The
Berlin Wall
(Berlin Wall in 1986)
The
Berlin Wall (German: Berliner Mauer and Russian: Берлинская стена) was created
65 years ago today (August 13, 1961.)
After
the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945 Germany was split into 4 Occupation Zones: the
British, the French, the American and the Soviet.
Berlin,
laying 100 miles inside the Soviet Occupation Zone, was also split between the
British, the French, the Americans and the Soviets.
(East Berlin and West Berlin and East Germany and West Germany)
In
1948 the British, the French and the American Occupation Zones of Germany became
the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland) also called
West Germany (German: West Deutschland.)
In
1948 the British, the French and the American of Berlin became West Berlin
(German: West Berlin.)
In
1949 the Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany became the German Democratic Republic
(German: Deutsche Demokratische Republik) also called East Germany (German: Ost
Deutschland.)
In
1949 the Soviet Occupation Zone of Berlin became East Berlin (German: Ost
Berlin.)
In
1949 the Inner-German Border (German: innerdeutsche Grenze) separating West
Germany with East Germany was closed.
858
Miles of Border Fortifications were built by the East German and Soviet
Communists to stop East Germans from fleeing to the West and Freedom.
The
Inner-German Border was a continuous line of high metal fences and walls,
barbed wire, alarms, anti-vehicle ditches, watchtowers, automatic booby traps
and minefields.
The
Communists moved People away from the Border Zone and even destroyed whole
Villages to make a Buffer Zone (it was 6% of East Germany’s total area.)
50,000
East German Border Guards along with hundreds of Soviet Troops guarded the
Inner-German Border and had orders to shoot and kill any person fleeing East
Germany (German: Republikflucht or Republic Flight.)
20,000
West German Border Guards and hundreds of British and American Troops guarded
the Inner-German Border to make sure the East Germans and the Soviets didn’t
try to invade.
40,000
Men, Women and Children successfully fled East Germany into West Germany
through the Inner-German Border from 1949-1989.
371
Men and Women were murdered by the Communists trying to flee East Germany into
West Germany through the Inner-German Border from 1949-1989.
Thousands
more were arrested and imprisoned by the Communists.
From
1949-1961 Berlin was a Loop-Hole between Communism/Dictatorship and Capitalism/Freedom.
East
Germans could go to East Berlin and then just walk across into West Berlin.
3.5
Million East Germans did just that from 1945-1961.
From
August 1-11, 1961 16,000 East Germans fled into West Berlin.
On
August 12, 1961 2,400 East Germans fled into West Berlin.
These
Men, Women and Children were: Doctors, Teachers, Engineers, etc. and caused a
major Brain Drain and costing East Germany $9 Billion US Dollars.
(Building the Berlin Wall in 1961)
On
August 13, 1961 the East German and Soviet Communists decided to close the
Berlin Loop-Hole and built the Berlin Wall.
Without
any warning and done overnight on a Sunday the Communists closed the Border
between East Berlin and West Berlin.
The
initial Barbed Wire Barrier was built up into the Wall proper, the first
concrete elements and large blocks being put in place on August 17, 1961.
Immediate
effects of the Wall included the separation of Families (some never seeing
their Relatives ever again) and the loss of jobs by East Berliners who worked
in West Berlin.
While
publicly the British, the French and the Americans acted surprised by the building
of the Berlin Wall in private they were glad that there would no longer be any
more Military Confrontations with the Soviets.
US
President John F. Kennedy replied: "A wall is damn better than a War."
British
Prime Minister Harold Macmillian said: "The East Germans are holding up
the flow of refugees and entrenching themselves behind an even tighter Iron
Curtain. There is nothing illegal about this in itself."
On
August 19, 1961, the Kennedy sent1,500 American Troops from the 8th
US Infantry Division in Mannheim through the Transit Route in East Germany and
to West Berlin to show America’s commitment to protect the West Berliners (but
not to help the East Berliners.)
The
Communists officially called the Berlin Wall the Anti-Fascist Protection
Rampart (German: Antifaschistischer Schutzwall.)
The
Berlin Wall was 96 miles long and included guard towers placed along large
concrete walls, accompanied by a wide area (later known as the "Death Strip")
that contained anti-vehicle trenches, beds of nails and other defenses.
From
1961-1989 100,000 Men, Women and Children tried to flee over, through or under
the Berlin Wall.
5,000
succeeded in fleeing to West Berlin.
239
were murdered by the Communists while trying to flee.
Ida
Siekmann, 58 was the first person who died trying to flee her apartment in East
Berlin on August 22, 1961 when she
jumped out of her window and died on the way to the Hospital in West Berlin.
(Peter Fechter)
On
August 17, 1962 Peter Fechter, 18, was shot by the East German Border Guards
while trying to flee into West Berlin.
His
murder was witnessed by hundreds of West Berliners who saw him shot, fall back
to the East German Death Strip where he cried out for help for an hour before
he bled to death.
Winfried
Freudenberg, 32, was the last person who died while trying to fly a Hot Air
Balloon over the Berlin Wall on March 8, 1989.
94,761
People were arrested by the Communists and sent to Prison for trying to flee.
(Checkpoints between East Berlin and West Berlin)
From
1961 until 1964 no West German or West Berliner was allowed to visit East
Germany or East Berlin.
From
1961 until 1964 no East German or East Berliner was allowed to leave East
Berling or East Germany to go to West Berlin or West Germany.
In
November 1964 the East German Government allowed East German Pensioners to
visit West Berlin and West Germany.
Starting
in 1972 the East German Government officially allowed the rest of the East
Germans to apply for permission to leave East Germany to visit West Berlin and
West Germany.
Very
few East Germans were given official permission to travel to West Berlin and
West Germany from 1972-1989.
Those
who were allowed were Members of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (German: Sozialistische
Einheitspartei Deutschlands) the Communist Party that ran East Germany and they
had to have an Immediate Member of their Family stay behind as a Hostage.
An
average of 100,000 applications to temporary leave East Germany to visit West
Berlin and West Germany were submitted every year from 1972-1989 with 1% of the
applications being approved by the Communists.
Those
East Germans who were allowed by the East German Government to visit West
Germany or West Berlin could not bring out any Non-East German Marks so the
West German Government created the Begrüßungsgeld (Welcome Money) Program in which from 1970 until December 1989.
Initially
every East German was given 30 West German Marks twice a year.
In
1988 it was changed to 100 West German Marks a year.
From
1970-1988 260 Million West German Marks were paid to visiting East Germans.
From
November to December 1989 4 Billion West German Marks were paid to visiting
East Germans.
West
Germans entering East Germany had to exchange a Minimum of 25 West German Marks
into the worthless East German Marks per day they stayed.
They
weren’t allowed to exchange the East German Marks back into West German Marks
when they left East Germany.
There
were 9 Border Crossings between East and West Berlin.
These
allowed visits by West Berliners, other West Germans, Western Foreigners and
Allied Personnel into East Berlin, as well as visits by East German Citizens
and Citizens of other Communist Countries into West Berlin, provided that they
held the necessary permits.
(Checkpoint Charlie in 1963)
The
most famous was Checkpoint Charlie), which was restricted to Allied Personnel
and Foreigners.
Another
way to officially leave East Germany was to be “bought” by the West German
Government.
This
was called the Freikauf (literally the Buying of Freedom.)
Between
1964 and 1989, 33,755 East German Political Prisoners were ransomed.
A further 2,087 East German Prisoners were
released to the West under an amnesty in 1972.
Another
215,000 East Germans including 2,000 Children cut off from their Parents, were
allowed to leave East Germany to rejoin their Families.
In exchange, West Germany paid over 3.4 Billion
DM – nearly $2.3 billion at 1990 prices – in goods and Hard Currency to the
broke East German Communist Government.
West
Germany paid 1,875 DM for an East German Worker and 11,250 DM for an East German Doctor.
(November 1989)
On
November 9, 1989 an unplanned announcement at an East Berlin Conference live on
East German Television said that East Germans could immediately travel freely
into West Berlin with no restrictions.
Thousands
of East Berliners went to the Border Checkpoints where the East German Border
Guards had not received any orders (except to shot to kill.)
Eventually,
the East German Border Guards opened the Borders and the East Berliners fled
into West Berlin.
East
Germans started going into West Germany through the Inner-German Border in
November 1989 too.
1
Million East Germans went into West Berlin or West Germany in the first few
days after November 9, 1989
On
December 24, 1989 West Berliners and West Germans were officially allowed, by
the East German Government, to visit East Germany without needing a Visa first.
On
July 1, 1990 East Germany officially stopped using the East German Mark and
started using the West German Mark.
(Memorial of where the Berlin Wall used to be)
All
Border Controls between East Berlin and West Berlin and East Germany and West
Germany ended that day too.
East
Berlin and East Germany ceased to exist on October 3, 1990 when they became part
of West Germany (the Federal Republic of Germany.)
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