It Was Twenty Years Ago TodayThat the Wall Came Down to Stay: Freedom and the Berlin Wall
Posted: Monday, November 09, 2009
by Jeff Brown
Inner Projection
One night, Ingo Bethke, a border guard of the People's Army, and a friend escaped over the wall. This was early in the wall's history before it became nearly impossible to escape over it on foot or by crawling over. His reason for escaping? "It was a sense of adventure. I wanted to see the country the Beatles came from."It was twenty years ago today,
Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play
They've been going in and out of style
But they're guaranteed to raise a smile.
So may I introduce to you
The act you've known for all these years,
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
(Beatles "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band")
Here were people put into a situation to discover more than many in the free world what freedom means, and more importantly, what it means to lose it and gain it back in all its glory by being reunited with brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers, any and all of familial ties.
After WWII, Britain, France, and the U.S. occupied Germany in the west. The East became known as the German Democratic Republic (Soviets being the overseeing government) which was basically run as a concentration camp by its government to keep its people from leaving. But this would eventually be one of the contributing factors to the GDR's collapse, along with a dying economy, and a Mikhail Gorbachev who refused to support it leaving it to die; a year after its collapse a reunited Germany arose, Germany as we know it today.
However, there was a subdivision. The city of Berlin was segmented in the same manor as the country: the west going to England, France, and the U.S.; the east going to communist Germany. This was more of a power play than done for ideological purposes. To support, at one point in 1961 a confrontation arose between American and Russian tanks as they met at Check Point Charlie. It was a basic testosterone enhanced power play. It had been agreed at the outset that the Allies and Russian soldiers and diplomats would not be stopped in any sector of Berlin, a show of papers being unnecessary.
However, one day an American diplomat refused to show his papers to an East German guard. This set off a series of events that almost turned into WWIII. To emphasize the point that the guard in asking for the diplomat's papers had broken protocol, General Lucious Clay, an aggressive commander of the American sector in 1948, sent a squad of American soldiers with the diplomat to attend the theatrical show he so much desired to see. But not only that, over the next few days American soldiers drove jeeps and trucks back and forth through Check Point Charlie for little to no reason at all as a show of force.
This action brought forth the Soviet tanks that ended up sitting opposite American tanks for sixteen hours in one very tense moment in world history. Eventually, President Kennedy told his troops to stand down, and as Russian tanks pulled away, WWIII was avoided.
It was this very power play, Berlin, this division within a division, that resulted in a contention that would not have existed if the city on the east side of Germany remained within the GDR in its entirety. For it was the separating of families that drove east west in Berlin. Even without the city's division East Germans desired freedom, but maybe not with as much passion as they did in Berlin--family being separated from family.
But what has this event taught us? What did those involved learn to pass on to the rest of the world? an education for the world's betterment. To explore this issue, let's discover some of the heroes and heroines who have inspired millions with their stories.
Klaus Koppen lived in West Germany while his girlfriend Roswitha was back in East Germany. At this time, West Germans were able to cross the border so Klaus drove his Volkswagen Beetle to East Germany to collect his love. To remove her in secrecy, he took out the gas tank from under the hood of the car, leaving just enough gas to pick her up and return to West Germany.
Klaus was able to barely squeeze the petite Roswitha under the hood. However, as they made their way along, the gas line jogged free and gas began to spill and burn Roswitha. They didn't make it to West Germany and turned back. Roswitha said they didn't make a second attempt, for she was frightened and "I'm superstitious. If it doesn't work once, don't do it again." Fortunately, they eventually reunited after the wall came down and are now husband and wife.
Early in the wall's history, it was relatively easy to get over. A man slapped two ladders together, and using it as protection from the barbed wire, was able to climb over; he was pulled to saftey with the help of a few West German friends on the other side. His motivation? to reach his fiancée.
But as time passed, getting people east to west became more and more challenging.
Later on a death zone was built, a swath of land opened up-homes and structures removed-to enable the border guards a clear shot. Also, a barbed wire fence was set, next, alarm wires, dogs on a run, and a rounded wall that didn't allow anyone to grab it securely. Also there was a trap set for the soldiers. Any tower guard who desired to look away was not able to do so, for those escaping would leave footprints in the sand set to trap any guard who desired to participate in an escapee's efforts. But there were certainly inventive ways of escape.
Karl and Horst Muller along with their wives and children escaped via subway. The family went down a shaft in East Germany and flagged down a sub car heading for West Germany. They made it after several scary moments as they passed guards along the way, any time authorized to stop the train if suspicion arose. They made it safely and that night the brothers surprised their brother Rudolf with a visit. Stunned, he barely spoke a word waiting for the shock to run off before he could begin to express his feelings of joy.
However, they did not bring Rudolf's wife because she was guarded closely, for she had done the unspeakable. One day, upon seeing her husband on the other side of the wall, she waved. After being arrested and released, she was under constant watch. But the brothers would not give up. They devised a plan. They would dig a tunnel under the wall.
This project took weeks of all-day digging to achieve. But finally they were through. It was Rudolf who went to get his wife and child. Everything went well until they arrived back at the building that housed their tunnel. A border guard had become suspicious, leveled his gun and yelled for them to halt. They did, but Rudolf knew the guard would shoot, so he shot first killing the guard before he could pull his trigger. Every day since the incident Rudolf has been haunted by the death of the young guard, a price paid for his family's freedom.
As it became near impossible to escape over or even under the wall-mines being set in the dirt underneath-other ways had to be devised. An engineer / inventor, Peter Strelzyk, did just as much. He and his family built a balloon and took off one night to sail over the wall. However, complications arose and the balloon sunk. It being dark, the Strelzyks couldn't tell if they were in East or West Germany. They soon discovered they had fallen short of the wall and had to return home for another attempt. Given two weeks of extra time because an off duty guard decided not to report the incident, the Strelzyks fashioned another balloon and left. However, they had to make it larger this time for friends of the family had desired to come along.
Just a little over two weeks later, the balloon took off without incident again. However, as they approached the wall, search lights began to pan the sky. The balloon was detected; however, because the guards had to call to get authorization to shoot, the Ktrelzyks and friends made it to safety. Another of the many brave and creative successful attempts to escape East Germany.
But before we finish, let's get back to our Beatles fan.
Ingo Bethke may have escaped to the west and would, if he desired, get to see the Beatles. But before doing so, he had greater work to attend to. The rescue of his brother.
Ingo and Holder Bethke decided to fly across the wall and rescue their brother Egbert, but first they had to learn how to fly the small hobby planes, planes that barely had enough room for two and enough power to get two full-grown men off the ground.
But after some practice, the night came to perform the rescue. It was all recorded on cameras strapped to the front of the planes. Ingo would fly down to a park to pick up Egbert while Holder flew above, a lookout for trouble. They communicated via walkie talkie, doing so from liftoff to rescue.
But since it was night, the only thing allowing the brothers to see was the lights coming from the streets and houses. Navigation was difficult. As Ingo approached the park, he noticed a circus had set up numerous tents taking away a good portion of the impromptu landing strip. He did, however, land successfully and pick up his brother. Because of the additional weight and lack of runway they barely made it over the trees. But they did, and they made it home to safety in style.
Because of financial hardships and pressing difficulties in keeping a people incarcerated regardless of how difficult the GDR made it, along with Mikhail Gorbachev's refusal to protect East Germany from dissenters, On November 9, Gunter Schabowski, the East Berlin Communist party boss, declared that starting from midnight East Germans would be free to leave the country without permission at any point along the border, including the crossing-points through the Wall in Berlin.
A nightmare in the lives of East Germans was over that which followed the end of a war that saw 55 million die and a leader who after fifteen failed attempts on his life took his own life. Over 1,000 would die in attempts to flee the GDR via the wall of pain and suffering. But here was a lesson for all those who take freedom for granted, for it is in these heroes and heroines that we have learned the depth of importance of freedom and what it means, as well as the importance and dire need to be with relations regardless of the cost and risk. It has enabled us, the free, to sing with greater conviction and power in celebration of life, in celebration of all those Lonely Hearts who have been reunited before and after the great wall fell.
May freedom ring, forever.
Enclosed is a link that will send you to poignant and touching pictures of the history of the Berlin Wall and the people connected.
But what has this event taught us? What did those involved learn to pass on to the rest of the world? an education for the world's betterment. To explore this issue, let's discover some of the heroes and heroines who have inspired millions with their stories.
Klaus Koppen lived in West Germany while his girlfriend Roswitha was back in East Germany. At this time, West Germans were able to cross the border so Klaus drove his Volkswagen Beetle to East Germany to collect his love. To remove her in secrecy, he took out the gas tank from under the hood of the car, leaving just enough gas to pick her up and return to West Germany.
Klaus was able to barely squeeze the petite Roswitha under the hood. However, as they made their way along, the gas line jogged free and gas began to spill and burn Roswitha. They didn't make it to West Germany and turned back. Roswitha said they didn't make a second attempt, for she was frightened and "I'm superstitious. If it doesn't work once, don't do it again." Fortunately, they eventually reunited after the wall came down and are now husband and wife.
Early in the wall's history, it was relatively easy to get over. A man slapped two ladders together, and using it as protection from the barbed wire, was able to climb over; he was pulled to saftey with the help of a few West German friends on the other side. His motivation? to reach his fiancée.
But as time passed, getting people east to west became more and more challenging.
Later on a death zone was built, a swath of land opened up-homes and structures removed-to enable the border guards a clear shot. Also, a barbed wire fence was set, next, alarm wires, dogs on a run, and a rounded wall that didn't allow anyone to grab it securely. Also there was a trap set for the soldiers. Any tower guard who desired to look away was not able to do so, for those escaping would leave footprints in the sand set to trap any guard who desired to participate in an escapee's efforts. But there were certainly inventive ways of escape.
Karl and Horst Muller along with their wives and children escaped via subway. The family went down a shaft in East Germany and flagged down a sub car heading for West Germany. They made it after several scary moments as they passed guards along the way, any time authorized to stop the train if suspicion arose. They made it safely and that night the brothers surprised their brother Rudolf with a visit. Stunned, he barely spoke a word waiting for the shock to run off before he could begin to express his feelings of joy.
However, they did not bring Rudolf's wife because she was guarded closely, for she had done the unspeakable. One day, upon seeing her husband on the other side of the wall, she waved. After being arrested and released, she was under constant watch. But the brothers would not give up. They devised a plan. They would dig a tunnel under the wall.
This project took weeks of all-day digging to achieve. But finally they were through. It was Rudolf who went to get his wife and child. Everything went well until they arrived back at the building that housed their tunnel. A border guard had become suspicious, leveled his gun and yelled for them to halt. They did, but Rudolf knew the guard would shoot, so he shot first killing the guard before he could pull his trigger. Every day since the incident Rudolf has been haunted by the death of the young guard, a price paid for his family's freedom.
As it became near impossible to escape over or even under the wall-mines being set in the dirt underneath-other ways had to be devised. An engineer / inventor, Peter Strelzyk, did just as much. He and his family built a balloon and took off one night to sail over the wall. However, complications arose and the balloon sunk. It being dark, the Strelzyks couldn't tell if they were in East or West Germany. They soon discovered they had fallen short of the wall and had to return home for another attempt. Given two weeks of extra time because an off duty guard decided not to report the incident, the Strelzyks fashioned another balloon and left. However, they had to make it larger this time for friends of the family had desired to come along.
Just a little over two weeks later, the balloon took off without incident again. However, as they approached the wall, search lights began to pan the sky. The balloon was detected; however, because the guards had to call to get authorization to shoot, the Ktrelzyks and friends made it to safety. Another of the many brave and creative successful attempts to escape East Germany.
But before we finish, let's get back to our Beatles fan.
Ingo Bethke may have escaped to the west and would, if he desired, get to see the Beatles. But before doing so, he had greater work to attend to. The rescue of his brother.
Ingo and Holder Bethke decided to fly across the wall and rescue their brother Egbert, but first they had to learn how to fly the small hobby planes, planes that barely had enough room for two and enough power to get two full-grown men off the ground.
But after some practice, the night came to perform the rescue. It was all recorded on cameras strapped to the front of the planes. Ingo would fly down to a park to pick up Egbert while Holder flew above, a lookout for trouble. They communicated via walkie talkie, doing so from liftoff to rescue.
But since it was night, the only thing allowing the brothers to see was the lights coming from the streets and houses. Navigation was difficult. As Ingo approached the park, he noticed a circus had set up numerous tents taking away a good portion of the impromptu landing strip. He did, however, land successfully and pick up his brother. Because of the additional weight and lack of runway they barely made it over the trees. But they did, and they made it home to safety in style.
Because of financial hardships and pressing difficulties in keeping a people incarcerated regardless of how difficult the GDR made it, along with Mikhail Gorbachev's refusal to protect East Germany from dissenters, On November 9, Gunter Schabowski, the East Berlin Communist party boss, declared that starting from midnight East Germans would be free to leave the country without permission at any point along the border, including the crossing-points through the Wall in Berlin.
A nightmare in the lives of East Germans was over that which followed the end of a war that saw 55 million die and a leader who after fifteen failed attempts on his life took his own life. Over 1,000 would die in attempts to flee the GDR via the wall of pain and suffering. But here was a lesson for all those who take freedom for granted, for it is in these heroes and heroines that we have learned the depth of importance of freedom and what it means, as well as the importance and dire need to be with relations regardless of the cost and risk. It has enabled us, the free, to sing with greater conviction and power in celebration of life, in celebration of all those Lonely Hearts who have been reunited before and after the great wall fell.
May freedom ring, forever.
Enclosed is a link that will send you to poignant and touching pictures of the history of the Berlin Wall and the people connected.
This Article has been viewed 1,650 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)Good thoughts especially on Veteran's Day - we need to be remembering and not taking our freedom lightly! MarijoYes, I lived in Boston fifteen years ago. I was there five years and built up a serious appreciation for this country's history via the Freedom Trail and all its wonders. At that time I became a serious history buff. It began with US history and has branched out since. But the major point that keeps returning is how great freedom is and how we must not only appreciate it but pass on our passion. Thanks for the read / write. Peace!
Great article. Well done.I just watched a documentry about people trying to escape. That just shows you what the wall was like.Oh yeah, every time I see pictures or video of people running it gives me the shivers. It must have been horrible. Thanks for commenting.
I just saw a documentary on the Berlin Wall and that, coupled with your article, made me think. Very well-done, Jeff. Hopefully that is the last wall to be erected which contains so much heartache and misery.Yes, and certainly an event that is so horrific it has been etched in the minds of many. To its end, I agree. Thanks for the read / write.
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