The Wall (1962) / Berlin Wall Documentary Film Video. Creative Commons license: Public Domain. Government film about the erection of the Berlin Wall. From the holdings of the National Archives.Sponsor: United States Information Agency. The Berlin Wall (German: Berliner Mauer) was a physical barrier separating West Berlin from the German Democratic Republic (GDR) (East Germany), including East Berlin. The longer inner German border demarcated the border between East and West Germany. Both borders came to symbolize the Iron Curtain between Western and Eastern Europe and, ultimately, between USA and the Soviet Union. The wall separated East Germany from West Germany for more than a quarter-century, from the day construction began on August 13, 1961 until the Wall was opened on November 9, 1989. During this period, at least 136 people were confirmed killed trying to cross the Wall into West Berlin, according to official figures. However, a prominent victims’ group claims that more than 200 people were killed trying to flee from East to West Berlin. The East German government issued shooting orders to border guards dealing with defectors; such orders are not the same as shoot to kill orders which GDR officials denied ever issuing. When the East German government announced on November 9, 1989, after several weeks of civil unrest, that all GDR citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin, crowds of East Germans climbed onto and crossed the wall, joined by West Germans on the other side in a celebratory atmosphere. Over the next few weeks, parts of the wall were chipped away by a euphoric public and by souvenir hunters; industrial equipment was later used to remove almost all of the rest of it. The fall of the Berlin Wall paved the way for German reunification, which was formally concluded on October 3, 1990. On Saturday, 12 August 1961, the leaders of the GDR attended a garden party at a government guesthouse in Döllnsee, in a wooded area to the north of East Berlin, at which time Ulbricht signed the order to close the border and erect a wall. At midnight, the police and units of the East German army began to close the border and by Sunday morning, 13 August 1961, the border with West Berlin was closed. East German troops and workers had begun to tear up streets running alongside the border to make them impassable to most vehicles, and to install barbed wire entanglements and fences along the 156 km (97 miles) around the three western sectors and the 43 km (27 miles) which actually divided West and East Berlin. The Soviets were not directly involved. The barrier was built slightly inside East Berlin or East German territory to ensure that it did not encroach on West Berlin at any point, and was later built up into the Wall proper, the first concrete elements and large blocks being put in place on August 15. During the construction of the Wall, NVA and KdA soldiers stood in front of it with orders to shoot anyone who attempted to defect. Additionally, chain fences, walls, minefields, and other obstacles were installed along the length of the inner-German border between East and West Germany. Due to the closure of the East-West sector boundary in Berlin, the vast majority of East Germans could no longer travel or emigrate to West Germany. Many families were split, while East Berliners employed in the West were cut off from their jobs; West Berlin became an isolated enclave in a hostile land. West Berliners demonstrated against the wall, led by their Chancellor Willy Brandt, who strongly criticized the United States for failing to respond. Allied intelligence agencies had hypothesized about a wall to stop the flood of refugees, but the main candidate for its location was around the perimeter of the city.
Duration : 0:9:20
[youtube nch5MbnvTqY]
December 21st, 2009 at 12:51 am
zidane120994, you …
zidane120994, you are welcome!
December 21st, 2009 at 12:51 am
thank you
thank you
December 21st, 2009 at 12:51 am
its like war all …
its like war all over agian
December 21st, 2009 at 12:51 am
damn homie that sad.
homie that sad.
December 21st, 2009 at 12:51 am
Don’t be so ‘ …
Don’t be so ‘defensive’, offcourse ‘communism’ is/was bad. But what we have here are ‘mixed’ economies. Both here in ‘the west’ and in ‘the east’. It’s just that the ’state sector’ was alot bigger in the east, depending on location, my guess is in the ddr it was not that bad. If we don’t do anything we are moving in that direction also, just because states have a natural tendency to grow. Anyway, the parallels are interesting like certain images like ‘a modern apartment with living room and tv’
December 21st, 2009 at 12:51 am
Yes I agree two …
Yes I agree two wrongs don’t make a right but the German did allot worse to many of nations. Russia was provoked now it was the Germans turn to be oppressed. Still it isn’t RIGHT
December 21st, 2009 at 12:51 am
I served in Berlin …
I served in Berlin during this time,with the Welch Regiment,may 1962
December 21st, 2009 at 12:51 am
martysoulshine, you …
martysoulshine, you are welcome!
December 21st, 2009 at 12:51 am
thanks for posting …
thanks for posting very moving!
December 21st, 2009 at 12:51 am
“Mr. Gorbachev, …
“Mr. Gorbachev, TEAR DOWN THIS WALL!”
December 21st, 2009 at 12:51 am
Agree 100 percent. …
Agree 100 percent. God bless them and thank goodness this horrible regime is over. COMMUNISM = NEVER AGAIN !
December 21st, 2009 at 12:51 am
I hate those who …
I hate those who built the wall and separated the hearts,i love those who fall the wall,May God bless them,amin
December 21st, 2009 at 12:51 am
nodnarbdoowron, …
nodnarbdoowron, perhaps your aunt is FROM former East Germany. Bavaria was West
People in the West cheered when their fellow Germans were “freed” but things changed. A whole generation of Easterners grew up with 40 yrs of communism so they are different. East Berlin was neglected & poorer, not as nice as West
Racism: people didn’t immigrate to East B but in the West there were the usual problems you always get towards foreign immigrants.Some former Westerners now see Easterners as immigrants
December 21st, 2009 at 12:51 am
We were there.
…
We were there.
Kudos PH, Kitch, LE, ME
December 21st, 2009 at 12:51 am
Are you dump or …
Are you dump or what , the us border wall is to avoid foreign people to enter illegally. The Berlin wall was built to avoid people to run away to freedom…
December 21st, 2009 at 12:51 am
I could imagine 3 …
I could imagine 3 teenagers high and the one says “hey Lets jump over the wall” so they do giggling like school girls and one jumps over and the cop says”what now!” and shoots him with a ak 47 and the rest run away
December 21st, 2009 at 12:51 am
Thats Great Guys …
Thats Great Guys But Dont be a Slave!
1989 Berlin Wall Down to 2001 Spy Wall UP!
Adam Curtis
Alex Jones
David Icke
Or Just Research the New World Order Yourself by Watching “The Money Masters”
/watch?v=lXb-LrVkuwM
December 21st, 2009 at 12:51 am
i am not justifying …
i am not justifying what they are doing. its just an observation. it is all wrong. i am not for any of it. but if people came un invited into your house. and slowly try to take control over what happeneds, policies religion etc.. even try to convince your kids to subscribe to their beliefs, youd eventually freak out too. Jews should respect that the palestinians are natives. anyway at this point obviously there is no reason with the pales..they seem pissed.
December 21st, 2009 at 12:51 am
see i believe the …
see i believe the jews are doing, and have been doing since they arrived and colonized on that land, the exact same thing. they are trying to wipe out the pales. though they have done it slowly over time. they been pushing and discriminating and yes even terror attacts as well just not all at once. they have drove the pales to this point.
December 21st, 2009 at 12:51 am
This isn’t a mere …
This isn’t a mere territorial dispute. Their stated goal is to wipe the Jews off the face of the earth.
Palestine might get more sympathy from me if they were to take the moral high ground and renounce violence. But when I read about the atrocities committed by people like Samir Kuntar, when I hear about suicide bombings in restaurants and parks, when I see (watch?v=XELcNMhkKCo) the way they indoctrinate their children to hate and kill… how could anyone? How can anyone defend such barbarism?
December 21st, 2009 at 12:51 am
i dont think …
i dont think Palestine would hold such a grudge if they didnt feel that the people who forced their way onto Pales land weren’t slowly, strategically and disingenuously trying to take it over. na-mean?
December 21st, 2009 at 12:51 am
ya i love war too. …
ya i love war too. hurray for war!!
December 21st, 2009 at 12:51 am
I hope your mom, …
I hope your mom, wife, daughter get raped by a black man with a huge dick! Die in HELL!
December 21st, 2009 at 12:51 am
Tear down the wall …
Tear down the wall Mr Barak Obama… let the Mexicans cross the border and pick up avocados, raise corn for their survival..
December 21st, 2009 at 12:51 am
Takes god
…
Takes god
is FINISH!