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It started as a barbed wire fence.

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Dividing a city.

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Imprisoning its people.

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The very image of the Cold War,
the Berlin Wall.

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Memphis, Tennessee. March 1958.

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"I, Elvis Presley,

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do solemnly swear

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that I will bear true faith
and allegiance

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to the United States of America."

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Elvis Presley hits West Germany.

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"The well-known guitarist has come
to bolster NATO forces,

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in particular a third U.S. armored
division tank unit."

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West Germany was NATO's front line
along the Iron Curtain.

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Since 1955, the Americans had been
training a new West German army.

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Some thought that could mean a German
finger on NATO's nuclear trigger.

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German rearmament brought back
nightmares for many Europeans,

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above all for the Russians.

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The new weaponry alarmed East Germany

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The German Democratic Republic.

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"The GDR made various offers to prevent
the nuclear armament of West Germany,

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but it found no response, no echo.

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The GDR felt directly threatened
by tactical nuclear weapons.

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It accepted that the Soviet army,
stationed on GDR territory,

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also should arm itself with
tactical nuclear weapons."

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Berlin, deep in East German territory,

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was under the joint occupation of
the former wartime allies.

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Now in West Berlin, 12,000 British,
American and French soldiers

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were surrounded by half a million
Soviet and East German troops.

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Western rights of access were
protected by four-power agreement.

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Each day thousands moved freely between
the Soviet and Western sectors.

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Berlin's open border gave East Germans
access to the glittering West

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which Soviet and East German leaders
wanted to end.

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"West Berlin was becoming increasingly
dangerous to the existence of the GDR

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and to the existence of socialism.

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Khrushchev proposed to create
a free city of Berlin

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with special rights of its own.

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With its own foreign policy,
its own police

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and its own symbolic foreign forces."

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"Khrushchev thought that some pressures
should be put on the Americans

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and the obvious place was West Berlin

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so that this was a sort of
shock therapy

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on the part of Khrushchev,
I would say."

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In November 1958, the West rejected
Khrushchev's Berlin proposals.

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Khrushchev now offered East German
leader Walter Ulbricht a peace treaty.

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It threatened Western rights
in Berlin.

46
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"He said that unless agreement
were reached,

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that Berlin would be turned over
to the East Germans

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within six months.

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We regarded that as an ultimatum.

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"Eisenhower felt that the Soviets
were doing something that

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was not really in their interest.

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His view was that if there were
to be actual conflict

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between the United States
and the Soviet Union

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it would move quickly to large
scale, all-out conflict

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where everything would be
drawn into it.

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And that was the... that was
the danger, that was the risk."

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"A new red threat to West Berlin.

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Khrushchev's demand that the
United States, France and Britain

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agree to end the four-power pact
governing West Berlin,

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turning it over to red East Germany,
hints a new and major crisis.

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The Western powers reacted strongly,

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affirming their determination to keep
the city free. It's an outpost..."

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American Secretary of State
John Foster Dulles,

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seeking common ground
for a bargain over Berlin,

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consulted America's allies.

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But talks between the West and
the Soviet Union led nowhere.

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"The attempt to find a compromise
with the Soviets was where

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we began to get into serious trouble,

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because any concessions that you
made to the Soviets

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from the Western side would be an

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an erosion of the Western
position there

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and the Soviets themselves
were committed

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to a situation in Berlin that
the allies could not tolerate,

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so you were already...
I mean there was no

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possible outcome, negotiated
outcome that was possible."

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But the talks persuaded Khrushchev
to shelve his Berlin ultimatum

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and head West.

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He chose the world's largest aircraft
for the journey - Soviet built.

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In September 1959, Nikita
Sergeyevich Khrushchev

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became the first Soviet leader
to visit America.

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"Khrushchev got what he wanted,

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which was a visit to the United States
and treatment as an equal

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and an exchange with Eisenhower,
which gave him,

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I think, a fair idea that probably if he
continued without too much provocative

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actions on the ground he could get
more and more out of the Western side."

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In talks with Eisenhower, a new spirit
of cooperation eased the crisis.

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But Khrushchev's hopes for a Cold
War truce only lasted six months.

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On the eve of a grand peacemaking
summit in Paris,

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an American U-2 spy plane was
shot down in Soviet airspace.

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Khrushchev was enraged.

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The summit collapsed before
it had even begun.

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1959: East Germany celebrated
10 years of socialist achievement.

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00:08:29,092 --> 00:08:33,565
Walter Ulbricht, party leader,
boasted of rapid industrial progress

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and of a socialist democracy that
Germany had never known before.

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Official films portrayed a paradise
for workers and peasants.

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The reality was shortages and chaos.

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Private farms were forcibly
collectivized,

98
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and the state's resources poured
into heavy industry

99
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at the expense of consumer goods.

100
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Obediently, East Germany copied
the Soviet model,

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down to thought control of its people.

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East Germany, its leaders claimed, was
succeeding through sheer will power.

103
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But in spite of hard work
and enthusiasm,

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only Soviet support kept
the economy going.

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East Germany could not compete with
the swelling prosperity of the West.

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The people in the East looked
toward the West

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with what I might say longing.

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They would have liked to have
the same comforts,

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the same goods, the same chances,

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and they saw in what was called
socialism at the time,

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a system that demanded of them
sacrifices,

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with nothing but promises
for the future

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and as long as the borders were open
it was relatively easy to get there.

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All you had to do was board a subway
and you were in another world.

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And it was really a crazy system.
"Imagine you go from

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socialism, in quotation marks,
to capitalism in two minutes."

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Every month, thousands of East Germans

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fled across the open Berlin border
and took refuge in the West.

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Most refugees were young and skilled.

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But their departure was bleeding the
East German economy to death.

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"A foreman in a plant in the East

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wouldn't know how many workers
he still would have the next day

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because part of his working
force had left him,

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had left the East, had left the
system in order to go over there.

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Of course in West Germany
they made every effort

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that people who came from the
East would get jobs

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and would get a comfortable
existence."

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As his people drained away, Ulbricht
became anxious.

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He urged Khrushchev to recognize
East Germany as a sovereign state,

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with control over its own borders.

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Khrushchev, outwardly sympathetic,
played for time.

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"The idea of a separate peace
treaty with the GDR

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was put forward mainly by Ulbricht,

134
00:11:56,574 --> 00:11:59,335
who wanted to bind the GDR
into fixed treaties

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and link it politically with
other countries.

136
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But Khrushchev argued that
a separate peace treaty

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would intensify the Cold War."

138
00:12:15,669 --> 00:12:19,155
Ulbricht argued that there could
be no lasting peace in Europe

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until both German states, East
and West, were recognized.

140
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But Moscow was in no hurry.

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00:12:28,541 --> 00:12:29,948
The German question

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00:12:30,068 --> 00:12:33,748
must wait until after the American
presidential election.

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00:12:39,702 --> 00:12:43,280
John F. Kennedy took office
in January 1961.

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He had campaigned for a more
vigorous American foreign policy.

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"I don't think the communists
are about to collapse.

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I believe we have to build strength.
We have to stand for freedom.

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00:12:54,921 --> 00:12:58,533
We have to demonstrate some
vigor in our foreign policy."

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Kennedy agreed to meet Khrushchev
at Vienna in June 1961.

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The president arrived bruised.

150
00:13:11,808 --> 00:13:17,426
His invasion of Castro's Cuba at the Bay
of Pigs six weeks before had failed.

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Khrushchev concluded that
Kennedy was weak.

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He had decided to bully
the new president.

153
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"He felt that this young new
president inexperienced

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specifically after he had a fiasco
with the Bay of Pigs.

155
00:13:34,622 --> 00:13:37,834
He came rather with a not
very strong position.

156
00:13:38,943 --> 00:13:42,413
He said, 'Look here, already so many
years passed

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and Western countries do nothing

158
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about Germany and the peace treaty
and about specifically West Berlin,

159
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so I'm going to press this issue

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very strongly in this meeting
with the new president.'"

161
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"What Khrushchev kept saying was that

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00:13:59,857 --> 00:14:04,554
we surround all those troops
you have in West Berlin

163
00:14:04,857 --> 00:14:08,638
and we could take West Berlin
any time we want to.

164
00:14:09,227 --> 00:14:12,515
And Kennedy's reply to him was,

165
00:14:13,032 --> 00:14:14,618
'Well that's as may be,

166
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we fought the Second World War
and they're there

167
00:14:17,248 --> 00:14:19,648
because of the Second World War
by right.'"

168
00:14:20,115 --> 00:14:21,567
"He became very emotional,

169
00:14:21,687 --> 00:14:22,636
very angry.

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00:14:22,756 --> 00:14:25,101
This young fellow doesn't want
to discuss with me

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the issue which is very important.

172
00:14:27,075 --> 00:14:31,990
And this makes him very angry. And
really it influenced his attitude.

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So he had mixed feeling about...

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For one thing he accepts
that he is tough

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but on the other he said that
he is not wise enough,

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he doesn't understand quite
well the foreign policy."

177
00:14:49,273 --> 00:14:53,054
"The meeting was unproductive

178
00:14:53,300 --> 00:14:58,149
and the longer it went on the more
that became apparent.

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00:14:58,269 --> 00:15:01,190
It was difficult, it was
disappointing.

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It left us with a Berlin crisis
that was still active

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and on which no progress
had been made."

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00:15:16,039 --> 00:15:18,984
"At the summer White House in
Hyannis Port, Massachusetts,

183
00:15:19,104 --> 00:15:22,573
Defense Secretary McNamara and
Secretary of State Dean Rusk

184
00:15:22,693 --> 00:15:25,847
confer with President Kennedy on
the increasingly ominous words

185
00:15:25,967 --> 00:15:27,669
and actions from Moscow."

186
00:15:29,327 --> 00:15:34,313
Khrushchev had renewed his ultimatum,
and increased the Soviet arms budget.

187
00:15:34,433 --> 00:15:38,546
Kennedy asked his advisers to list
America's military options.

188
00:15:38,847 --> 00:15:41,998
It was conceivable there would
only be two alternatives:

189
00:15:42,573 --> 00:15:46,080
surrender or use of nuclear force,

190
00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:51,587
which might well have brought
destruction to both east and west.

191
00:15:52,039 --> 00:15:54,724
So the president was very anxious

192
00:15:55,052 --> 00:15:56,737
to find a middle course.

193
00:15:58,394 --> 00:16:01,956
In July, Kennedy asked Congress
for extra defense funds

194
00:16:02,076 --> 00:16:04,422
and called reservists to arms.

195
00:16:05,723 --> 00:16:09,860
"The source of world trouble and
tension is Moscow, not Berlin.

196
00:16:10,271 --> 00:16:13,983
And if war begins, it will
have begun in Moscow,

197
00:16:14,103 --> 00:16:15,873
and not Berlin.

198
00:16:15,993 --> 00:16:19,983
For the choice of peace or war
is largely theirs, not ours."

199
00:16:20,379 --> 00:16:24,242
"Of all the presidents in the
Cold War period

200
00:16:25,023 --> 00:16:29,681
I think the nuclear issue bore
hardest on Kennedy.

201
00:16:30,037 --> 00:16:34,215
He took it very seriously and
he was sometimes afraid that

202
00:16:34,557 --> 00:16:39,133
the Good Lord had put him on Earth
to start a nuclear war, really,

203
00:16:39,407 --> 00:16:43,681
and he was not about to get out
of Berlin no matter what it took."

204
00:16:43,801 --> 00:16:47,147
"It would be a mistake for others
to look upon Berlin,

205
00:16:47,462 --> 00:16:50,297
because of its location,
as a tempting target.

206
00:16:50,550 --> 00:16:54,756
The United States is there, the
United Kingdom and France are there,

207
00:16:55,290 --> 00:17:00,331
the pledge of NATO is there,
and the people of Berlin are there.

208
00:17:01,112 --> 00:17:04,619
It is as secure in that sense
as the rest of us.

209
00:17:05,318 --> 00:17:08,975
For we cannot separate its safety
from our own."

210
00:17:09,095 --> 00:17:12,592
"So he made it very clear that
he is going to defend

211
00:17:12,712 --> 00:17:17,605
the status of West Berlin and the
presence of their troops there.

212
00:17:19,468 --> 00:17:25,879
But when he mentioned this one, we
noticed one thing, that in his speech

213
00:17:27,078 --> 00:17:32,968
he mentioned that the line between West
and East Berlin are a line of freedom

214
00:17:33,872 --> 00:17:37,913
and he didn't say anything
about the freedom of

215
00:17:39,173 --> 00:17:44,488
movement across this line, East
Berlin and West Berlin."

216
00:17:44,899 --> 00:17:47,584
"It is a fact that

217
00:17:48,940 --> 00:17:58,145
we were not going to fight about what
the Soviets did on their side of Berlin

218
00:17:58,967 --> 00:18:03,406
and that it is quite likely
that Khrushchev was

219
00:18:03,782 --> 00:18:07,453
helped to understand that American
position by the July speech."

220
00:18:12,872 --> 00:18:17,790
As the Berlin crisis darkened, the
flow of refugees became a torrent.

221
00:18:18,188 --> 00:18:20,832
Fear rose that East Germany
might collapse,

222
00:18:20,952 --> 00:18:24,256
pitching NATO and Soviet
forces into conflict.

223
00:18:27,264 --> 00:18:31,401
"Everybody knew that something
is going to happen.

224
00:18:31,963 --> 00:18:36,538
Not necessarily only from the
atmosphere but for weeks

225
00:18:37,093 --> 00:18:41,531
thousands and thousands of
people had come across and

226
00:18:42,421 --> 00:18:45,791
everybody realized that
in some way or another,

227
00:18:45,911 --> 00:18:47,736
East Germany will have to react."

228
00:18:49,942 --> 00:18:53,025
By July, the East Germans
were desperate.

229
00:18:53,778 --> 00:18:56,764
They begged the Soviets to let them
stem the flow.

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00:19:03,311 --> 00:19:05,709
"Ulbricht indicated to our ambassador

231
00:19:05,955 --> 00:19:09,914
that they were fed up with the promises
we'd given them to sign a peace treaty

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00:19:10,034 --> 00:19:12,544
and take control

233
00:19:15,448 --> 00:19:22,914
promises which had been made in
1958, '59, '60 and again in 1961.

234
00:19:25,256 --> 00:19:27,421
Ulbricht said that all these
promises did

235
00:19:27,541 --> 00:19:30,556
was to stimulate the
population drain.

236
00:19:32,420 --> 00:19:36,214
Either we had to act or
stop talking about it."

237
00:19:39,762 --> 00:19:43,077
East German border controls
were intensified.

238
00:19:43,611 --> 00:19:45,830
Undetected by Western intelligence,

239
00:19:45,950 --> 00:19:49,858
Khrushchev and Ulbricht were
planning harsher measures.

240
00:19:53,392 --> 00:19:57,250
"Sometime later a reply came back
from Moscow

241
00:19:59,924 --> 00:20:02,403
that Nikita Sergeyevich
Khrushchev agrees

242
00:20:02,523 --> 00:20:04,732
to the closing of the border
with West Germany

243
00:20:05,034 --> 00:20:06,970
and with West Berlin

244
00:20:08,401 --> 00:20:12,844
suggests the necessary preparations
should be carried out."

245
00:20:17,401 --> 00:20:19,853
"The National People's Army,
the People's Police,

246
00:20:19,973 --> 00:20:23,003
the Customs State Security,
the Transport Authority

247
00:20:23,123 --> 00:20:27,045
were all brought together
in the Berlin area.

248
00:20:27,820 --> 00:20:30,012
They were put under
strict observation

249
00:20:30,132 --> 00:20:33,092
and they were not allowed
to telephone their families.

250
00:20:33,212 --> 00:20:35,742
They didn't even have a telephone.

251
00:20:36,833 --> 00:20:42,237
For four to six weeks they worked in
total isolation on the preparations."

252
00:20:45,279 --> 00:20:49,738
On August the 12th, Soviet and East
German forces were mobilized.

253
00:20:53,238 --> 00:20:55,704
"At 23 hours we were given our orders

254
00:20:56,828 --> 00:20:59,861
and told that at 24 hours the
border with West Berlin

255
00:20:59,981 --> 00:21:02,448
would be closed by military force.

256
00:21:04,524 --> 00:21:06,559
All the soldiers were fully armed.

257
00:21:07,181 --> 00:21:10,373
The People's Militia had automatic
pistols and machine guns

258
00:21:10,493 --> 00:21:13,037
any weapons they could get hold of."

259
00:21:16,613 --> 00:21:19,887
By early morning, East German
troops were ready,

260
00:21:20,007 --> 00:21:22,914
lined up in battle order along
the sector border.

261
00:21:24,871 --> 00:21:27,775
was Berlin's last hour as one city.

262
00:21:32,515 --> 00:21:37,816
On the morning of Sunday August 13th,
Berliners woke to find a divided city.

263
00:21:41,875 --> 00:21:44,029
Teams of workers under armed guard

264
00:21:44,149 --> 00:21:48,195
started erecting a barbed wire
barrier through the center.

265
00:21:50,503 --> 00:21:52,879
"Khrushchev preparing for this event

266
00:21:53,167 --> 00:21:57,674
will have done everything to
minimize, or rather to prevent

267
00:21:57,794 --> 00:22:01,661
any military conflict between us
and the United States

268
00:22:01,781 --> 00:22:03,332
and Western countries.

269
00:22:03,639 --> 00:22:07,611
Specifically, Ulbricht was
told by Khrushchev

270
00:22:08,082 --> 00:22:11,017
two days before this was happening,

271
00:22:11,429 --> 00:22:15,004
that he, Ulbricht, would
build this wall

272
00:22:15,538 --> 00:22:20,031
but he should not infringe
even an inch

273
00:22:20,151 --> 00:22:22,621
of American and Western rights.

274
00:22:23,216 --> 00:22:25,356
So we expected a very strong reaction

275
00:22:25,476 --> 00:22:28,494
but we didn't expect any military
clash between us."

276
00:22:33,684 --> 00:22:36,122
Narration: The barrier split Berlin.

277
00:22:36,928 --> 00:22:38,857
Families were torn apart.

278
00:22:42,394 --> 00:22:46,769
"My father actually woke me up and said,
"Do you know they closed the border."

279
00:22:47,054 --> 00:22:48,071
It was

280
00:22:49,088 --> 00:22:52,306
incomprehensible. You know,
it was so strange.

281
00:22:52,726 --> 00:22:53,743
And

282
00:22:54,037 --> 00:22:56,265
then my mother came in crying

283
00:22:56,385 --> 00:22:59,337
and my elder sister and we were
thinking, you know,

284
00:22:59,457 --> 00:23:01,132
'How do we get my sister back?'

285
00:23:01,378 --> 00:23:06,954
My sister, that summer, had stayed with
my aunt just outside of East Berlin.

286
00:23:07,392 --> 00:23:09,310
So we all took the S-Bahn

287
00:23:09,430 --> 00:23:15,338
and it was an absolute chaos. It was
terrible, people crying, shouting,

288
00:23:15,458 --> 00:23:18,187
some were frightened, some were angry

289
00:23:18,307 --> 00:23:19,324
and

290
00:23:19,858 --> 00:23:22,653
I just remember I was so frightened.
I thought

291
00:23:22,773 --> 00:23:26,502
we would never see my sister.
She's lost, so to speak."

292
00:23:36,598 --> 00:23:38,392
"A pitiful old woman

293
00:23:38,512 --> 00:23:40,680
timidly walked up the three stairs

294
00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:43,025
to one of these Trapos
[Transport Police]

295
00:23:43,145 --> 00:23:46,076
and said, 'When is the next train
to West Berlin,'

296
00:23:46,196 --> 00:23:48,364
because all these people hadn't heard.

297
00:23:48,484 --> 00:23:52,049
The first news was at midnight
over the East Berlin radio

298
00:23:52,169 --> 00:23:56,264
and these people came to the station
thinking they could go to West Berlin.

299
00:23:56,494 --> 00:24:01,557
And I'll never forget the sneering tone
in which this Trapos said to her,

300
00:24:01,677 --> 00:24:05,820
'None of that anymore, Grandma,
you're all sitting in a mousetrap now.'"

301
00:24:18,786 --> 00:24:20,748
"The people were swearing at us.

302
00:24:22,205 --> 00:24:24,496
We felt we were simply doing our duty

303
00:24:24,869 --> 00:24:27,762
but we were getting scolded
from all sides.

304
00:24:31,072 --> 00:24:34,941
The West Berliners yelled at us and the
Eastern demonstrators yelled at us.

305
00:24:35,412 --> 00:24:38,206
We were standing there in the middle.

306
00:24:38,963 --> 00:24:42,053
There was the barbed wire,
there were us guards,

307
00:24:42,403 --> 00:24:44,332
West Berliners, East Berliners.

308
00:24:44,452 --> 00:24:46,754
For a young person, it was terrible."

309
00:24:59,268 --> 00:25:01,690
The anger of West Berliners
boiled over:

310
00:25:02,008 --> 00:25:04,638
They demonstrated against
the division of their city.

311
00:25:12,022 --> 00:25:14,547
They could not believe that
the Western allies

312
00:25:14,667 --> 00:25:16,904
would allow the barriers to remain.

313
00:25:17,226 --> 00:25:21,968
The demonstrations continued,
but the West offered little protest.

314
00:25:24,426 --> 00:25:27,036
Mayor Willy Brandt tried to
calm the crowds;

315
00:25:27,156 --> 00:25:30,731
he feared bloodshed if they
attacked the barriers.

316
00:25:32,258 --> 00:25:37,628
The allies were unsure how to react.
Western rights had not been challenged.

317
00:25:45,703 --> 00:25:47,827
"We were outraged

318
00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:50,991
and also disappointed.

319
00:25:53,224 --> 00:25:56,101
The mayor didn't manage to persuade
the allied commanders

320
00:25:56,221 --> 00:25:58,896
to make even a small protest."

321
00:26:00,225 --> 00:26:03,060
"People were not clear what
exactly was going on.

322
00:26:03,310 --> 00:26:07,927
It was almost 12 hours before
it really registered

323
00:26:08,337 --> 00:26:13,953
that this was going to be a total
sealing of the inner sector borders.

324
00:26:14,277 --> 00:26:16,935
Nobody was quite sure what
to do about the subject,

325
00:26:17,055 --> 00:26:19,693
what exactly was the scope of it.

326
00:26:20,624 --> 00:26:25,159
The focus of all of the planners
had been on the threat

327
00:26:25,279 --> 00:26:28,063
the possible necessity of having
to take military action

328
00:26:28,183 --> 00:26:30,583
to block a Soviet move on Berlin.

329
00:26:30,801 --> 00:26:32,984
And here suddenly everybody
was relieved

330
00:26:33,104 --> 00:26:35,474
to find out that the Soviets
had found a way

331
00:26:35,594 --> 00:26:37,657
to resolve their problem
with the refugees

332
00:26:37,777 --> 00:26:40,546
in a way that did not affect
allied rights."

333
00:26:43,042 --> 00:26:47,600
For the allies, the closed border
stabilized the tense Berlin situation.

334
00:26:48,591 --> 00:26:52,791
It was ordinary Berliners, and their
families, who paid the price.

335
00:26:54,115 --> 00:26:58,463
In East Berlin, one soldier saw
his last chance to escape.

336
00:27:06,307 --> 00:27:09,603
"At 2 o'clock I assigned tasks
to my soldiers.

337
00:27:09,723 --> 00:27:14,741
I was in front and I spread the others
out so that it wouldn't look suspicious.

338
00:27:14,986 --> 00:27:16,889
Nobody noticed anything.

339
00:27:17,713 --> 00:27:19,580
From 2 until 4 o'clock

340
00:27:19,791 --> 00:27:24,096
I was thinking about the situation and
wondering what was the right decision.

341
00:27:24,216 --> 00:27:27,428
I would have to leave my parents
and my sister.

342
00:27:28,182 --> 00:27:30,382
Finally I took the decision.

343
00:27:31,942 --> 00:27:34,283
I jumped over the barbed
wire at 4 o'clock.

344
00:27:34,642 --> 00:27:37,684
Then I was in the West and they
received me with a great cheer.

345
00:27:38,175 --> 00:27:39,778
I was the first."

346
00:27:52,226 --> 00:27:57,151
Three days later, concrete blocks
began to replace the barbed wire.

347
00:28:03,616 --> 00:28:09,151
Along the sector boundaries rose the
Berlin Wall, carving the city in two.

348
00:28:14,616 --> 00:28:17,274
In West Berlin morale was low.

349
00:28:21,356 --> 00:28:23,863
Confidence in allied protection
crumbled.

350
00:28:25,863 --> 00:28:31,589
Mayor Willy Brandt sent an angry letter
to President Kennedy demanding action.

351
00:28:38,972 --> 00:28:42,875
"The idea was, since there had been
no reaction in Washington,

352
00:28:44,437 --> 00:28:47,410
we had to make it clear
to the President

353
00:28:47,930 --> 00:28:51,246
that there might be a
breakdown in morale,

354
00:28:52,396 --> 00:28:54,122
a loss of trust.

355
00:28:56,916 --> 00:29:01,149
Something more than just
a protest had to be done."

356
00:29:02,875 --> 00:29:06,121
"I think it's probably putting it
mildly to say he was furious.

357
00:29:06,505 --> 00:29:07,450
He had

358
00:29:07,570 --> 00:29:13,108
Kennedy felt that he had shown that he
was prepared to go to the brink of war,

359
00:29:13,228 --> 00:29:15,738
maybe even over the brink of war
to defend Berlin,

360
00:29:15,858 --> 00:29:18,424
and here he was being criticized
for doing nothing

361
00:29:18,757 --> 00:29:21,579
by, as somebody put it, a mere mayor."

362
00:29:23,799 --> 00:29:26,538
But Kennedy realized that
a gesture was needed,

363
00:29:26,658 --> 00:29:30,388
a sign that America still meant
to defend West Berlin.

364
00:29:30,758 --> 00:29:32,497
He ordered a show of force.

365
00:29:36,227 --> 00:29:39,826
An American troop convoy was
sent to Berlin up the autobahn

366
00:29:39,946 --> 00:29:41,505
across East Germany.

367
00:29:41,830 --> 00:29:44,390
The plan was to test East
German reaction,

368
00:29:44,661 --> 00:29:48,317
and to reaffirm allied access
rights to Berlin.

369
00:29:50,058 --> 00:29:53,056
The Americans were stopped
and counted.

370
00:29:55,116 --> 00:29:56,379
They waited...

371
00:29:58,886 --> 00:30:00,368
and were let through.

372
00:30:13,028 --> 00:30:15,242
The troops arrived safely.

373
00:30:24,192 --> 00:30:26,622
America's vice president,
Lyndon Johnson,

374
00:30:26,742 --> 00:30:30,009
flew to the city as Kennedy's
personal representative.

375
00:30:30,803 --> 00:30:35,830
He was accompanied by Gen. Lucius
Clay, hero of the Berlin airlift.

376
00:30:36,337 --> 00:30:39,187
Johnson brought a message
from President Kennedy.

377
00:30:39,776 --> 00:30:42,351
"He wants you to know

378
00:30:42,598 --> 00:30:46,462
that the pledge he has given
to the freedom

379
00:30:46,582 --> 00:30:48,133
of West Berlin

380
00:30:48,735 --> 00:30:54,694
and to the rights of Western
access to Berlin is firm."

381
00:31:04,016 --> 00:31:09,660
In the East people risked death to flee
through the last chinks in the barrier.

382
00:31:22,100 --> 00:31:25,367
"All of a sudden I saw my friend
running. And I said to myself,

383
00:31:25,487 --> 00:31:28,504
"Oh my God, you're not going
to make it."

384
00:31:29,203 --> 00:31:33,683
And I couldn't run,
I turned into a pillar of salt.

385
00:31:34,587 --> 00:31:38,204
And an elderly woman said to me,
"Go girl, run too,

386
00:31:38,324 --> 00:31:41,216
you're still young, run!"

387
00:31:41,531 --> 00:31:43,593
So I just started running.

388
00:31:47,168 --> 00:31:50,798
My friend had hurt her face,
but I'd only ripped my sweater.

389
00:31:50,918 --> 00:31:53,428
Apart from that I wasn't hurt.

390
00:31:55,977 --> 00:31:57,785
We were incredibly happy,

391
00:31:58,044 --> 00:32:00,003
we laughed and cried.

392
00:32:01,935 --> 00:32:03,894
We'd just made it."

393
00:32:06,633 --> 00:32:10,222
Many more made an impulsive
dive for freedom.

394
00:32:14,592 --> 00:32:17,373
"One day he didn't return home.

395
00:32:18,051 --> 00:32:20,119
I was waiting and waiting.

396
00:32:20,239 --> 00:32:22,886
He didn't come during the night
or the next day

397
00:32:23,174 --> 00:32:25,352
and I thought, "What has happened?"

398
00:32:25,756 --> 00:32:27,825
And then my brother-in-law came.

399
00:32:28,146 --> 00:32:31,448
"Don't you know?" he said.
"He's in the West."

400
00:32:32,722 --> 00:32:35,010
My whole world collapsed.

401
00:32:35,667 --> 00:32:37,886
I had to collect his things
from work.

402
00:32:38,846 --> 00:32:42,983
It was like collecting the
belongings of a dead person."

403
00:32:46,202 --> 00:32:49,407
Later Heinz Karstens helped
his wife to escape.

404
00:32:56,380 --> 00:32:59,229
Where the border ran down
the middle of the street,

405
00:32:59,349 --> 00:33:01,503
windows overlooked the West.

406
00:33:24,976 --> 00:33:28,113
Helping people escape became
a routine assignment

407
00:33:28,233 --> 00:33:30,319
for West Berlin's Fire Brigade.

408
00:33:37,865 --> 00:33:41,317
"It became the custom that people
who wanted to escape,

409
00:33:41,437 --> 00:33:43,111
people who wanted to leave,

410
00:33:43,231 --> 00:33:48,264
would throw little pieces of paper out
of the windows into Bernauer Strasse.

411
00:33:48,606 --> 00:33:52,593
The number of the building,
the floor, the window

412
00:33:52,713 --> 00:33:55,305
2nd or 3rd window was written on it,

413
00:33:55,425 --> 00:33:58,359
and the time, for example 10 o'clock,

414
00:33:58,479 --> 00:34:00,867
that they wanted to jump."

415
00:34:01,922 --> 00:34:06,031
"Here are perhaps the most dramatic
scenes ever to come out of Berlin.

416
00:34:06,151 --> 00:34:08,724
ossing belongings from the window
of an apartment

417
00:34:08,844 --> 00:34:11,354
overlooking the Western
border and freedom,

418
00:34:11,474 --> 00:34:13,847
an escapee is prepared to
jump to safety

419
00:34:13,967 --> 00:34:17,948
into a net held by police and
firemen of West Berlin.

420
00:34:24,242 --> 00:34:28,585
Now then here is a rescue episode
that is even more extraordinary.

421
00:34:28,889 --> 00:34:31,563
An attempt is being made
by sympathetic Germans

422
00:34:31,683 --> 00:34:34,144
to ensure the escape of
a brave woman.

423
00:34:34,379 --> 00:34:37,503
While communist police try to
pull her back through the window,

424
00:34:37,623 --> 00:34:39,914
below there is freedom's grip.

425
00:34:40,034 --> 00:34:43,065
A blood-chilling sequence
that the News of the Day camera

426
00:34:43,185 --> 00:34:45,805
follows to its dramatic conclusion.

427
00:34:51,380 --> 00:34:53,845
She's safe at last!"

428
00:34:56,407 --> 00:35:00,065
The East Germans blocked
even this last loophole.

429
00:35:06,188 --> 00:35:08,818
People swam lakes and canals,

430
00:35:08,938 --> 00:35:10,654
clung under trains,

431
00:35:10,774 --> 00:35:14,778
hid in cars, climbed
barriers under fire.

432
00:35:15,668 --> 00:35:19,011
Hundreds failed. Many died.

433
00:35:23,641 --> 00:35:25,847
Despite the human suffering,

434
00:35:25,967 --> 00:35:30,635
East Germany justified the Wall
as a bulwark of peace.

435
00:35:34,787 --> 00:35:36,362
"When the barbed wire was put up,

436
00:35:36,482 --> 00:35:39,174
the main argument was
that peace had been saved.

437
00:35:39,489 --> 00:35:42,612
It wasn't a question of
domestic difficulties.

438
00:35:43,598 --> 00:35:47,009
Ulbricht drew a veil of silence
over the economic problems,

439
00:35:47,303 --> 00:35:50,166
they talked always of the
anti-fascist barrier,

440
00:35:50,286 --> 00:35:52,385
that's how it was officially
described,

441
00:35:52,505 --> 00:35:54,324
the protective bulwark."

442
00:35:56,186 --> 00:35:58,576
"They did it as a necessity

443
00:35:59,741 --> 00:36:03,302
and I thought, 'What kind
of system is it

444
00:36:05,974 --> 00:36:08,544
that can only exist

445
00:36:09,730 --> 00:36:11,312
by keeping...

446
00:36:12,364 --> 00:36:15,638
by keeping them with force

447
00:36:16,145 --> 00:36:18,474
in their own bailiwick.'

448
00:36:21,145 --> 00:36:26,926
And the Wall was the actual
symbol of a defeat,

449
00:36:28,214 --> 00:36:30,255
of inferiority."

450
00:36:36,461 --> 00:36:40,256
Escapes went on;
killings went on.

451
00:36:40,873 --> 00:36:42,832
Telephone lines were cut;

452
00:36:43,339 --> 00:36:46,037
now the two cities could
no longer talk.

453
00:36:51,120 --> 00:36:54,859
At the few allied crossing points,
tension was high.

454
00:36:55,900 --> 00:37:00,037
In October an American diplomat was
stopped by East German guards

455
00:37:00,157 --> 00:37:03,393
as he was crossing to visit
the theater in East Berlin.

456
00:37:03,640 --> 00:37:05,996
The Americans decided
to make an issue of it

457
00:37:06,116 --> 00:37:09,530
and assert their right to
free movement in Berlin.

458
00:37:10,010 --> 00:37:12,695
Lucius Clay was back on the scene.

459
00:37:14,051 --> 00:37:18,859
"Clay's calculation was that the Soviets
were responsible for East Berlin,

460
00:37:18,979 --> 00:37:20,268
not the East Germans,

461
00:37:20,388 --> 00:37:22,456
and he was determined
that the Soviets

462
00:37:22,576 --> 00:37:25,116
would recognize their
responsibility there."

463
00:37:26,197 --> 00:37:28,376
To test East German reaction,

464
00:37:28,496 --> 00:37:32,095
Clay ordered armed American soldiers
to escort vehicles back

465
00:37:32,215 --> 00:37:35,436
and forth across the border
at Checkpoint Charlie.

466
00:37:38,677 --> 00:37:40,486
"He once told me, he said,

467
00:37:40,606 --> 00:37:44,745
'I learned early in the game of
dealing with the Russians. If...

468
00:37:45,718 --> 00:37:49,951
the Russians understand one thing
and that's force, that's strength.

469
00:37:50,239 --> 00:37:53,485
You must never negotiate or
deal with the Russians

470
00:37:53,605 --> 00:37:56,006
without having a position
of strength.'"

471
00:37:57,650 --> 00:38:01,924
To underline his point, Clay moved
tanks up to the checkpoint.

472
00:38:13,034 --> 00:38:16,418
The Russians brought up
their tanks and guns.

473
00:38:17,281 --> 00:38:20,500
The two sides faced each
other barrel to barrel.

474
00:38:22,918 --> 00:38:25,162
"The telephone rang in
the command post.

475
00:38:25,282 --> 00:38:28,711
He said 'Let me speak to General
Clay'. I said 'Who is this?'

476
00:38:28,831 --> 00:38:33,448
He said, 'This is the military police
officer at Checkpoint Charlie.' He said

477
00:38:33,892 --> 00:38:37,481
'Holy Christ!' He said, 'The Russians
have rolled in here in force.'

478
00:38:37,601 --> 00:38:39,372
He said, 'They've got tanks'.

479
00:38:39,492 --> 00:38:42,947
He said, 'The balloon's getting
ready to go up.' He said,

480
00:38:43,067 --> 00:38:45,878
'Defecation is about
to hit the fan.'"

481
00:38:47,523 --> 00:38:49,756
"The situation was dangerous.

482
00:38:55,153 --> 00:38:57,865
The tanks stood facing each other.

483
00:39:01,030 --> 00:39:04,619
Our tank crews were told
to exercise restraint,

484
00:39:07,974 --> 00:39:10,878
to give no grounds for
provocation."

485
00:39:15,591 --> 00:39:21,344
"The dead seriousness of it became
more intense with each hour.

486
00:39:21,673 --> 00:39:26,001
The Western forces went on alert,
Strategic Air Command went on alert,

487
00:39:26,121 --> 00:39:28,015
NATO went on alert,

488
00:39:28,384 --> 00:39:31,932
troops were being cranked up
around the world

489
00:39:34,218 --> 00:39:40,752
and one never knew if the intensity
of the situation in Berlin escalated,

490
00:39:41,122 --> 00:39:44,451
where would be the next
sore point."

491
00:39:47,499 --> 00:39:51,171
"Khrushchev ordered the commander
of Soviet troops in Germany

492
00:39:51,291 --> 00:39:55,388
that if the West used force,
they should respond with force.

493
00:40:07,361 --> 00:40:10,183
"I had a phone by one ear
receiving information

494
00:40:10,303 --> 00:40:14,183
from Soviet military headquarters
in Germany.

495
00:40:16,608 --> 00:40:18,991
The other phone was connected
to the Kremlin.

496
00:40:19,361 --> 00:40:22,594
As soon as I got the information
I reported to the Kremlin

497
00:40:22,714 --> 00:40:25,882
what was happening at Friedrich
Strasse."

498
00:40:28,005 --> 00:40:31,932
"President Kennedy had sent
a message to Khrushchev

499
00:40:32,052 --> 00:40:36,808
through a new private channel that had
been established only a month earlier,

500
00:40:37,041 --> 00:40:42,548
for a back channel between the
White House and Khrushchev.

501
00:40:42,668 --> 00:40:48,552
And that President Kennedy had asked
Khrushchev to take the first move."

502
00:40:50,907 --> 00:40:52,757
"The Americans sent a message.

503
00:40:53,092 --> 00:40:56,681
It said: 'In order for us to move
our tanks without losing face,

504
00:40:56,801 --> 00:40:59,750
you should move your tanks
back to a certain distance.'

505
00:41:00,928 --> 00:41:04,188
Our tanks stood 200 meters
from the Americans."

506
00:41:05,147 --> 00:41:09,230
"The lead Soviet tank cranked up
his engine and backed up

507
00:41:09,350 --> 00:41:11,270
some 5 or 10 meters

508
00:41:11,668 --> 00:41:16,024
and we received instructions to
have the American tanks to

509
00:41:16,489 --> 00:41:19,462
withdraw exactly the same distance."

510
00:41:23,530 --> 00:41:26,380
"It wasn't a good enough reason
to start a war.

511
00:41:27,181 --> 00:41:28,701
Khrushchev himself said,

512
00:41:28,821 --> 00:41:32,455
'We're not unleashing a Third World
War because of Berlin.'

513
00:41:33,016 --> 00:41:35,770
The Americans realized that too."

514
00:41:37,852 --> 00:41:41,455
The soldiers pulled back,
but the Wall remained.

515
00:41:41,920 --> 00:41:43,811
The East Germans built it higher,

516
00:41:43,931 --> 00:41:47,934
and backed it with fences,
trip wires and tank traps.

517
00:41:53,401 --> 00:41:58,305
During the first year, 50 Germans
died trying to cross to the West.

518
00:41:59,456 --> 00:42:02,525
One of them was 18-year-old
Peter Fechter.

519
00:42:03,593 --> 00:42:08,689
"The Americans gathered. The soldiers
gathered on one side not doing anything

520
00:42:09,428 --> 00:42:14,825
and on the other side the GDR.
The police there

521
00:42:14,945 --> 00:42:18,044
were standing on their side
not doing anything

522
00:42:18,934 --> 00:42:23,742
and this young man was huddled.
I remember he was lying like an S shape

523
00:42:24,579 --> 00:42:28,729
and first he screamed, he cried,
he shouted for help

524
00:42:29,044 --> 00:42:33,852
and as the hours went on his
voice got weaker and weaker.

525
00:42:34,264 --> 00:42:38,880
It was so heart-rendering that

526
00:42:39,236 --> 00:42:42,496
in the middle of nowhere
was a human being dying

527
00:42:43,002 --> 00:42:46,085
and two groups was facing
each other,

528
00:42:46,537 --> 00:42:51,674
too worried to act because they didn't
know what the other one was going to do.

529
00:42:54,235 --> 00:42:56,385
"It was, it was,

530
00:42:58,961 --> 00:43:00,988
it was really horrible.

531
00:43:01,290 --> 00:43:04,824
You were just standing there and
you thought he is just dying

532
00:43:04,944 --> 00:43:09,112
and you can't do anything. I mean I've
never been in that situation before,

533
00:43:09,232 --> 00:43:12,742
neither after, where you
actually see a person dying

534
00:43:12,862 --> 00:43:14,665
and you can't do anything.

535
00:43:15,187 --> 00:43:19,115
And I'm sure everyone else
around me felt the same."

536
00:43:28,741 --> 00:43:32,764
The Wall was the supreme symbol
of the Cold War's cruelty

537
00:43:33,077 --> 00:43:34,836
and Europe's division.

538
00:43:37,481 --> 00:43:39,581
Its message was a bitter one:

539
00:43:39,922 --> 00:43:42,009
Whatever happened beyond that line,

540
00:43:42,129 --> 00:43:45,649
the West might lament,
but would not interfere.

541
00:43:48,459 --> 00:43:49,796
"The Wall

542
00:43:51,146 --> 00:43:54,500
was a way out, really,
for Khrushchev.

543
00:43:54,773 --> 00:44:00,718
And although the Berlin affair
continued to be discussed,

544
00:44:00,838 --> 00:44:05,560
it was not, no longer in
a state of crisis,

545
00:44:05,680 --> 00:44:07,619
as it had been before the Wall."

546
00:44:17,708 --> 00:44:21,594
In 1963 President Kennedy
visited West Berlin.

547
00:44:33,880 --> 00:44:35,694
"Freedom is indivisible

548
00:44:36,188 --> 00:44:39,185
and when one man is enslaved,

549
00:44:39,478 --> 00:44:43,364
all are not free.
When all are free,

550
00:44:43,484 --> 00:44:47,115
and we can look forward
to that day,

551
00:44:47,235 --> 00:44:50,763
when this city will be joined
as one and this country.

552
00:44:51,035 --> 00:44:56,285
And this great continent of Europe
in a peaceful and hopeful globe.

553
00:44:56,660 --> 00:45:00,802
When that day finally comes,
as it will,

554
00:45:00,922 --> 00:45:05,890
the people of West Berlin can
take sober satisfaction

555
00:45:06,010 --> 00:45:11,323
in the fact that they were in the
front lines for almost two decades.

556
00:45:16,778 --> 00:45:19,164
All free men,

557
00:45:19,573 --> 00:45:24,568
wherever they may live,
are citizens of Berlin

558
00:45:24,926 --> 00:45:28,148
and therefore as a free man

559
00:45:28,268 --> 00:45:30,977
I take pride in the words,

560
00:45:31,097 --> 00:45:33,074
'Ich bin ein Berliner.'"

561
00:45:47,836 --> 00:45:51,204
Subtitles by
Juan Claudio Epsteyn

562
00:45:51,831 --> 00:45:55,159
E-mail:
epsteyn@hotmail.com