Stories from the Berlin Wall

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(above: photo of the former “death strip” between the Berlin Walls along Bernauer Strasse.)

Today is the anniversary of the building of the first barrades along the sector boundary in the city of Berlin that would become the Berlin Wall some 46 years ago, on the 13th August 1961. The anniversary brings news of documents found in a regional archive that there was a clear “shoot to kill” order to guards along the Berlin Wall and the longer West-East German border for those caught fleeing from the communist regime in the DDR. Although many historians have long believed such an order to have been in place, this is the first time that documentary evidence has come to light. The order issued by the Ministry of State Security (the Stasi) included the phrase:

“Don’t hesitate to use your weapon even when border breaches happen with women and children, which traitors have often exploited in the past.”

The story is covered by Der Spiegel, Deutsche Welle and the Times.

The Berlin Wall is understandably on people’s minds this week, and my copy of the Guardian Weekly included a review from the Washington Post of Frederick Taylor’s ‘The Berlin Wall: A World Divided‘. It is an excellent book, full of details about the Berlin Wall, its construction and lifespan, from those living with its presence on the streets to the politicians that ordered its building, and the reactions of the diplomats and politicians to this physical representation of the Cold War divide. If you want to get to grips with the story of the Berlin Wall you could do a lot worse that Mr Taylor’s book. If you happen to be in Berlin, you should also check out the Documentation Centre on Bernauer Strasse. It is an extremely interesting and thought-provoking place, with fascinating exhibitions…it is a shame that it seems to be much less visited than the more well known museum at Checkpoint Charlie.

Other Berlin Wall links in English: An overview of the Wall, overhead sights and memorial sites on Berlin.de. A brief overview of the history of the Wall from BerlinLife.com. A previous post here on the Berlin Diary about Peter Schneider’s book, the Wall Jumper. And of course, the Wikipedia Page.

On the Atari DJ Tapedeck: ‘Step On,’ the Happy Mondays.

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