Germans Mark Anniversary of Berlin Wall
East Germany noted the 26th anniversary of the Berlin Wall today by claiming it has effectively foiled Western plans to use West Berlin as a base for an attack on the Soviet bloc.
In West Berlin, wreaths were laid at the wall to commemorate the 188 people killed fleeing in the last 26 years. Seventy-seven died at the Berlin Wall and 111 others along the East-West German border.
Neues Deutschland, the official newspaper of the East German Communist Party, said in an editorial that the Warsaw Pact nations began building security structures Aug. 13, 1961, to halt subversive activity on the West Berlin border.
The editorial did not mention by name the wall that halted the exodus of refugees to the enclave of West Berlin, 110 miles inside East Germany.
Instead, the editorial referred to “bringing the open border under control” and “introducing a reliable guard and effective controls around the whole area of West Berlin.”
The newspaper said Aug. 13, 1961, is historic because it was then made clear to people in West Germany that the West German army could not reunify the country by marching into East Berlin through the Brandenburg Gate.
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