Shortly after midnight on August 13, 1961, East German soldiers
began laying down barbed wire and bricks as a barrier between
Soviet-controlled East Berlin and the democratic western section
of the city.
After World War II, defeated Germany was divided into Soviet,
American, British and French zones of occupation.
The city of Berlin, though technically part of the Soviet zone, was
also split, with the Soviets taking the eastern part of the city.
After a massive Allied airlift in June 1948 foiled a Soviet attempt
to blockade West Berlin, the eastern section was drawn even
more tightly into the Soviet fold.
Over the next 12 years, cut off from its western counterpart and
basically reduced to a Soviet satellite, East Germany saw
between 2.5 million and 3 million of its citizens head to West
Germany in search of better opportunities.
By 1961, some 1,000 East Germans—including many skilled
laborers, professionals and intellectuals—were leaving every
day.
Berlin Wall memorial at Bernauer Strasse, Berlin, Germany.
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