The Berlin Wall
On August 13, 1961,
the totalitarian government
of East Germany split Berlin
with a wall of concrete.
Free expression of thought
disappeared, From 1961
to 1989 some 130 people
were killed attempting to
escape through this brutal
barrier to freedom. Many
others were injured.
In the autumn of 1989,
hundreds of thousands of
East Germans began
peaceful marches against
the oppressive regime.
These courageous acts of
resistance were inspired
by the civil rights movement
in the United States. Their
chant was "Wir sind das Volk,"
we are the people, implicitly
a reference, to the United
States Constitution. Ultimately,
the Berlin Wall could not
withstand the desire for
freedom and on November 9th,
1989 the wall fell.
This section of the wall, a gift
of the City of Berlin, honors
those who have died seeking
freedom without walls.
East Germany History
After Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe at the end of World War II, and under increasing control of the Soviet dictator the citizens of Eastern Germany faced a national government that limited emigration, movement, and other individual freedoms.
By 1956, almost all travel to the West had been restricted. And in 1961, the East West German border was sealed except for the access routes into West Berlin through East German territory. The fortified border separated the two Germanys just as the Berlin Wall cut off west Berlin from East Berlin until November 1989
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