Born in 87 so missed the cold war etc.
I understand the Berlin wall encircled West Berlin and there were X attempts to cross from east to west Berlin. I assume 'the crossers' would stay in West Berlin or travel to whatever western country.
What prevented an East Berliner to just leave East Berlin go down towards the 'inner German border' and cross it.
Was the inner German border that well fortified? Seems like would have been easier to cross there than at the wall.
I get that im asking why would one attempt to cross the wall instead of crossing at the inner german border to west germany
Quote:
Look at a map, Berlin was deep inside East German territory. It was an island or outblast of West Germany inside East Germany. An East German would have to sneak into West Berlin and then try to travel to the West.
I get that im asking why would one attempt to cross the wall instead of crossing at the inner german border to west germany
because if you tried the cross the inner border and didn't have the right papers you were shot on the spot. It made trying to cross at remote locations more appealing.
All the crossing were still dangerous.
Quote:
Look at a map, Berlin was deep inside East German territory. It was an island or outblast of West Germany inside East Germany. An East German would have to sneak into West Berlin and then try to travel to the West.
I get that im asking why would one attempt to cross the wall instead of crossing at the inner german border to west germany
I'm guessing if you were in East Berlin the wall was very tempting. You could get very near it without arousing much suspicion and then make a quick dash. Thousands succeeded.
It was formally established on 1 July 1945 as the boundary between the Western and Soviet occupation zones of former Nazi Germany. On the eastern side, it was made one of the world's most heavily fortified frontiers, defined by a continuous line of high metal fences and walls, barbed wire, alarms, anti-vehicle ditches, watchtowers, automatic booby traps and minefields. It was patrolled by 50,000 armed GDR guards who faced tens of thousands of West German, British and US guards and soldiers.[1] In the hinterlands behind the border were more than a million North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and Warsaw Pact troops.
Link - ( New Window )
Also East Germans were not ordinarily allowed within 10 miles of the border (unless they lived in one of the villages close to the border). This in effect created a secondary border. (My wife had relatives in such a border village - neither she or her East German relatives could visit that village).
There was the possibility of escaping from the Baltic Sea.
Some folks tried to swim from East to West. There were strong limitations on private boats, and fishing boats were under observation (or manned with agents). My wife said there is a cemetery for people who were found in the water.
Also East Germans were not ordinarily allowed within 10 miles of the border (unless they lived in one of the villages close to the border). This in effect created a secondary border. (My wife had relatives in such a border village - neither she or her East German relatives could visit that village).
There was the possibility of escaping from the Baltic Sea.
Some folks tried to swim from East to West. There were strong limitations on private boats, and fishing boats were under observation (or manned with agents). My wife said there is a cemetery for people who were found in the water.
That's very interesting, thanks for sharing.
Now she's talking about how you could escape by going to a funeral to a close relative in the West and not returning.
Also fake marriages could be used to effect an escape.
By the way she says males over 65 and females over 60 were free to leave the East.
She wanted to smuggle equipment to her rock musician cousin in East Germany. You couldn't bring in an amplifier, but she got around it by just bringing in parts on multiple trips.
Also she would by something like a cello bow which couldn't be taken out of the East but got a fake receipt showing it was worth less than $100 so she could take it.
No, sorry. This all is coming from my wife. She's still telling stories but I'm ready to move on to something else.
It was a different situation in 1945, or 1949, or 1961 (the Berlin wall), or 1970 or the mid-80's.
She was also stationed at our embassy in Moscow in the late 1940s. She was the junior officer who typed George Kennan’s famous long telegram that outlined our Cold War policy toward the USSR
The Berlin Wall: A World Divided 1961-1989 by Fredrick Taylor
The Berlin Wall: A World Divided 1961-1989 by Fredrick Taylor
He wrote a book about his experiences
Berlin - ( New Window )
Two lesser known museums:
Topography of Terror -- exhaustive and riveting narrative of how the 'elected' National Socialists systematically undermined democratic institutions from within.
Alliierten Museum/Allied Museum Mainly in a hollowed out movie theatre -- fabulous history of the Allied Occupation with a focus on the airlift. A bit out of the way -- but well worth a visit.
The Berlin Wall by Frederick Taylor is fantastic and paints the picture of the political and cultural environment that lead to the wall being constructed.
The Innocent by Ian McEwan is fiction but based on the actual CIA-MI6 joint efforts spying on East Germany and the USSR. Real page turner but historically accurate at the broad brushstroke level.
The Wall Jumper by Peter Schneider is fiction but tells stories based on actual individuals their context and their effort to get to freedom in the West.
The File by Timothy Garton Ash. He's a British journalist who lived and worked in Germany and eventual saw the Stasi file that tracked his whereabouts and actions as he interviewed Germans in both the East and West at the time of the Wall.
They Divided the Sky by Christa Wolf. Really interesting and moving novel about an East German romance that gets complicated by bi-furcating political philosophies and the building of the Wall.