Berlin Wall

At the end of World War II in Europe (May 1945), the four victorious allies, the United States (USA), the United Kingdom (UK), France and the Soviet Union, divided both Germany and its capital Berlin into four sectors for purposes of a temporary occupation of the defeated aggressor.  

Eventually, the three sectors occupied by the USA, the UK and France formed what came to be known as West Germany.  The fourth sector came to be known as East Germany.

Berlin was physically located inside East Germany.  However, the three sectors occupied by the USA, UK and France became known as West Berlin, politically separate from both East and West Germany.  East Berlin (former Soviet sector) was the capital of East Germany.

Germans who did not like living in East Germany had difficulty fleeing the country.  However, once in East Berlin, it was easy for them to go to West Berlin and from there to West Germany.

Young, educated East Germans started leaving their country in droves during the 1950s.  On August 13, 1961, to stop this mass emigration, the East German government started building a wall that would completely divide East and West Berlin and prevent movement between the two halves of the city.

In the summer of 1973, my first wife Bonita and I, while on a European vacation, travelled by train from Copenhagen, Denmark to West Berlin.  Before arriving at our destination, we had to travel through East Germany and East Berlin.

Before leaving the East Berlin station, border guards entered the train and checked everyone's travel documents.  I remember the fear of the faces of the West Berliners I talked to on the train.  Outside the train, I saw and heard armed guards and dogs searching for those trying to illegally escape East Berlin and enter West Berlin.

One day while staying in West Berlin, we decided to visit East Berlin.  We went through the Berlin Wall at a gate known as "Checkpoint Charlie."  American soldiers pointed rifles at their counterparts on the other side of the Wall who were pointing their rifles back at them.  

Nearby was a small building where East German officials processed one day visas for tourists entering East Berlin.  After spending a few hours on the gloomy other side of the Wall, we returned to that same building where we surrendered our passports for permission to leave East Berlin.  Bonita's came back quickly.  I waited for another anxious 30 minutes for mine.  Why the difference?  Who knows?  I was just glad to get out of there.

On June 12, 1987 (35 years ago), US President Ronald Reagan visited West Berlin and delivered a famous speech calling out the Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev.  Below is an excerpt.  

"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!"

On November 9, 1989, as the East German government started to crumble, the Berlin Wall also started to crumble.  Berlin and Germany became united for the first time since the end of WWII.