% of the

entire East German population.

The emigrants tended to be young and well-educated, leading to the ‘brain

drain’ feared by officials in East Germany. Yuri Andropov, then the cpsu Director

on Relations with Communist and Workers Parties of Socialist Countries, wrote

an urgent letter on 28th August 1958, to the Central Committee about the

significant 50% increase in the number of East German intelligentsia among

the refugees. Andropov reported that, while the East German leadership stated

that they were leaving for economic reasons, testimony from refugees indicated

that the reasons were more political than material. He stated ‘the flight of the

intelligentsia has reached a particularly critical phase.’

An East German sed propaganda booklet published in 1955 dramatically

described the serious nature of ‘flight from the republic’:

Both from the moral standpoint as well as in terms of the interests of the whole

German nation, leaving the ddr is an act of political and moral backwardness

and depravity. Those who let themselves be recruited objectively serve

West German Reaction and militarism, whether they know it or not. Is it

not despicable when for the sake of a few alluring job offers or other false

promises about a ‘guaranteed future’ one leaves a country in which the seed

for a new and more beautiful life is sprouting, and is already showing the

first fruits, for the place that favours a new war and destruction? Is it not an

8

By 1960, the combination of World War II and the massive emigration

westward left East Germany with only 61% of its population of working age,

compared to 70.5% before the war. The loss was disproportionately heavy

among professionals: engineers, technicians, physicians, teachers, lawyers

and skilled workers. The direct cost of manpower losses to East Germany

(and corresponding gain to the West) has been estimated at $7 billion to $9

billion, with East German party leader Walter Ulbricht later claiming that West

Germany owed him $17 billion in compensation, including reparations as well

as manpower losses. In addition, the drain of East Germany’s young population

potentially cost it over 22.5 billion marks in lost educational investment. The

brain drain of professionals had become so damaging to the political credibility

and economic viability of East Germany that the re-securing of the German

communist frontier was imperative.

By 1961 Ulbricht’s State had lost over 2.6 million of its citizens – young, fit,

educated, many with valuable specialist skills. Once again, something had to

be done. During a press conference on 15th July, 1961, Ulbricht claimed, ‘no one

has any intention of building a wall’. But Moscow apparently thought otherwise

and orders followed two weeks later. On 13th August, under the command of

Erich Honecker, work on the wall was begun.

act of political depravity when citizens, whether young people, workers, or

members of the intelligentsia, leave and betray what our people have created

through common labour in our republic to offer themselves to the American

or British secret services or work for the West German factory owners, Junkers,

or militarists? Does not leaving the land of progress for the morass of an

historically outdated social order demonstrate political backwardness and

blindness? … Workers throughout Germany will demand punishment for

those who today leave the German Democratic Republic, the strong bastion

of the fight for peace, to serve the deadly enemy of the German people, the

imperialists and militarists.

9

“No one has any intention of building a wall” - Walter Ulbricht 15 Aug 1961

THE WORLD’S TOO SMALL FOR WALLS

10

The record of a telephone call between Nikita Khrushchev and Ulbricht on

1st August in the same year, suggests that it was Khrushchev from whom the

initiative for the construction of the wall came. However, other sources suggest

that Khrushchev had initially been wary about building a wall, fearing negative

Western reaction. What is beyond dispute, though, is that Ulbricht had pushed

for a border closure for quite some time, arguing that East Germany’s very

existence was at stake. Khrushchev had been emboldened by United States

President John F. Kennedy’s tacit indication that the us would not actively

oppose this action in the Soviet sector of Berlin. On Saturday, 12th August 1961,

the leaders of the ddr attended a garden party at a government guesthouse in

Döllnsee, in a wooded area to the north of East Berlin. There Ulbricht signed

the order to close the border and erect a wall.

At midnight, the police and units of the East German army began to close the

border and, by Sunday morning, 13th August, the border with West Berlin was

closed. East German troops and workers had begun to tear up streets running

alongside the border to make them impassable to most vehicles and to install

barbed wire entanglements and fences along the 156 kilometers (97 mi) around

the three western sectors, and the 43 kilometers (27 mi) that divided West and

East Berlin.

The barrier was built slightly inside East Berlin or East German territory to

ensure that it did not encroach on West Berlin at any point. Later, it was built

up into the Wall, the first concrete elements and large blocks being put in place

on 17th August. During the construction of the Wall, National People’s Army

(nva) and Combat Groups of the Working Class (kda) soldiers stood in front

of it with orders to shoot anyone who attempted to defect. Additionally, chain

fences, walls, minefields and other obstacles were installed along the length

of East Germany’s western border with West Germany. A huge no-man’s-land

was cleared to provide a clear line of fire at fleeing refugees.

With the closing of the East-West sector boundary in Berlin, the vast majority

of East Germans could no longer travel or emigrate to West Germany. Many

families were split, while East Berliners employed in the West were cut off

from their jobs. West Berlin became an isolated exclave in a hostile land.

West Berliners demonstrated against the wall, led by their Oberbürgermeister

(Mayor) Willy Brandt, who strongly criticized the United States for failing to

respond. Allied intelligence agencies had hypothesized about a wall to stop

the flood of refugees, but the main candidate for its location was around the

perimeter of the city. In 1961, Secretary of State Dean Rusk proclaimed, ‘The

Wall certainly ought not to be a permanent feature of the European landscape.

I see no reason why the Soviet Union should think it is—it is to their advantage

in any way to leave there that monument to Communist failure.’

In a speech on 26th July 1963, United States President John F. Kennedy had

acknowledged that the United States could only hope to defend West Berliners

and West Germans; to attempt to stand up for East Germans would result only

in an embarrassing downfall. Famously saying the phrase ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’:

THE RISE OF THE BERLIN WALL

John F. Kennedy Born: 29 May 1917Died: 22 Nov 1963

Role: 35th President of the United States of America

From: 20 Jan 1961To: 22 Nov 1963

Willy BrandtBorn: 18 Dec 1913Died: 8 Oct 1992

Role: Mayor of West Berlin - Chancellor of Germany

From: 1957To: 7 May 1974

11

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’ sic 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

12

Accordingly, the administration made polite protests at length via the usual

channels, but without fervour. The Wall violated postwar Potsdam Agreements,

which gave the United Kingdom, France and the United States a say over the

administration of the whole of Berlin. A few months after the barbed wire was

erected, the us government informed the Soviet government that it accepted

the Wall as ‘a fact of international life’ and would not challenge it by force.

United States and British sources had expected the Soviet sector to be sealed

off from West Berlin, but were surprised by how long the East Germans took for

such a move. They considered the wall as an end to concerns about a Soviet

retaking or capture of the whole of Berlin; the wall would presumably have

been an unnecessary project if such plans were afloat. Thus they concluded

that the possibility of a Soviet military conflict over Berlin decreased.

The East German government claimed that the Wall was an ‘antifaschisticher

Schutzwall’ (anti-fascist protective rampart) intended to dissuade aggression

from the West. Another official justification was the activities of western agents

in Eastern Europe. The Eastern German government also claimed that West

Berliners were buying out state-subsidized goods in East Berlin. East Germans

and others greeted such statements with skepticism, as most of the time, the

border was only closed for citizens of East Germany traveling to the West, but

not for residents of West Berlin travelling to the East. The construction of the

Wall had caused considerable hardship to families divided by it. Most people

believed that the Wall was mainly a means of preventing the citizens of East

Germany from entering or fleeing to West Berlin.

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!’

13

ACHTUNGYOU ARE NOW ENTERING THE

AMERICAN SECTOR

Under orders from Erich Honecker construction of the wall begins - 13th August 1961

14

BUILDING A WALL

The Berlin Wall was more than 140 kilometres (87 mi) long. In June 1962,

a second, parallel fence some 100 metres (110 yd) farther into East German

territory was built. The houses contained between the fences were razed and

the inhabitants relocated, thus establishing what later became known as the

Death Strip. The Death Strip was covered with raked sand or gravel, rendering

footprints easy to notice, easing the detection of trespassers and also enabling

officers to see which guards had neglected their task; it offered no cover; and

most importantly, it offered clear fields of fire for the wall guards. Through the

years, the Berlin Wall evolved through four versions:

The ‘fourth–generation wall’, known officially as ‘Stützwandelement ul 12.11’

(retaining wall element ul 12.11), was the final and most sophisticated version

of the Wall. Begun in 1975 and completed about 1980, it was constructed from

45,000 separate sections of reinforced concrete, each 3.6 metres (12 ft) high

and 1.2 metres (3.9 ft) wide, and cost ddm 16,155,000 or about US$3,638,000.

The concrete provisions added to this version of the Wall were done so to

prevent escapees from driving their cars through the barricades. At strategic

points the wall was constructed to a somewhat weaker standard so that East

German and Soviet armored vehicles could break through easily in the event

of war.

The top of the wall was lined with a smooth pipe, intended to make it more

difficult to scale. It was reinforced by mesh fencing, signal fencing, anti-vehicle

trenches, barbed wire, dogs on long lines, ‘beds of nails’ under balconies

hanging over the ‘death strip’, over 116 watchtowers, and 20 bunkers. This

version of the Wall is the one most commonly seen in photographs, and

surviving fragments of the Wall in Berlin and elsewhere around the world are

generally pieces of the fourth-generation Wall.

There were nine border crossings between East and West Berlin, which

allowed visits by West Berliners, West Germans, Western foreigners and Allied

personnel into East Berlin, as well as visits by ddr citizens and citizens of other

socialist countries into West Berlin, provided that they held the necessary

permits. Those crossings were restricted according to which nationality was

allowed to use it (East Germans, West Germans, West Berliners, other countries).

The most famous was the vehicle and pedestrian checkpoint at the corner of

Friedrichstraße and Zimmerstraße, also known as Checkpoint Charlie, which

was restricted to Allied personnel and foreigners.

Several other border crossings existed between West Berlin and surrounding

East Germany. These could be used for transit between West Germany and West

Berlin, for visits by West Berliners into East Germany, for transit into countries

1. Wire Fence [1961]

2. Improved Wire Fence [1962-1965]

3. Concrete Wall [1965-1975]

4. Grenzmauer 75 ‘Border Wall 75’ [1975-1989]

15

neighbouring East Germany (Poland, Czechoslovakia, Denmark), and for visits

by East Germans into West Berlin carrying a permit. After the 1972 agreements,

new crossings were opened to allow West Berlin waste to be transported into East

German dumps, as well as some crossings for access to West Berlin’s exclaves.

Four autobahns connected West Berlin to West Germany, the most famous

being the Berlin-Helmstedt autobahn, which entered East German territory

between the towns of Helmstedt and Marienborn (Checkpoint Alpha), and

which entered West Berlin at Dreilinden (Checkpoint Bravo for the Allied forces)

in southwestern Berlin. Access to West Berlin was also possible by railway (four

routes) and by boat for commercial shipping via canals and rivers.

Non-German Westerners could cross the border at Friedrichstraße station

in East Berlin and at Checkpoint Charlie. When the Wall was erected, Berlin’s

complex public transit networks, the S-Bahn and U-Bahn, were divided with it.

Some lines were cut in half; many stations were shut down. Three western lines

traveled through brief sections of East Berlin territory, passing through eastern

stations (called Geisterbahnhöfe, or ghost stations) without stopping. Both the

eastern and western networks converged at Friedrichstraße, which became a

major crossing point for those (mostly Westerners) with permission to cross.

West Germans and citizens of other Western countries could in general visit

East Germany. Usually this involved application of a visa at an East German

embassy several weeks in advance. Visas for day trips restricted to East Berlin

were issued without previous application in a simplified procedure at the

border crossing. However, East German authorities could refuse entry permits

without stating a reason. In the 1980s, visitors from the western part of the city

who wanted to visit the eastern part had to exchange at least dm 25 into East

German currency at the poor exchange rate of 1:1. It was forbidden to export

East German currency from the East, but money not spent could be left at the

border for possible future visits. Tourists crossing from the west had to also pay

for a visa, which cost dm 5; West Berliners did not have to pay this.

West Berliners initially could not visit East Berlin or East Germany at all.

All crossing points were closed to them between 26th August 1961 and 17th

December 1963. In 1963, negotiations between East and West resulted

in a limited possibility for visits during the Christmas season that year

(Passierscheinregelung). Similar, very limited arrangements were made in

1964, 1965 and 1966.

In 1971, with the Four Power Agreement on Berlin, agreements were reached

that allowed West Berliners to apply for visas to enter East Berlin and East

Germany regularly, comparable to the regulations already in force for West

Germans. However, East German authorities could still refuse entry permits.

Each visit had to be applied for individually and approval was never

guaranteed. In addition, even if travel was approved, ddr travellers could

exchange only a very small amount of East German Marks into Deutsche Marks

(dm), thus limiting the financial resources available for them to travel to the

West. This led to the West German practice of granting a small amount of dm

16

17

annually (Begrüßungsgeld, or welcome money) to ddr citizens visiting West

Germany and West Berlin to help alleviate this situation.

Allied military personnel and civilian officials of the Allied forces could enter

and exit East Berlin without submitting to East German passport controls,

purchasing a visa or being required to exchange money. Likewise, Soviet

military patrols could enter and exit West Berlin. This was a requirement of the

post-war Four Powers Agreements. A particular area of concern for the Western

Allies involved official dealings with East German authorities when crossing

the border, since Allied policy did not recognize the authority of the ddr to

regulate Allied military traffic to and from West Berlin, as well as the Allied

presence within Greater Berlin, including entry into, exit from, and presence

within East Berlin; the Allies held that only the Soviet Union, and not the ddr,

had authority to regulate Allied personnel in such cases. For this reason,

elaborate procedures were established to prevent inadvertent recognition of

East German authority when engaged in travel through the ddr and when in

East Berlin. Special rules applied to travel by Western Allied military personnel

assigned to the Military Liaison Missions accredited to the commander of

Soviet forces in East Germany, located in Potsdam.

As with military personnel, special procedures applied to travel by diplomatic

personnel of the Western Allies accredited to their respective embassies in

the ddr. This was intended to prevent inadvertent recognition of East German

authority when crossing between East and West Berlin, which could jeopardize

the overall Allied position governing the freedom of movement by Allied forces

personnel within all Berlin.

Ordinary citizens of the Western Allied powers, not formally affiliated with

the Allied forces, were authorized to use all designated transit routes through

East Germany to and from West Berlin. Regarding travel to East Berlin, such

persons could also use the Friedrichstraße train station to enter and exit the

city, in addition to Checkpoint Charlie. In these instances, such travelers, unlike

Allied personnel, had to submit to East German border controls.

“LEAD ME ON MY DREAMS AMONG A DIFFERENT TIME AND SPACE"To share hope with nations and

believers. To observe with modesty the pure truth. And to reveal prudently the magic and the mystery.

VARDER CARMELI

18

DEFECTION ATTEMPTS

During the years of the Wall, around 5,000 people successfully defected to

West Berlin. The number of people who died trying to cross the wall, or as a

result of the wall’s existence, has been disputed. The most vocal claims by

Alexandra Hildebrandt, Director of the Checkpoint Charlie Museum and widow

of the Museum’s founder, estimated the death toll to be well above 200. A

historic research group at the Center for Contemporary Historical Research

(zzf) in Potsdam has confirmed 136 deaths.

The East German government issued shooting orders (Schießbefehl) to

border guards dealing with defectors, though such orders are not the same

as ‘shoot to kill’ orders. Ddr officials denied issuing the latter. In an October

1973 order later discovered by researchers, guards were instructed that people

attempting to cross the wall were criminals and needed to be shot: ‘Do not

hesitate to use your firearm, not even when the border is breached in the

company of women and children, which is a tactic the traitors have often used.’

Early successful escapes involved people jumping the initial barbed wire or

leaping out of apartment windows along the line, but these ended as the wall

was fortified. East German authorities no longer permitted apartments near the

wall to be occupied, and any building near the wall had its windows boarded

and later bricked up. On 15th August 1961, Conrad Schumann was the first East

German border guard to escape by jumping the barbed wire to West Berlin. On

22nd August 1961 Ida Siekmann was the first casualty at the Berlin Wall: she

died after she jumped out of her third floor apartment at 48 Bernauer Strasse.

The first person to be shot and killed while trying to cross to West Berlin was

Günter Litfin, a twenty-four year old tailor. He attempted to swim across the

Spree Canal to freedom in West Germany on 24 August 1961, the same day that

East German police had received shoot-to-kill orders to prevent escapes.

Another dramatic escape was carried out in April 1963 by Wolfgang Engels,

a 19-year-old civilian employee of the Nationale Volksarmee. Engels stole

a Soviet armored personnel carrier from a base where he was deployed and

drove it right into the wall. He was fired at and seriously wounded by border

guards. But a West German policeman intervened, firing his weapon at the East

German border guards. The policeman removed Engels from the vehicle, which

had become entangled in the barbed wire.

East Germans successfully defected by a variety of methods: digging long

tunnels under the wall, waiting for favorable winds and taking a hot air balloon,

sliding along aerial wires, flying ultralights, and in one instance, simply driving

a sports car at full speed through the basic, initial fortifications. When a metal

beam was placed at checkpoints to prevent this kind of defection, up to four

people (two in the front seats and possibly two in the boot) drove under the

bar in a sports car that had been modified to allow the roof and windscreen

to come away when it made contact with the beam. They lay flat and kept

driving forward. The East Germans then built zig-zagging roads at checkpoints.

The sewer system predated the wall, and some people escaped through the

sewers, in a number of cases with assistance from the Girmann student group.

Ida SiekmannBorn: 23 Aug 1902Died: 22 Aug 1961

First to defy the Berlin Wall - Vailiantly leapt from her third floor apartment window in a bid for freedom.

Günter LitfinBorn: 19 Jan 1937Died: 24 Aug 1961

In his bid for freedom Litfin was shot and mortally wounded by the transportation police.

Photo Missing

19

An airborne escape was made by Thomas Krüger, who landed a Zlin z 42m

light aircraft of the Gesellschaft für Sport und Technik, an East German youth

military training organization, at raf Gatow. His aircraft, registration ddr-woh,

was dismantled and returned to the East Germans by road, complete with

humorous slogans painted on by raf airmen such as ‘Wish you were here’ and

‘Come back soon’, ddr-woh is still flying today, under the registration d-ewoh.

If an escapee was wounded in a crossing attempt and lay on the death

strip, no matter how close they were to the Western wall, Westerners could not

intervene for fear of triggering engaging fire from the ‘Grepos’, the East Berlin

border guards. The guards often let fugitives bleed to death in the middle of

this ground, as in the most notorious failed attempt, that of Peter Fechter (aged

18). He was shot and bled to death, in full view of the Western media, on 17th

August 1962. Fechter’s death created negative publicity worldwide that led the

leaders of East Berlin to place more restrictions on shooting in public places,

and provide medical care for possible ‘would-be escapers’. The last person to

be shot and killed while trying to cross the border was Chris Gueffroy on 6th

February 1989.

The Wall gave rise to a widespread sense of desperation and oppression in

East Berlin, as expressed in the private thoughts of one resident, who confided

to her diary ‘Our lives have lost their spirit… we can do nothing to stop them.’

20

21

“OUR LIVES HAVE LOST THEIR SPIRIT”

Finally in December 1972 relations between East and West Germany were

normalized and both German states joined the United Nations. The ddr

attained at long last full international recognition.

LIVING IN THE WALL’S SHADOW

Dialogue across the ‘chasm’ – West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt

and Party Head Erich Honecker, at the Summit Conference for Security and

Collaboration in Europe, Helsinki 1975. Forget the fancy conference title –

Honecker’s just happy to be recognized! Yet in a sense this was for the ddr

a bitter victory. There was much opposition in the west for the international

recognition of a nation so oppressive, so anti religion, permitting so little

freedom of thought, expression and opinion. The ‘free’ European press kept

up the pressure, which only heightened popular opposition within the ddr.

Honecker’s problems were only worsened by the increasing unrest in

neighbouring Poland where the new Trade Union ‘Solidarity’ was taking root.

Honecker feared with his colleagues that the ‘Polish Virus’ would spread to

his own country. In fact a new underground movement was indeed developing

in the ddr forming unions between individual freedom, environmental, and

human rights groups, which the regime could do little or nothing to break.

The main problem however, gradually worsening during the 80s, was a

rapidly decreasing industrial productivity coupled with a total lack of foreign

currency with which to update machinery and equipment. The textile industry

was still labouring with pre-war machines; the once-proud legacy of historic

buildings was in ruins, even new apartment blocks lacked the funds for

necessary maintenance and cleaning. Consumer goods became scarce, and

the socialist Welfare State of health, rent, transport and arts subsidies could

only be maintained through a heavy and increasing budget deficit. While the

outer facade of confidence was maintained together with the Stasi spying and

oppression apparatus, Honecker retired into his own socialist dream world,

appearing less and less in public.

22

No ordinary West German would ever dare go over to the East for fear of never

returning. Most of those in the West who had relatives in the East would not visit

them, for they had fled without permission and were therefore considered in

the East as wanted criminals. And when the few West German dignitaries went

over on State visits, of course they only saw the best the Socialist State could

provide. As for foreign tourists, they were few indeed – hardly surprising given

the clear lack of enthusiasm shown by the East German State Tourist Offices in

the West.

Traveling through any of the Eastern Socialist countries during the 1970s

and 80s could be a nail- bighting adventure. Hungary was the most liberal

and prosperous of the satellite States – though Bulgaria was quietly and fairly

comfortably surviving on its agricultural base. Czechoslovakia was clearly

falling behind economically even in the western, Czech area, while Slovakia

had largely become a holiday destination for favoured Socialist workers from

East Germany and the ussr. The Hotel Partizan at Tale in the Slovak Carpathian

Mountains was popular with East German workers on vacation, mostly walkers

and hikers, dressed in knee length hiking breeches with long red stockings. At

breakfast the waiters would bring out trays of brown paper packages from the

kitchen containing packed lunches.

An extract from a diary of a tourist from 1985 paints a clear picture:

We drove across West Germany, enjoying as always its orderliness and

comfortable – bordering on conspicuous – prosperity, its beautifully restored

and maintained historic buildings, cathedrals and churches, its paved

pedestrianised town centres served by clean modern tramcars, its low- key

town bypass roads carefully integrated into the landscape, and its scenic

orderly countryside of woods, hills and immaculate farms. Our last port of call

in the West was Kassel, a fine city with a neatly pedestrianised town center.

When we presented ourselves at the western side of one of the few

permitted border crossings, the West German border guard was quite amazed

that anyone from the West would willingly go over to the East – and for

tourism? He wished us ‘safe journey’ in a tone which seemed to say ‘watch

your step and come back alive!’ We left the informal West German border post

and drove through a no-man’s land, through the Iron-Curtain of barbed wire

and forbidding watch-towers to the Eastern side where we and our vehicle

were thoroughly and suspiciously scrutinized by grim border guards.

As we drove the short distance towards Eisenach in East Germany our

hearts began to sink as the dismal socialist scene gradually unfolded

before us. The main road leading into the town was of prewar cobbles, full

of potholes, the road edges overgrown and untidy, with rusted and leaning

street lights many with their light fittings missing. Eisenach itself presented

a scene straight from the aftermath of World War II. The buildings were

crumbling, the dusty, dirty and long- unpainted facades almost obscured

by a thick pall of sulphurous coal-smoke, and the blue fumes from the two-

Helmut SchmidtBorn: 23 Dec 1918 [aged 93]

Role: Chancellor of Germany

From: 16 May 1974To: 1 Oct 1982

23

stroke cars which, incidentally were only for model workers after a wait of up

to 21 years. The yellow coal smoke, we later learned, was produced by the

ubiquitous yellow-dust coal briquettes, which seemed to be the only form of

domestic heating fuel. It came from enormous opencast mines, which in their

relentless expansion had consumed whole villages.

All the buildings were dirty and grimy, the streets and pavements in

disrepair, the few shops dowdy, and small crowds of people seemed to be

standing around on street corners as if with nothing to do. In the back streets

whole blocks of houses were simply falling down, some boarded up, some

lying as piles of rubble which nature was already camouflaging with grass and

small bushes. To call our reaction ‘a culture shock’ after West Germany would

be a totally inadequate description, despite our familiarity with other East

European countries.

The more we traveled through East Germany, the more evidence we saw

of a country close to economic breakdown. The roads were all full of holes

– though there was little traffic even on main roads, for private motorists

could not travel outside their towns without a permit. The air was polluted

everywhere, even in the forest where we had thought we might enjoy brief

refreshment with nature. The few relatively modern industries belched

out clouds of polluted gases while the many older factories seemed to be

surviving in partly ruined premises. Urban streets were everywhere in decay

and not a touch of paint had been put on the former private houses, each now

assigned to several families, since before the War.

Wittenberg was a town we hadn’t planned to visit – the almighty State Tour

Planners had directed us there. But it was, we were to discover, the home of

Martin Luther, so at least we were able to learn more about him and to see the

famous church door on which he had nailed his 95 Theses, which sparked the

Reformation. It was a sunny afternoon, so after a morning of Luther-study, we

walked the short distance out of town to the banks of the Elbe River – the great

artery that is to East Germany what the Rhine is to the West. We sat down at

the edge of a field a few yards from the river, looking across to the opposite

bank where there was a large and active Russian army barracks.

After a few moments we became aware of an overwhelmingly foul odour.

Surprised, we got up and looked closely at the river. The water was thick and

black, its surface solid with pollution of every kind imaginable, glistening

multicoloured globules of oily petroleum products, lumps of industrial waste,

yellowish foam, solid human effluent and domestic garbage. Following the

universal instructions on fireworks – we retired immediately! Simple fact:

environmental protection was a luxury East Germany could not afford, and

didn’t even care about.

24

As a result of massive unrest during the mid- and late-1970s, the regime

had embarked in the early 80s on a program of social spending ‘whatever the

cost’. But there was no productivity- gain to support it. On the contrary, East

German productivity lost ground rapidly, exports declined to a trickle, and

there was no capital or foreign exchange with which to purchase much-needed

new equipment.

It was also during this decade that East Germany’s relative economic

decline became physically apparent – to those who could see it. But the

country’s economic statistics were so cleverly manufactured and manipulated,

that the West believed the fiction of East Germany as a highly industrialized

and productive economy, placed between seventh and eighth in the world

prosperity league.

In Naumburg we particularly wanted to visit the Cathedral, which contained

a large historic organ, completed in 1747 by Zacharias Hildebrandt, and on its

completion it had been officially tested and certificated by none other than J.S.

Bach himself. The Cathedral was sound in structure, though somewhat bare

inside. An elderly lady was sitting at a table inside selling postcards and a

potted history leaflet. We told her of our interest in the organ and commented

briefly on the bare interior. She said (and this was in 1985) that a complete

refurbishment was in the State Plan for 1991. We said politely ‘that would

be nice’. She replied with some feeling that she hoped she wouldn’t be still

alive by then. There could hardly have been a more poignant comment on

how ordinary people saw their future under Moscow and Honecker’s Socialist

regime.

In this drab, postwar atmosphere only the Party bosses could obtain any of

the luxuries, which in the West were routine supermarket purchases. Special

little shops throughout East Germany, coyly named ‘Delikat’, or ‘Exquisite’,

displayed in their windows Palmolive soaps, Nescafé instant coffee, western

toothpaste and washing powders, and Swiss chocolate, all of which and much

more in similar vein was to be had only by the favoured few – and strictly in

exchange for West German Marks of course. For the ordinary people, there was

little to brighten up their drab lives; music was one of their few joys, and for

every musical event, long lineups would form several hours beforehand. From

time to time a rumour would rapidly ‘do the rounds’ and those ‘in the know’

would form a long line for no apparent reason on some street corer. A truck

would roll up, shoot a pile of cucumbers onto the pavement, the ladies would

bring out their string shopping bags, and within minutes the cucumbers and

the people were gone.

As we travelled around East Germany in 1985, we sensed the total

submission and defeat of the people, contrasting with the equally total

confidence of the System and its rulers. Red wall banners were to be seen

everywhere exhorting the populace – the same shade of red, the same

typeface, which we had seen in all the other socialist countries. Signboards

with the same slogan also abounded.

25

The slogan of the moment was ‘Hohe Leistungen zum Wohle des Volkes

und für den Frieden’ – ‘High achievements for the wellbeing of the people and

for Peace.’ Vorwärts zum XI Parteitag der sed! – Forward to the Eleventh Party

Congress of the German Socialist Unity Party. We could never have believed

then, in 1985, that just four years later the whole edifice would collapse, its

false front of self-confidence demasked, its lies laid open for the world to see.

Indeed, it would be at that very Eleventh Party Conference, scheduled for the

following year, 1986, that Gorbachev would preach Perestroika.

Ultimately it was simple economic reality, which proved to be the Socialist

State’s undoing. By the end of the 1980s East Germany was in a state of physical

collapse and financial bankruptcy. Mikhail Gorbachev was the first Russian

leader to distinguish fact from fiction, and to accept reality over ideology.

Soviet-style central planning was not working, the ussr was way behind the

West, and what was needed was a total rethink and reorganization, a concept

given the Russian title of Perestroika. With hindsight it can be seen that even

Gorbachev’s vision was severely blinkered. What he advocated was a change

in the system, a loosening of the rules, and more private enterprise within the

existing Socialist framework. Never once did he consider the possibility of the

ussr breaking up.

Nor did he even appear to consider that the European satellite countries

would want to break away. ‘More independence, but still within our Socialist

family’ was his vision, opening up to the West indeed, but not joining it and

abandoning Socialism and the Soviet Union, the mother country. As the

decade of the 80s drew to a close, Gorbachev toured the European Socialist

countries, often witnessing the new wave of uprisings in Poland, Hungary

and Czechoslovakia, preaching perestroika, inviting them to become more

independent, more liberal, assuring them that this time, Russian tanks would

not be rolling in.

Mikhail GorbachevBorn: 2 Mar 1931 [aged 81]

Role: General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and Head of State of the Soviet Union

From: 11 Mar 1985To: 25 Dec 1991

26

Gorbachev was a guest in East Berlin at the Eleventh Party Conference

in 1986, where he preached Glasnost and Perestroika to an apparently

enthusiastic reception. Party Secretary Erich Honecker appears jubilant as

he shook hands warmly with Gorbachev, but appearances can be deceptive.

In reality Honecker would continue adhering strictly to the old Party Lines.

Indeed in an unprecedented move of East-facing censorship, Honecker

actually banned the Soviet magazine Sputnik from East German bookstalls

in November 1988, and almost a year later his attitude had not changed.

Note however, on the extreme left in the picture, an enthusiastic Egon Krenz,

destined to take over from Honecker in Autumn 1989.

27

‘TEAR DOWN THIS WALL!'

In a speech at the Brandenburg Gate commemorating the 750th anniversary

of Berlin on 12th June 1987, Ronald Reagan challenged Mikhail Gorbachev, then

the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, to tear down

the wall as a symbol of increasing freedom in the Eastern Bloc:

Chancellor Kohl, Governing Mayor Diepgen, ladies and gentlemen: Twenty-

four years ago, President John F. Kennedy visited Berlin, speaking to the

people of this city and the world at the City Hall. Well, since then two other

presidents have come, each in his turn, to Berlin. And today I, myself, make my

second visit to your city.

We come to Berlin, we American presidents, because it’s our duty to speak,

in this place, of freedom. But I must confess, we’re drawn here by other things

as well: by the feeling of history in this city, more than 500 years older than

our own nation; by the beauty of the Grunewald and the Tiergarten; most of

all, by your courage and determination. Perhaps the composer Paul Lincke

understood something about American presidents. You see, like so many

presidents before me, I come here today because wherever I go, whatever I do:

Ich hab noch einen Koffer in Berlin. [I still have a suitcase in Berlin.]

Our gathering today is being broadcast throughout Western Europe and

North America. I understand that it is being seen and heard as well in the

East. To those listening throughout Eastern Europe, a special word: Although

I cannot be with you, I address my remarks to you just as surely as to those

standing here before me. For I join you, as I join your fellow countrymen in the

West, in this firm, this unalterable belief: Es gibt nur ein Berlin. [There is only

one Berlin.]

Behind me stands a wall that encircles the free sectors of this city, part of

a vast system of barriers that divides the entire continent of Europe. From

the Baltic, south, those barriers cut across Germany in a gash of barbed

wire, concrete, dog runs, and guard towers. Farther south, there may be no

visible, no obvious wall. But there remain armed guards and checkpoints

all the same--still a restriction on the right to travel, still an instrument to

impose upon ordinary men and women the will of a totalitarian state. Yet it

is here in Berlin where the wall emerges most clearly; here, cutting across

your city, where the news photo and the television screen have imprinted this

brutal division of a continent upon the mind of the world. Standing before the

Brandenburg Gate, every man is a German, separated from his fellow men.

Every man is a Berliner, forced to look upon a scar.

President von Weizsacker has said, ‘The German question is open as

long as the Brandenburg Gate is closed.’ Today I say: As long as the gate

is closed, as long as this scar of a wall is permitted to stand, it is not the

German question alone that remains open, but the question of freedom for all

mankind. Yet I do not come here to lament. For I find in Berlin a message of

hope, even in the shadow of this wall, a message of triumph.

In this season of spring in 1945, the people of Berlin emerged from their air-

28

raid shelters to find devastation. Thousands of miles away, the people of the

United States reached out to help. And in 1947 Secretary of State–as you’ve

been told–George Marshall announced the creation of what would become

known as the Marshall Plan. Speaking precisely 40 years ago this month, he

said: ‘Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine, but against

hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos.’

In the Reichstag a few moments ago, I saw a display commemorating this

40th anniversary of the Marshall Plan. I was struck by the sign on a burnt-out,

gutted structure that was being rebuilt. I understand that Berliners of my own

generation can remember seeing signs like it dotted throughout the western

sectors of the city. The sign read simply: ‘The Marshall Plan is helping here

to strengthen the free world.’ A strong, free world in the West, that dream

became real. Japan rose from ruin to become an economic giant. Italy, France,

Belgium–virtually every nation in Western Europe saw political and economic

rebirth; the European Community was founded.

In West Germany and here in Berlin, there took place an economic miracle,

the Wirtschaftswunder. Adenauer, Erhard, Reuter, and other leaders understood

the practical importance of liberty–that just as truth can flourish only when the

journalist is given freedom of speech, so prosperity can come about only when

the farmer and businessman enjoy economic freedom. The German leaders

reduced tariffs, expanded free trade, lowered taxes. From 1950 to 1960 alone,

the standard of living in West Germany and Berlin doubled.

Where four decades ago there was rubble, today in West Berlin there is

the greatest industrial output of any city in Germany–busy office blocks,

fine homes and apartments, proud avenues, and the spreading lawns of

parkland. Where a city’s culture seemed to have been destroyed, today there

are two great universities, orchestras and an opera, countless theaters, and

museums. Where there was want, today there’s abundance–food, clothing,

automobiles–the wonderful goods of the Ku’damm. From devastation, from

utter ruin, you Berliners have, in freedom, rebuilt a city that once again ranks

as one of the greatest on earth. The Soviets may have had other plans. But

my friends, there were a few things the Soviets didn’t count on–Berliner Herz,

Berliner Humor, ja, und Berliner Schnauze. [Berliner heart, Berliner humor,

yes, and a Berliner Schnauze.]

In the 1950s, Khrushchev predicted: ‘We will bury you.’ But in the West

today, we see a free world that has achieved a level of prosperity and well-

being unprecedented in all human history. In the Communist world, we see

failure, technological backwardness, declining standards of health, even want

of the most basic kind–too little food. Even today, the Soviet Union still cannot

feed itself. After these four decades, then, there stands before the entire world

one great and inescapable conclusion: Freedom leads to prosperity. Freedom

replaces the ancient hatreds among the nations with comity and peace.

Freedom is the victor.

29

Ronald Reagan Born: 6 Feb 1911Died: 5 Jun 2004

Role: 40th President of the United States of America

From: 20 Jan 1981To: 20 Jan 1989

And now the Soviets themselves may, in a limited way, be coming to

understand the importance of freedom. We hear much from Moscow about

a new policy of reform and openness. Some political prisoners have been

released. Certain foreign news broadcasts are no longer being jammed. Some

economic enterprises have been permitted to operate with greater freedom

from state control.

Are these the beginnings of profound changes in the Soviet state? Or are

they token gestures, intended to raise false hopes in the West, or to strengthen

the Soviet system without changing it? We welcome change and openness;

for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of

human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. There is one

sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance

dramatically the cause of freedom and peace.

General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for

the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to

this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

I understand the fear of war and the pain of division that afflict this

continent–and I pledge to you my country’s efforts to help overcome these

burdens. To be sure, we in the West must resist Soviet expansion. So we must

maintain defenses of unassailable strength. Yet we seek peace; so we must

strive to reduce arms on both sides.

Beginning 10 years ago, the Soviets challenged the Western alliance with

a grave new threat, hundreds of new and more deadly ss-20 nuclear missiles,

capable of striking every capital in Europe. The Western alliance responded

by committing itself to a counter-deployment unless the Soviets agreed to

negotiate a better solution; namely, the elimination of such weapons on both

sides. For many months, the Soviets refused to bargain in earnestness. As the

alliance, in turn, prepared to go forward with its counter-deployment, there

were difficult days–days of protests like those during my 1982 visit to this city-

-and the Soviets later walked away from the table.

But through it all, the alliance held firm. And I invite those who protested

then–I invite those who protest today–to mark this fact: Because we remained

strong, the Soviets came back to the table. And because we remained strong,

today we have within reach the possibility, not merely of limiting the growth of

arms, but of eliminating, for the first time, an entire class of nuclear weapons

from the face of the earth.

As I speak, nato ministers are meeting in Iceland to review the progress of

our proposals for eliminating these weapons. At the talks in Geneva, we have

also proposed deep cuts in strategic offensive weapons. And the Western

allies have likewise made far-reaching proposals to reduce the danger of

conventional war and to place a total ban on chemical weapons.

While we pursue these arms reductions, I pledge to you that we will

maintain the capacity to deter Soviet aggression at any level at which it

might occur. And in cooperation with many of our allies, the United States

30

is pursuing the Strategic Defense Initiative–research to base deterrence not

on the threat of offensive retaliation, but on defenses that truly defend; on

systems, in short, that will not target populations, but shield them. By these

means we seek to increase the safety of Europe and all the world. But we must

remember a crucial fact: East and West do not mistrust each other because we

are armed; we are armed because we mistrust each other. And our differences

are not about weapons but about liberty. When President Kennedy spoke at

the City Hall those 24 years ago, freedom was encircled, Berlin was under

siege. And today, despite all the pressures upon this city, Berlin stands secure

in its liberty. And freedom itself is transforming the globe.

In the Philippines, in South and Central America, democracy has been

given a rebirth. Throughout the Pacific, free markets are working miracle after

miracle of economic growth. In the industrialized nations, a technological

revolution is taking place–a revolution marked by rapid, dramatic advances in

computers and telecommunications.

In Europe, only one nation and those it controls refuse to join the

community of freedom. Yet in this age of redoubled economic growth, of

information and innovation, the Soviet Union faces a choice: It must make

fundamental changes, or it will become obsolete.

Today thus represents a moment of hope. We in the West stand ready to

cooperate with the East to promote true openness, to break down barriers that

separate people, to create a safe, freer world. And surely there is no better

place than Berlin, the meeting place of East and West, to make a start. Free

people of Berlin: Today, as in the past, the United States stands for the strict

observance and full implementation of all parts of the Four Power Agreement

of 1971. Let us use this occasion, the 750th anniversary of this city, to usher in

a new era, to seek a still fuller, richer life for the Berlin of the future. Together,

let us maintain and develop the ties between the Federal Republic and the

Western sectors of Berlin, which is permitted by the 1971 agreement.

And I invite Mr. Gorbachev: Let us work to bring the Eastern and Western

parts of the city closer together, so that all the inhabitants of all Berlin can

enjoy the benefits that come with life in one of the great cities of the world.

To open Berlin still further to all Europe, East and West, let us expand the

vital air access to this city, finding ways of making commercial air service to

Berlin more convenient, more comfortable, and more economical. We look

to the day when West Berlin can become one of the chief aviation hubs in all

central Europe.

With our French and British partners, the United States is prepared to help

bring international meetings to Berlin. It would be only fitting for Berlin to

serve as the site of United Nations meetings, or world conferences on human

rights and arms control or other issues that call for international cooperation.

There is no better way to establish hope for the future than to enlighten

young minds, and we would be honored to sponsor summer youth exchanges,

cultural events, and other programs for young Berliners from the East. Our

31

French and British friends, I’m certain, will do the same. And it’s my hope that

an authority can be found in East Berlin to sponsor visits from young people of

the Western sectors.

In these four decades, as I have said, you Berliners have built a great city.

You’ve done so in spite of threats–the Soviet attempts to impose the East-

mark, the blockade. Today the city thrives in spite of the challenges implicit in

the very presence of this wall. What keeps you here? Certainly there’s a great

deal to be said for your fortitude, for your defiant courage. But I believe there’s

something deeper, something that involves Berlin’s whole look and feel and

way of life–not mere sentiment. No one could live long in Berlin without being

completely disabused of illusions. Something instead, that has seen the

difficulties of life in Berlin but chose to accept them, that continues to build

this good and proud city in contrast to a surrounding totalitarian presence

that refuses to release human energies or aspirations. Something that speaks

with a powerful voice of affirmation, that says yes to this city, yes to the future,

yes to freedom. In a word, I would submit that what keeps you in Berlin is

love–love both profound and abiding.

Perhaps this gets to the root of the matter, to the most fundamental

distinction of all between East and West. The totalitarian world produces

backwardness because it does such violence to the spirit, thwarting the

human impulse to create, to enjoy, to worship. The totalitarian world finds

even symbols of love and of worship an affront. Years ago, before the East

Germans began rebuilding their churches, they erected a secular structure:

the television tower at Alexander Platz. Virtually ever since, the authorities

have been working to correct what they view as the tower’s one major flaw,

treating the glass sphere at the top with paints and chemicals of every kind.

Yet even today when the sun strikes that sphere–that sphere that towers over

all Berlin–the light makes the sign of the cross. There in Berlin, like the city

itself, symbols of love, symbols of worship, cannot be suppressed.

As I looked out a moment ago from the Reichstag, that embodiment of

German unity, I noticed words crudely spray-painted upon the wall, perhaps

by a young Berliner: ‘This wall will fall. Beliefs become reality.’ Yes, across

Europe, this wall will fall. For it cannot withstand faith; it cannot withstand

truth. The wall cannot withstand freedom.

And I would like, before I close, to say one word. I have read, and I

have been questioned since I’ve been here about certain demonstrations

against my coming. And I would like to say just one thing, and to those who

demonstrate so. I wonder if they have ever asked themselves that if they

should have the kind of government they apparently seek, no one would ever

be able to do what they’re doing again.

Thank you and God bless you all.

32

33

BELIEFS BECOMEREALITY

NVA Soldier Conrad Schumann defecting to West Berlin during the Wall’s early days in 1961

“LIFE PUNISHES THOSE WHO COME TOO LATE”

34

1989

Moving into 1989, Erich Honecker, quite oblivious to the rapid liberalization,

which was going on in the socialist world around him, pressed blindly ahead

with the great 40th Anniversary celebrations of the founding of the ddr on 7th

October 1989 with full military and ceremonial parades.

Gorbachev had visited East Germany for three days prior to this occasion.

As he left on 6th October from Schönefeld Airport, eye witnesses described

Honecker’s expression as ‘ghastly pale’, when Gorbachev told him, in a phrase

which was to re-echo throughout East Germany: ‘Wer zu spät kommt, den

bestraft das Leben’ – ‘Life punishes those who come too late.’

Honecker however, held firmly to the Socialist course, yielding not an inch

towards reform, liberalization, democracy, or the relaxation of the State’s

control. But events were to overtake, indeed overwhelm him, and 12 days later,

on 18th October the Party ‘released’ him from his duties, replacing him with his

heir-apparent, but more pragmatic Egon Krenz.

The regime’s aggressive 40th Anniversary celebrations, contrasted with

Gorbachev’s visit and his message of reform, provided a focal point for massive

demonstrations in major cities including East Berlin. In Leipzig more than

70,000 demonstrators thronged the streets; Leipzig particularly was to play a

major role in pressurizing for reform and liberalization.

Since May 1989 the Monday Prayers in Leipzig’s Nikolaikirche had been a

regular event, despite increasing police pressure in the form of roadblocks,

identity checks and general, often brutal harassment.

Meanwhile, events had been moving in other areas which would soon engulf

Honecker’s, or Krenz’s ddr. As a result of relaxation of borders in Hungary and

Czechoslovakia, East Germans began crossing the borders, seeking asylum in

the West German Embassies in Budapest and Prague. On 13th August 1989, the

West Germans were forced to close their embassy in Budapest as the grounds

were filled with 180 East German refugees.

The West German ‘Standing Representation’ in East Berlin likewise had to

close its doors after 130 asylum-seekers filled its grounds. On 18th August,

Rudolf Seiters representing the West German Chancellor was in East Berlin for

talks, which resulted in a grudging permission for the refugees to travel freely

to the West.

On 25th August Chancellor Helmut Kohl and Foreign Minister Hans-Dieter

Genscher met with Hungarian President Miklos Nemeth and Foreign Minister

Gyula Horn to discuss the refugee problem. Their meeting in Schloss Gymnich

near Bonn lasted four hours. A communiqué issued to the press appeared to

offer no firm conclusion. In fact during those four hours arrangements had been

concluded which would, in effect, result in the eventual downfall of the ddr.

On 10th September the Hungarian Foreign Minister announced in an evening

television broadcast the decision of his government to allow any and all East

Germans free travel to the West. At midnight Hungary opened its borders with

Austria. Hungary could hardly have done otherwise, for at that point in time

there were more than 6,000 ddr refugees in various temporary locations in

Helmut KohlBorn: 3 Apr 1930 [aged 81]

Role: Chancellor of Germany

From: 1 Oct 1982To: 27 Oct 1998

* From 1 October 1982 to 3 October 1990, Kohl was Chancellor of West Germany only. From 3 October 1990 to 27 October 1998, he was Chancellor for the reunified Germany.

Egon KrenzBorn: 19 Mar 1937 [age 74]

Role: General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany

From: 18 Oct 1989 To : 3 Dec 1989

35

Hungary waiting to go to the West. Hungarian President Nemeth simply declared

that his action was taken ‘on humanitarian grounds.’

In Warsaw and Prague the situation was similar. On September 30th

West German Foreign Minister Genscher and Chancellor’s Emissary Seiters

announced the news to refugees in Prague: ‘you can travel to the West.’ Special

sealed trains carried the refugees from Prague and Warsaw to Helmstedt and

Hof in the West. Two days later thousands more were to follow. By the end of

September more than 25,000 had left East Germany in a mass flight, which

clearly seemed unstoppable.

By October 1989 events were coming together. As Gorbachev was making

his three-day visit with Honecker, thousands were fleeing in special sealed

trains, demonstrations were increasing in major towns and cities throughout

East Germany, and Honecker was insisting in celebrating forty years of Socialist

achievement in the ddr with full military parades. Honecker was living in

another world. He had to go.

Following Honecker’s replacement by the Party on 18th October, his

successor, Egon Krenz, proclaimed on East German television ‘the rebuilding

of socialism in the Democratic Republic remains our goal, one that we can,

and will fulfill by ourselves without any outside help.’ However, nine days

later on 27th October Krenz received a ‘secret report’, the Geheimpapier,

prepared by the Senior Department of the Stasi, Department hv iii, Sicherung

der Volkswirtschaft – Security of the People’s Economy. It described in full

and uncensored detail the true and disastrous condition of the nation’s

infrastructure, economy and finances.

On 1st November Krenz went to Moscow and laid the cards on the table.

Without several billions of credit from the West, the East German economic

situation could no longer be concealed. A reduction of East Germany’s (already

low) living standards by 30% would be needed and was politically unthinkable.

Growth was negative, the current Five-Year Plan unobtainable. Massive

uncontrollable demonstrations continued with waves of refugees fleeing.

The Central Committee, the Interior Ministry and the Stasi hurriedly put

together a face-saving package detailing orderly, controlled conditions on

which citizens could travel outside the ddr. But that was not how it happened in

practice, for the announcement was left in the hands of Minister of Propaganda

Gunter Schabowski who had just returned from vacation and was unaware of

the extent of the demonstrations and the refugee situation.

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37

“HE WHO WANTS THE WORLD TO REMAIN AS IT IS…

38

…DOESN'T WANT IT TO REMAIN AT ALL"

39