Declassification: rise and fall of the berlin wall dvd (The History Channel) – 94 min in length Synopsis

DECLASSIFICATION: RISE AND FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL DVD (The History Channel) – 94 min. in length

Synopsis:

When the Berlin Wall was built with a few railway cars and a lot of barbed wire in August 1961, no one could have foreseen its rise and fall. In this feature-length special, HISTORY uses computer imagery to reconstruct how the wall grew from a meager obstacle to a mighty barrier of seven concentric walls with ditches, fences, signal wires, tank-traps and a flood-lit death strip patrolled by half-starved dogs a nearly impenetrable barricade with a 96-mile circumference, 200-plus bunkers and 302 watchtowers. RISE AND FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL gets firsthand accounts from the people who tried to escape this Wall of Death by any means possible, including tunnels, hot air balloons, wind surfing boats, bi-planes and a cable railway. Additional interviews with the security officials who designed the wall and Stasi men who protected it, border guards, politicians, historians and journalists help to breathe life into the Cold War icon whose demise, beginning on November 9, 1989, signaled the start of one of history’s most dramatic political transformations. 
* Built to trap Eastern Germans “inside a kind of prison”

* Berlin Wall lasted 28 years and came down as suddenly as it went up

* 1945 by the end of WWII more than 55 mill. people have died and Europe lay in ruins. Russia’s Red Army took

Berlin at a cost of 200,000 Red soldiers – Stalin wanted to keep the capital of defeated Germany as a spoil of

war.
* As the ruins were cleared, the Russians had to share Berlin with the Western Allies – a recipe for disaster.

* The German capital and country was to be jointly administered by the 4 victorious Allies in 4 separate zones. In

the West - France, Britain, and the U.S. In the East - the Soviet Union. In the middle of the Soviet zone, Berlin

was divided again.

* From 1949, there were 2 German states – Only border still open was in Berlin

* Between 1949 and 1960, up to 3 million Germans left the Communist East and headed west through West Berlin.

As a result, the E. German population dangerously shrunk. E. Germany’s weakened economy desperately

needed its work force. Communists were afraid the economy would collapse - they needed to find a solution

about West Berlin.
* On the night of August 13, 1961, the Communist government of the German Democratic Republic (GDR, or

East Germany) began to build a 6-ft. high barbed wire and concrete wall between East and West Berlin (known

as the Berlin Wall) to keep Western “fascists” from entering East Germany and undermining the socialist state.
* With the construction of this wall, E. Germany sealed West Berlin off from the outside world for the next 28

years. No one knew this wall would grow to become so massive.

* The original wall was built of barbed wire and cinder blocks and was 97 miles long, dividing the 2 parts of Berlin

and separating West Berlin and its 2 million citizens from the rest of East Germany. Western Allies said they

would object and protest, but would not go to war.

* Within weeks, a more elaborate border structure snaked its way through Berlin, making escape nearly

impossible. It included watchtowers, a 6-ft. high wall topped with barbed wire, concrete obstacles to block

vehicles, a rear fence, and between them a border (death) strip

* Thousands of families/friends were torn apart - separated by this wall
* On Aug. 15, 1961, Conrad Schumann, a border policeman, was the first to escape to West Berlin and was one of

many who risked their lives to escape.

* East Germany moved to seal off parks, bridges, houses, roofs, and sewers to prevent more escapes
* Check-Point Charlie was the most famous and busiest borders crossing in Berlin, the epicenter of the Cold War.

The Western Allies had to make sure it stayed open, but E. Germans were already making it difficult for them

to cross. In October 1961, an American diplomat was blocked from going into East Berlin. This escalated tensions

because, according to the 4-power agreements, the Allies had the right to cross over the border whenever they

wanted to. So, they pushed through to E. Berlin and then came back. This action created the first real East-West

crisis over Berlin. Soviets then drove their heavy armor up to Check-Point Charlie. The Americans responded as

American tanks sped to the Check-Point and faced off with the Russian tanks – standoff lasted for 16 hours, but

neither Kennedy nor Khrushchev wanted a war. Both sides pulled back. The Berlin crisis was over, but the wall

still stood, which separated thousands of people.
* People desperately tried many methods of escaping E. Germany – methods included removing a car’s gas tank

and hiding under the hood where the gas tank would have been, climbing over the wall, going through a

cemetery behind the wall, climbing down into a subway shaft and hitching subway train rides as they traveled

back and forth through 2 parts of West Berlin (passing under East Berlin along the way), digging tunnels, riding

over the border in a hot air balloon, and riding in a plane.
* Later on, border guards became more thorough with their point-checks by checking underneath cars with

long-handled mirrors and shoving flexible rods deep inside gas tanks to ensure nothing else was in it

* The barriers continued to rise (people couldn’t even see each other) and more obstacles were set up (hungry

dogs) causing increased desperation to escape.

* In the first 12 months of the barrier, more than 20 escapers were killed at the wall. Today, more than 130

memorials are erected to remember those people who were killed trying to cross the wall in Berlin – shot,

drowned, or from falling from buildings.
* Buildings close to the wall were demolished to make it easier to spot escapers. Not only in Berlin, but the whole

border between the 2 German states was massively reinforced to make it as impenetrable as the wall in Berlin.

A death zone was constructed, tearing the 2 German nations apart. This 559-mile border plus the wall around

Berlin were known as the “Anti-Fascist Protection Barrier,” which required a force of 30,000 border guards who

received special training and a strict indoctrination program to stop provocations. Task of guarding the wall was

tedious - the guards on both sides engaged in “binocular warfare.”

* On April 17, 1963, Wolfgang Engels, an East German Soldier, was desperate to escape and drove an armored

personnel carrier through the wall. He was shot in the back in the process, but he escaped and survived with the

help of West Berliners who came to his aid. He was then placed on E. Germans’ “Black List” – theft, desertion,

and damaging state property.

* The thin concrete sections of the wall were eventually replaced with L-shaped concrete and steel slabs, each one

12 feet high and weighing 3 tons.
* In June 1963, President Kennedy finally visited West Berlin, which gave West Berliners the message that U.S.

would support them
* By 1964 more than 70 tunnels had been dug from West to East (and visa-versa) freeing more than 250 people,

but the East German Secret Police find a way to stop more from escaping by infiltrating escape groups even

before they start digging.
* In the 1960s both sides learn they have to live with the wall for good or ill. It gave the GDR (East Germany) an

opportunity to stabilize itself (once it knew its labor force couldn’t leave) – in a sense, the wall saved the GDR.
* In 1961, East Germany sealed its own borders with barbed wire and concrete to save itself from economic

collapse. For 10 years they continued to reinforce this frontier against evermore daring escapers.
* In May 1971, Erich Honecker became the new dictator in East Germany. While he gave the appearance of

being more modern, the wall remained a public symbol of his absolute state control
* 560 miles of border fencing between the 2 Germanys with over 1,000 watchtowers and 50,000 guards, 60,000

automatic guns connected to trip wires, mine fields laid with dinner plate-sized type 66 anti-personnel mines.

For any East German who still wanted to escape, the mission seemed impossible and the Cold War was heating

up.
* In the 1970s, the Soviet Union stationed nuclear missiles in East Germany. The Americans planned to do the

same in West Germany.
* East Germany started to prosper - population and economy stabilized, apparent proof that Communism works
* In the 1970s, there was a series of important international agreements. The East Germany Regime had finally

won full recognition throughout the world in exchange for signing away a little more freedoms to its citizens.

They were now allowed freedom of movement, freedom to choose where they worked, and freedom of

expression. Despite these freedoms, the wall in East Berlin was built even higher and broader because 1,000

people a year were still escaping. Wall was built to be permanent, intimidating, and deadly (concrete L-shaped

slab topped off with a concrete cylinder that was impossible to grip).
* If an East German told a political joke, he’d be imprisoned
* July 3, 1979, Peter Strelzyk, an engineer and an inventor, invented a hot air balloon to carry him and his family

over the border from East Germany to West Germany, but they crashed in the woods (still on the Eastern side).

The balloon was discovered along with evidence, including Mrs. Strelzyk’s medicine. It was only a matter of time

before the family was found so the family decided to quickly build another balloon, buying small bits of fabric

from many different shops. Finally, on September 16, 1979, they attempted the escape again, this time

succeeding even though they had burned a hole in the canopy with a blast of the flame (80 ft. in the air), which

caused them to go down again (this time landing on the West side)
* By the 1980s, East Germany was never fully able to stabilize and make its people happy. Many East Germans

preferred to go to West Germany where the people had much greater freedoms, but many didn’t want to risk

their lives.

* Half a billion dollars was sunk into fortifying the wall, but people were still able to escape

* East Germany had too many people in prison and was bankrupt by the 1980s. So they worked out a deal with

the West Germans whereby East Germans agreed to “sell their prisoners” in exchange for money. So, West

Germany bought people’s freedom for up to $50,000 each and gave loans to East Germany under the condition

that the booby-trapped guns on the border had to be taken down. 35,000 prisoners were sold, which helped

East Germany get out of bankruptcy.
* By the 1980, East Germany was planning on building a high-tech wall using computer technology in which people

wouldn’t even be able to get near it without being picked up by various sensors and alarms (wall 2000) – infrared

laser vibration detectors
* In 1985 Gorbachev became the new Communist dictator of USSR and he began talking peace. American

President Ronald Reagan was determined to regain the initiative. He visited Berlin in July 1987.

* With lack of continued support from USSR, the Berlin Wall stood until November 9, 1989, when the head of the

East German Communist Party announced that citizens of the GDR could freely cross the border. The wall was

no longer a political separation between East and West Germany.

* Crowds swarmed the wall. Some crossed freely into West Berlin, while others brought hammers and picks and

began to chip away at the wall itself.
* October 3 1990 (one year after the wall came down), Germany was reunified, signifying an end of Communism
* During the 28 years the wall existed, at least 40,000 people had escaped across the border to the West, 75,000

more were prosecuted for trying, and over 1,300 had died, including at least 136 in Berlin itself, but the exact

total is still unknown since East Germans covered up many of the deaths
* Today, the wall has nearly disappeared. Remnants of the wall can be found in museums, others as souvenirs.

Most of the concrete and steel that formed the wall have been recycled to help rebuild Germany, a once divided

country.
* To this day, the Berlin Wall remains one of the most powerful and enduring symbols of the Cold War.