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No, I'm not talking about the Game of Thrones wall, or that silly wall that Trump wants to build. I am talking about that horrible Berlin wall. I just saw a long documentary.
It started after WW2, with a defeated nazi-Germany. Terrific to have the WW2 war ending and all, but the aftermath was pretty bad also.
When reading this: Imagine if this wall was put up in your city, where you have family and friends.
USA & Russia were battling it out (The Cold War) and pretty much split Germany between them. West Germany (USA) and East Germany (Soviet). Berlin was split. Families were suddenly separated. From the wall was decided on until it was built didn't take long. Days, really. The family members living in the east part of Berlin were separated from the family members living in the west part of Berlin.
Soviet & East Germany were ruthless. No one was allowed to pass the wall. Each unsuccessful attempt to flee was punished. They were ordered to shoot & kill. But the people in the east were desperate, so they tried and tried to come up with new ways to flee.
East Germany upped their attempts to stop the people from escaping. The wall was built higher.
Just look at how much you had to pass to be able to escape:
Around 1300 people were killed trying to escape the East side. The more people that tried to flee, the tougher the controls became and Stasi (the police) were everywhere. Still, the poor people who were unfortunate to get stuck on the east side were desperate to escape.
Some people secretly dug tunnels
Some people secretly built hot-air balloons
Some people on the west side flew over to the east with tiny disguised airplanes to collect family members
Some people windsurfed from East Germany to Denmark
Some people ran/climbed through all obstacles in the picture above
West Berlin; a little spot right in the middle of East Germany. Boarders all around West Berlin, but this little spot on the map was the only place of freedom within the East Germany outer boarders.
Absolutely no one believed they'd live to see the wall come down. The prisons were filled with people who were publically against East Germany. And while some had accepted and even come to like East Germany, they were in the minority.
However, East Germany had become quite poor. The annual costs of the wall were enormous. They were now forced to sell prisoners to West Germany. They didn't sell just anyone, they were strict in choosing out who were up for sale.
Then along comes Mikail Gorbachev, the new President of the Soviet Union. And suddenly everything changed. He would not provide East Germany with help. He didn't want war. Now East Germany had no choice but to give up and agree to tear down the wall.
28 years of separation was finally over.
And just think, this was only 27 years ago.
It started after WW2, with a defeated nazi-Germany. Terrific to have the WW2 war ending and all, but the aftermath was pretty bad also.
When reading this: Imagine if this wall was put up in your city, where you have family and friends.
USA & Russia were battling it out (The Cold War) and pretty much split Germany between them. West Germany (USA) and East Germany (Soviet). Berlin was split. Families were suddenly separated. From the wall was decided on until it was built didn't take long. Days, really. The family members living in the east part of Berlin were separated from the family members living in the west part of Berlin.
Soviet & East Germany were ruthless. No one was allowed to pass the wall. Each unsuccessful attempt to flee was punished. They were ordered to shoot & kill. But the people in the east were desperate, so they tried and tried to come up with new ways to flee.
East Germany upped their attempts to stop the people from escaping. The wall was built higher.
Just look at how much you had to pass to be able to escape:
- Outside Wall
- Electric Fence
- A Guard Dog Corridor
- Control Towers with alarms
- Fakir Bed
- Land Mines
- Automatic Machine Guns
- Anti Car Wall
- Anti Tank Obstacles
- Another wall or fence, with barbed wire
Around 1300 people were killed trying to escape the East side. The more people that tried to flee, the tougher the controls became and Stasi (the police) were everywhere. Still, the poor people who were unfortunate to get stuck on the east side were desperate to escape.
Some people secretly dug tunnels
Some people secretly built hot-air balloons
Some people on the west side flew over to the east with tiny disguised airplanes to collect family members
Some people windsurfed from East Germany to Denmark
Some people ran/climbed through all obstacles in the picture above
West Berlin; a little spot right in the middle of East Germany. Boarders all around West Berlin, but this little spot on the map was the only place of freedom within the East Germany outer boarders.
Absolutely no one believed they'd live to see the wall come down. The prisons were filled with people who were publically against East Germany. And while some had accepted and even come to like East Germany, they were in the minority.
However, East Germany had become quite poor. The annual costs of the wall were enormous. They were now forced to sell prisoners to West Germany. They didn't sell just anyone, they were strict in choosing out who were up for sale.
Then along comes Mikail Gorbachev, the new President of the Soviet Union. And suddenly everything changed. He would not provide East Germany with help. He didn't want war. Now East Germany had no choice but to give up and agree to tear down the wall.
28 years of separation was finally over.
And just think, this was only 27 years ago.
