Berlin Wall: Great Divide of East, West

Until the morning of Aug. 13, 1961, a growing number of East Germans crossed unhindered into West Berlin. Many came just for a day to work or shop in the West and then returned home. But many more came to stay in West Berlin or go on to West Germany, 110 miles away.

As the exodus grew, the East German regime instituted a series of measures designed to slow the flow of people to the West. They didn’t work. In desperation, the East German regime ordered its security chief, Erich Honecker, to seal the border between East and West Berlin, and on that fateful August morning, the regime’s hated Vopos--people’s police--unfurled concertinas of barbed wire along the line.

Stonemasons quickly followed and began building a barrier of cement blocks that became the most dramatic symbol of the division between the Communist East and the democracies of the West--the Berlin Wall.

The East Germans called it an anti-fascist barrier designed to block those in the West from crossing into East Berlin to subvert the Communist regime.

At the same time, the East Germans began sealing its border with West Germany, mainly with a fence that contained razor-sharp wire mesh designed to cut the hands of anyone trying to climb over it. For a time, self-firing devices were placed along the fence that would trigger blasts of shrapnel if the fence were disturbed.

The erection of the Berlin Wall was a clear violation of post-World War II agreements calling for an undivided Berlin with free access to all its parts. Many Berliners demanded that the Western Allies--the United States, Britain and France--crank up their tanks and knock down the wall. But other than issue protests, the Allies did nothing to prevent its construction.

In the months and years that followed, the wall became an evermore formidable barrier. For 26 miles, it rises to a height of 12 to 15 feet as it zigzags through the heart of the city. Parts of it contain a secondary wall. Other barriers enclose the remainder of West Berlin for another 84 miles.

On the East Berlin side, steel tank traps line the wall. There are ditches and other barriers designed to prevent vehicles from crashing through. Ribbons of sand lie between the barriers to reveal any telltale footprints for anyone attempting to vault over the wall. Guard towers line the barrier, and guards with dogs patrol the perimeter.

Despite the obstacles, East Germans have attempted to flee. Some succeeded by tunneling under the wall or being smuggled past border guards in cars and trucks. Until earlier this year, guards had orders to shoot any would-be escapees, and more than 70 people were killed trying to flee to the West through Berlin.

Honecker--who went on to become the leader of East Germany until he was forced from office recently by the swelling demand for reform--once said: “The wall will remain as long as the conditions that led to its construction endure.”

Those conditions are now rapidly changing.