NARRATOR In 1945,
British and American pilots had rained death and destruction
on Germany.
Now in 1948, they were flying again
to Berlin.
This time, they were keeping the city alive.
'
BRANAGH: Berliners were a beaten people in 1945.
Their fate was in the hands
of the Russians, Americans, British, and French --
their conquerors.
Germany was divided into four occupation zones --
Soviet, American,
British, and French.
Three and a half million Berliners lived in a city
110 miles behind the Russian lines.
Berlin was linked to the West
by a highway and a railway
which ran through the Soviet Zone.
The city itself was divided into four sectors,
Soviet, American, British, and French.
[speaking Russian ]
INTERPRETER: Berlin and Germany were the only places
where the two sides came into contact,
that is Soviet troops
and troops from the Allied countries.
In other places we didn't have direct contact
between our two armed forces.
That was one of the reasons
why Berlin became a battlefield for the Cold War.
BRANAGH: Berliners had lived a precarious existence
for years.
Food was at near starvation levels
and currency was worthless.
The Black market was king.
[speaking German ]
INTERPRETER: We bartered everything.
A non-smoker who got cigarettes with his ration cards
would gladly take them because he could barter them
for something more useful.
Naturally, we all did it.
Cigarettes were our currency.
The black market was the only thing that kept us alive.
BRANAGH: British Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin
had a plan for Germany.
He didn't like the Germans,
but believed that European recovery depended on them.
We have to try and recreate Germany
on a democratic basis,
give her a chance to live,
at the same time make sure
that the security of the rest of Europe
is preserved
and that aggression cannot take place again.
BRANAGH: Soviet military maneuvers near Berlin.
By 1948, the honeymoon among the Allies
was long over.
The Soviets wanted a weak Germany
under Four Power control.
America, Britain, and France were secretly planning
a new German state in their occupation zones.
Spies told the Soviet military governor,
Marshal Vassily Sokolovsky, about the plan.
[speaking Russian ]
INTERPRETER: He gathered all of us together
and read out an intelligence report.
The report stated that a secret conference about Germany
was held in London.
He read out everything that was discussed in London.
BRANAGH: Sir Brian Robertson, the British Military Governor,
and his American counterpart, General Lucius D. Clay,
had to implement the western plans.
MAN: General Clay was the hardest working man
I've ever encountered.
No vacation.
He skipped lunch because he considered that a waste of time.
Instead, he had 20 cups of coffee
and two packs of cigarettes a day.
What impressed me particularly
was his fantastic ability
to absorb difficult questions
that were quite outside of the framework of his experience.
After all, he was a professional soldier.
BRANAGH: The Allied Control Council met regularly in Berlin.
Usually, as here,
the proceedings followed a well-worn path.
The American General Clay and his Western partners
exchanged routine information with their Soviet counterparts.
But on March 20, 1948,
Sokolovsky wanted more.
[speaking Russian ]
INTERPRETER: He spoke in a very tactful and polite fashion,
in a very restrained way.
He said, "Could you please fill us in,
tell us what happened at the meeting in London."
[ Koval speaking Russian ]
Clay replied that they weren't going to look into it.
Sokolovsky then asked what was the point
of having a Control Council if they were not
going to tell us what went on in London
and if they kept secret from us
the various issues concerning Germany.
"Have we or haven't we got a Control Council?"
The Russian just stood up
and he had about five or six of them
on the left and on the right of him
and they just walked out,
which was not called for
because when they closed the meeting,
it was always done in a professional manner
and the General just told everybody to stay put
'cause the meeting wasn't over.
BRANAGH: The former Allies provoked each other.
The West had no intention of budging from Berlin,
but knew the Soviets wanted them out.
They feared Stalin might risk war to achieve it.
The Western Allies planned a currency reform
in their zones.
It would wipe out black market profiteers
by making old currency valueless,
and it would tie Germans to the west.
The Russians weren't told.
May Day 1948.
In the Soviet zone,
Stalin had merged the Socialist and Communist parties.
The new grouping, the Socialist Unity Party,
was out in strength.
There was even a side swipe at Winston Churchill.
For the demonstrators,
the real target was the city council,
the Magistrat,
which wanted to run all Berlin on western lines.
[speaking German ]
INTERPRETER: The majority of the Berlin City Council,
supported by the Social Democrats
and the Christian Democrats,
believed that with currency reform
there would be an immediate upturn in the economy.
In particular, there would be
increased investment by entrepreneurs.
On the other hand,
the Socialist Unity Party councillors saw it as a threat
to the still incomplete nationalization of property
which had belonged to the big companies,
to war criminals, and to Nazi party members --
generally to all those
whom the Socialist Unity Party blamed
for supporting Hitler in 1933.
BRANAGH: The stage was set for confrontation
between the Socialist Unity Party
and their pro-western opponents.
These were led by Ernst Reuter,
whose family had once been forced to flee from Hitler.
His election as mayor of all Berlin
had been vetoed by the Russians.
It was a very tense atmosphere again
full of possibilities
that the Russians would try
to enforce their power in that part of the country,
in the city of Berlin, of course,
that maybe the family again
would have to flee from dictatorship.
BRANAGH: West Germans lined up for their new money --
the Deutsch Mark.
Each person could exchange 40 Marks
and only 40 Marks.
All other old money was worthless.
The Soviets retaliated by issuing their own new currency,
which, they insisted, would include all of Berlin.
Currency and political power were synonymous at that time.
And therefore it was so important
that the western currency, the D-Mark,
had to be introduced into West Berlin
and not the eastern German currency.
BRANAGH: General Clay and the Western Allies were
persuaded by Ernst Reuter to issue the new Deutsch Mark
in West Berlin.
The new Deutsch Mark, stamped with a B for Berlin,
was introduced in the Western sectors
on June 23.
There were now two currencies in the city.
Berliners discovered that the western D-Marks
were worth more.
[speaking German ]
INTERPRETER: Many people from the West frequently travelled to the East
and, of course, bought up what they could.
East Marks and West Marks, if you can call them that,
were usually one to seven or one to five.
That is, we got seven or five East German Marks
for one West Mark.
And, as we found out later,
it was a sell-out, at least around Berlin.
BRANAGH: The introduction of the new western currency in Berlin
infuriated the Soviets,
who debated what to do next.
[speaking Russian ]
Sokolovsky picked up the special phone
and rang Molotov.
He said, "We're discussing these matters.
What shall we do?"
We all understood the seriousness of the situation.
Molotov replied, "You're not planning to bring
tanks out into the streets, are you?"
Sokolovsky said, "No, not in the streets,
but I'll move them closer to Berlin."
"No, don't do that!" Molotov said.
"Let's wait a bit.
If you bring in the tanks you will be accused
of planning to seize the whole of Berlin
and they will bring out their tanks.
It's better to resolve this issue
by using diplomatic language."
BRANAGH: The Soviets blocked all major road, rail and canal links
between West Berlin and Western Germany.
They made no concerted effort to seal every route,
but delivery of the 12,000 tons of food and coal
normally supplied by the west to Berlin every day
was now impossible.
The Soviets out electricity supplies
to factories and offices.
West Berliners could do little.
Their only large power station had been dismantled
for reparations by the Soviets in 1945.
The Western allies imposed a counter-blockade
on the Soviet zone.
Workers throughout the whole of Berlin
faced unemployment and hardship.
[speaking German ]
INTERPRETER: First of all, it was a terrible shock.
Wherever you went, everyone asked,
"Oh, my God! What will happen to us now?"
[ man speaking German on PA]
BRANAGH: Stalin's purpose was clear --
to force the Western allies to change their policies
or quit Berlin.
In 1945,
the Western allies had made a written agreement
with the Soviets.
Planes could fly along three air corridors
20 miles wide to two Berlin airfields,
Tempelhof and Gatow.
Seaplanes could also set down on Lake Havel.
The British responded to the challenge.
They planned an airlift.
Foreign Secretary Bevin put his weight behind the idea.
The physical suffering
of two and a half million people in Berlin
to try and influence the Allies --
the Western powers --
in their treatment of the Germans
and try to force us out
is one which we are unable to accept.
BRANAGH: General Clay, the American commander,
didn't believe an airlift would work.
He had wanted to test Soviet resolve
by running an armed convoy through the blockade.
Reluctantly, he agreed to pursue the airlift idea
with Ernst Reuter.
LOCHNER: Clay had said that this would mean extreme hardship
and how little we could bring in at first.
And he asked Reuter point-blank,
"Do you think the Berliners will be able to take it?"
Reuter quietly replied,
"You take care of the airlift.
I'll take care of the Berliners."
And Clay said that was good enough.
He'd call up General LeMay and said,
"General we're going to haul coal into Berlin!"
"Coal?" General LeMay said.
He said, "Yeah, we're going to keep this city alive."
BRANAGH: The Berlin airlift began at the end of June.
The Americans called it "Operation Vittles,"
the British "Plainfare."
The airlift had to deliver 2,000 tons
of supplies a day.
Without it, West Berliners couldn't survive.
They had coal for only 45 days
and food for only 36.
[ Barowsky speaking German ]
INTERPRETER: The airlift began,
which was welcomed with incredible enthusiasm.
People had such confidence in it.
It was really remarkable.
People thought, "Why shouldn't it work?
They dropped so many bombs on Berlin,
they should be able to drop potatoes!"
[ laughs ]
BRANAGH: Thousands of Berliners found jobs --
and one hot meal a day --
working for the airlift.
[speaking German ]
INTERPRETER: We were divided into work gangs
supervised by an American overseer.
Each gang was ordered one by one
to the planes as they came in.
"Go to the next plane."
BRANAGH: Each of the larger planes carried nine tons.
[Weber speaking German ]
INTERPRETER: We could unload each plane in roughly seven minutes.
That was nine "short tons" of coal.
BRANAGH: The British hired civilian operators.
There weren't many people in England that had any airplanes
but I was very lucky at the time
in as much that I actually owned
12 converted Halifax bombers.
The government came along and said,
"Oh, can we do something with these airplanes?"
I said, "Of course."
But, remember, we all thought that the Berlin airlift
was only gonna last two or three weeks
or there would have been a war.
BRANAGH: America now raised the stakes
by sending B-29 bombers,
capable of carrying atom bombs
to Britain.
The move was highly publicized.
NARRATOR: These are the men whose nerve-wracking job it may be
to fight their way through weather and Red obstruction.
So grave is the crisis
that General Clay is recalled to Washington
to report on the situation.
He is greeted by Secretary of the Army, Royall
and then is welcomed by Chief of Staff, Omar Bradley.
On his shoulders may rest the responsibility
for peace or war
and the Commander-in-Chief at the White House
awaits his appraisal of the most explosive situation yet
in the struggle between East and West.
BRANAGH: Clay argued once again that he be allowed
to confront the Soviets with an armed convoy.
Now if the Soviets stepped aside
and the convoy went through,
then peace would continue.
If they chose not to let the convoy through,
then it meant war.
It was just that simple.
And the last thing in the world
President Truman wanted to do was see our country
get into another great war.
We had just come out of one.
BRANAGH: So, no armed convoy,
but more planes for the airlift.
Since I have been in Washington,
I have been assured of an additional supply
of C-54$,
which carry 10 tons,
to replace the C-47s.
And this will enable us to build our airlift up
to 4,500 tons a day.
This tonnage will enable us
to maintain Berlin indefinitely
while we try to find a peaceful solution
to the Berlin problem.
BRANAGH: In August,
Stalin visited an air show near Moscow.
He was confident that the Soviet blockade
of Berlin's western sectors would be enough
to force the allies back to the negotiation table.
But time wasn't necessarily on his side.
The West's counter-blockade of coal,
steel, and machine tools
was beginning to bite.
When Western diplomats asked for talks,
he agreed.
[speaking Russian ]
INTERPRETER: Stalin was very calm.
He smoked.
He didn't walk about like he usually did.
Normally he would pace around
like a cat in his soft boots
but this time he stayed seated.
He had no notes next to him.
He said, "The question is very important
from an economic point of view.
But this is not the most important issue.
What is more important are the decisions
you have taken in London.
We insist that you should revoke these decisions
or at least postpone their implementation
until we get together again to discuss the question
of Germany.
He saw that Germany was going to be divided,
with a strong Western Germany
supported by America and the West
and anyway being three quarters of the total part of Germany
which would become an independent country.
And he wanted to stop that.
BRANAGH: In Berlin,
the Western allies and the Soviets returned
to the negotiating table.
The Russians demanded the withdrawal
of the Western Deutsch Mark from the city.
They also applied pressure in the air corridors.
There was plenty of provocation.
They used to carry out aerial maneuvers
in the corridor or right alongside it.
They'd be above you because we had a maximum altitude
and they'd go off firing military equipment.
Being buzzed and all that sort of thing.
We'd come up and have a Yak come head on with you
right nose to nose
and at the last minute would peel off.
Or come up behind you so you couldn't see him
and then come up over the wing.
But they didn't shoot.
BRANAGH: Bad weather caused delays and accidents.
The airlift was not delivering enough food
and virtually no coal had been stockpiled
for the harsh winter to come.
“ [woman singing in German] “
“ [singing continues] “
Berliners knew they were living on the edge.
Electricity came on for only four hours a day.
“ [singing continues] “
[speaking German ]
INTERPRETER: We did the washing at night.
Because I had a small baby,
I had to boil the nappies and do the cooking.
If we didn't have an electric iron
then we'd go to a neighbor and do the ironing together.
It's always the same in bad times.
People stick together through thick and thin.
BRANAGH: The Soviet blockade didn't prevent West Berliners
from moving about freely within the city.
The eastern sector behind the Brandenburg Gate
could be very enticing.
[speaking German ]
INTERPRETER: I often went across into East Berlin.
If you wanted to go out,
you had to go into the eastern sector.
There were dance halls, there was music,
there was electric lighting.
The rooms were heated
and normal peacetime conditions prevailed.
'
[cheers and applause]
BRANAGH: The Russians offered West Berliners the chance
to buy food in the Soviet sector.
Nearly one in ten accepted.
The Soviets didn't impose a complete blockade.
But West Berliners who went to East Berlin
were harassed.
[ Herrberger speaking German ]
INTERPRETER: We could get out by train
but we were constantly checked here, there, and everywhere
by the Russians.
They came into the station
and either demanded our identity papers,
or searched our bags and rucksacks.
You had the feeling that if a Russian
didn't like the look of a German
he would take him away.
BRANAGH: Tension among the former wartime allies
was increasing.
The city was splitting apart.
On September 6,
Communist-led activists converged
on a full meeting of the city council
in East Berlin.
They were looking for trouble.
[speaking German ]
INTERPRETER: Those were not spontaneous outbursts
from the people.
They were, on the contrary, demonstrations
which Party members and sympathizers
had been ordered to attend.
Their aim was to break up the old city council.
[speaking German ]
INTERPRETER: We wanted to begin the session.
But Speaker Suhr couldn't get it started
because communist gangs had made it their business
to be there.
Word got around.
We couldn't work there.
Some people had already been beaten up.
So we had to leave.
BRANAGH: Councillors driven out of the City Hall
met in the safety of West Berlin.
With them was Ernst Reuter,
who now appealed to all Berliners
to gather at the Reichstag to protest.
RIAS - Radio in the American sector -
spread the news.
Because of the lack of electrical power,
we had loud speaker wagons going through the streets
giving the news several times a day.
We had a fine actor make a tape.
"Berliner und Berlinerrin,
ihr Stadt' /Isl' in gefahr!
"Your city is in danger!"
The people came.
Hundreds of thousands of them came.
[speaking German ]
INTERPRETER: This was a show of unity
by the people of Berlin.
There was nothing else in our heads
but the thought -- "We stand united,
we are against the Russians,
and we support the western Allies."
BRANAGH: Nearly 300,000 Berliners,
many from the East,
assembled at the Reichstag.
EDZARD REUTER: The view of the Berlin politicians,
there was a possibility that western allies might be ready
to come to a compromise with the Russians
which would be a detrimental compromise
for Germany.
They rallied that meeting to demonstrate
that the population of Berlin was decided
to stand for their freedom and for democracy.
[ Applause ]
BRANAGH: When the rally was over,
the Soviet flag on the Brandenburg Gate
was torn down.
East sector police and Soviet soldiers opened fire.
Twelve people were injured.
One young Berliner was killed.
And the day was not yet over.
A delegation went to the Allied Control Council
where they feared a deal with Stalin
to withdraw the Western D-Mark from Berlin
was being hatched.
The Allies got the message.
The D-Mark stayed.
NARRATOR: Rhein-Main field was busier than ever this week
as airlift traffic was suddenly bolstered
by fresh squadrons.
Here, a group of valiant young pilots
talk over the day's operations.
BRANAGH: The blockade and the airlift went on.
We flew everything.
I mean, medical supplies, news print.
But the coal was the biggest thing
and it was the biggest problem, too.
The coal dust would seep in under the floors
and control cables
and make it difficult to control the airplane
so we flew with our escape hatches out
at the back to suck out the dust.
GROUND CONTROL: Big Easy Six-Four, I have you in contact
over the Tempelhof range.
If you pick up a heading now to get you over...
Coming down very nicely now.
You're starting to go a little bit above your glidepath.
LEONHARD: Every 45 seconds,
airplanes from the West came
over Kleinmachnow over the high party academy
in order to land in Tempelhof.
GROUND CONTROL: 268 Degrees.
You are now one and one half miles from touchdown.
You are approaching the trees and the buildings.
You are now on course and on your glidepath.
Very nice...
We were sitting around.
The teachers of the history department
and of others said,
"The Americans understand historical materialism
better than we."
And so we were looking --
historical materialism better than we?
"Yeah, they understand that you have to have
a basis of food and help
before you can begin party education.
The Americans understand historical materialism."
BRANAGH: Airlift pilots could fly up to three missions every day.
An American pilot brought his own 8-mm movie camera.
HALVORSEN: I went back to Berlin
to get this picture inside the barbed wire.
Kids came up on their side of the barbed wire
and look at me in uniform.
They came up and start talking to me.
How many sacks of flour you got?
How's it going to be tomorrow?"
They got off the subject of flour very quickly
and on the subject of freedom.
They said, "Look,"
they said, "Some day we'll have enough to eat.
Just give us a little.
Just don't give up on us when the weather gets bad.
We'll have enough but if we lose our freedom,
we may never get it back."
And these kids were 8 to 14 years old.
They blew my mind with their maturity
and understanding of what was important.
BRANAGH: Halvorsen promised the children
that we would return with chewing gum and chocolate
dropped from tiny parachutes.
[speaking German ]
INTERPRETER: It was amazing all the things they brought over
in their planes.
I still remember my youngest boy was there
when American soldiers dropped little parachutes
with sweets, chewing gum and chocolate.
BRANAGH: Word of Halvorsen the Candy Bomber spread quickly.
He was summoned to see his commanding officer.
He really chewed me up.
And then he reached under the counter,
pulled out a newspaper and there on the front page
was an airplane with parachutes coming out of it.
He said, "You almost hit a German newspaperman
on the head with a candy bar
in Berlin yesterday.
He's got this story all over the world."
He said, "The General read it
and called me to find out what was going on.
I didn't know anything about it!
I'll never get promoted!
Why didn't you tell me?"
I said, "I didn't think you'd approve it, sir."
He said, "You're right!
But the General thinks it's a good idea.
Keep doing it!"
BRANAGH: For both East and West
radio was an important weapon
in the propaganda war.
Radio in the American Sector- RIAS --
was run by William Heimlich.
HEIMLICH: I introduced American broadcasting techniques
on the theory that if the audience isn't there,
you can't convince them of anything.
So my number one priority was get people to listen.
How do you get people to listen?
You give them good entertaining programs,
solid news that they could depend on.
[ Radio announcer speaking German ]
BRANAGH: A young Berlin dancer called Christina Ohlsen
became a popular RIAS performer --
and later Mrs. Heimlich.
I read the headlines
and then I would make fun
of whatever the Russians or East Germans did.
Dar' verstehe ich nicht
Da' verstehe ich nicht
dazu bin noch zu klein
Doch die Grosser;
doch die Grosser;
Die mussen doch class eigenlich verstehen
Which means, "I am too little
to understand all these happenings
but the public could certainly get it."
And it became a very famous slogan in Berlin
and so I became the Voice of Berlin.
BRANAGH: In December 1948,
West Berliners voted for a new council
to run their half of the city.
The Socialist Unity Party,
which dominated the old council in the Soviet sector,
boycotted the elections.
[speaking German ]
INTERPRETER: For the moment, we are a divided city.
There is nothing we can do about it.
Our survival now depends on developing
extremely strong ties with West Germany.
BRANAGH: Ernst Reuter was now mayor,
with Luise Schroeder as his deputy --
but only in one half of Berlin.
For the American garrison in Berlin
and for General Clay,
Christmas entertainment was provided by Bob Hope
and by the great Tin Pan Alley composer,
Irving Berlin.
No, you got the name wrong. It's Irving Jones!
- Irving Jones? - Yes, I changed it!
Anything over here named Berlin
they out up into sectors.
[ laughter and applause]
'
"Not long ago"
"a group we call the Air Corps"
"helped win the war and took a bow"
"Not long ago"
"we cheered the fighting Air Corps"
"Let's see what's happened to them now"
"Operation Vittles"
"we'll soon be on our way"
"with coal and wheat and hay"
"and everything's okay"
"Operation Vittles"
"as in the sky we go"
"we won't forget to blow"
"a kiss to Uncle Joe"
BRANAGH: Operation Vittles --
the American code name for the airlift --
was working at last,
thanks to an unusually mild winter.
On Easter Sunday 1949,
a record 13,000 tons was airlifted in 24 hours.
The gamble had worked.
Berlin could be supplied indefinitely by air.
[speaking Russian ]
INTERPRETER: We lived at Karlshorst
and could hear the noise of the airplanes
which delivered everything
including chocolate and Christmas presents.
We couldn't match it.
We were poor and the West was rich,
and, of course, this crazy blockade
was bound to fail.
"[woman singing ”Das Insulanerlied'”]"
BRANAGH: The Soviets had failed to drive
the British, Americans, and French out of Berlin.
The Allied counter-blockade was hurting
the Soviet zone.
On May 12, 1949,
Stalin called it quits.
NARRATOR: As midnight nears, tension mounts
at the British frontier control post.
Familiar with the old Russian habit
of changing their minds when it suits them,
seasoned campaigners could not quite grasp
this new mood of co-operation.
As on the stoke of 12:00
the barrier goes up
and a British jeep leads the race into Berlin.
"[singing continues]"
BRANAGH: Many people thought the ending of the Berlin blockade
meant an end to the Cold War.
'
[speaking German ]
INTERPRETER: I returned home after midnight,
having taken the S-Bahn from Ostkreuz to Neukolln.
When we crossed the boundary between the two sectors
everything was bathed in light.
It was like a dream!
[speaking German ]
Sheer joy, nothing else.
We had done it!
It does work with the West!
That was so very important.
The West has won!
BRANAGH: It was General Clay's time to go back home.
After a goodbye parade,
he paid a final visit to Berlin.
So then he asked me to go with him
to the final farewell ceremony at City Hall.
And Adenauer and all the top German officials
had been flown in.
There was a very impressive farewell ceremony
and, as so often,
nobody had thought of providing
a separate microphone for the interpreter.
This happened to me time and again.
Which meant I had to lean over
practically cheek to cheek to General Clay
to speak into the microphone.
And in the strong light
I could see that there were tears in his eyes.
I shall not use the English word, "goodbye,"
but rather try to say to you, ”auf Wiedersehen!”
BRANAGH: The day General Clay said, ”auf Wiedersehen, ”
the head of the future West German Republic,
Konrad Adenauer, addressed Berliners.
[cheers and applause]
EDZARD REUTER: The Cold War period in Berlin was
really the core, the root of post-war democracy
in Germany.
There was a growing feeling
that the Germans after all
can be satisfied to accept democracy
as their own ways of living
and to become part of the western world.
[speaking Russian ]
INTERPRETER: The Berlin crisis, on reflection,
resulted in a division of Europe.
The government in West Germany was created
and two weeks later on our side,
the German Democratic Republic was born.
That division went right across Germany.
BRANAGH: In April 1949,
British Foreign Secretary Bevin's dream
of a strategic alliance between Western Europe
and North America came true
with the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty.
ROBERTS: The overall success of the Berlin Airlift
was first of all, it persuaded
a lot of very frightened people throughout Europe
that they had to come into the Atlantic Alliance,
which provided the security
or the general feeling that we are safe,
in spite of these very much larger Russian forces
which were next door.
BRANAGH: August 29, 1949
the Soviets detonated their first atomic bomb.
The American nuclear monopoly was over.
The world was now split down the middle
by two competing superpowers.
At its heart lay a divided Germany
and a divided Berlin.
Subtitles ripped and adapted by Juan Claudio Epsteyn
E-mail: epsteyn@hotmail.com