BARBED WIRE WORLD

[Music] in berlin today a woman cries [Music] [Music] an east german guard makes his escape [Music] two moments frozen in time which tell their story a story of a divided city and of the human beings who live there [Music] why does this woman cry why does this east german guard leap over a barbed wire barrier into west berlin these are questions the world asks at this moment questions we explore now as we focus on berlin [Music] [Applause] [Music] moments in time are preceded by many events to understand why a woman cries why a man escapes why the eyes of the world are focused on berlin today we must look back to yesterday to the last days of world war ii when under the combined assaults of the western allies from one side and the russians from the other the nazi empire collapsed the darkest period europe had ever experienced was over a new life dawned and hoped soared high that the allies would work together in harmony the harsh sounds of battle yielded to the cheers of millions the world over at the war's end and civilians and soldiers alike toasted a future world at peace a toast that applies just as well today and one we would all share but let us look back again a moment to germany at war's end the allies split up germany into four occupation zones french british american and russian but berlin the capital was left as a separate distinct area not part of any zone 160 kilometers within the soviet occupied zone berlin was by agreement to be administered jointly until a peace treaty could be negotiated with a government elected by the germans themselves but the soviets illegally removed their sector from the for power control and handed it over to the east german government creating a divided city all right then let us focus on the city of berlin a divided city where two worlds exist across the boundary line symbolized by the brandenburg gate two worlds the world of east berlin and the world of west berlin both started to rebuild out of the rubble of war west berlin rapidly moved ahead and the people began to compare west berlin on one side of the brandenburg gate and east berlin on the other it is apt to compare because since 1945 two berlins have existed side by side governed by a communist regime imposed by moscow the other by a government chosen in free elections has not the soviet premier been proposing competitive coexistence between communist and non-communist systems well for the past 15 years right here there has been precisely the competition that he's been talking about how does one compare two worlds well there are many ways the eye tells a lot by a glance at west berlin west berlin the boy laughter of children east berlin the harsh commands of an ever watchful police state foreign yes one can see hear sense the vast gulf between these two worlds on either side of the brandenburg gate almost right from the beginning the people of berlin have felt the difference and done something about it what they have done above all else reflects what people everywhere will do when they are denied freedom of choice the alternative to complete submission is to rebel or escape they will rebel as the workers did in east berlin in 1953. starting as a protest demonstration of 10 000 east berliners demanding free elections and the freeing of political prisoners revolt spread to many east german cities and villages it finally took two soviet tank divisions and almost 30 000 soviet and east german troops to put down the revolt just as it took soviet tanks to put down the revolt in budapest the threat of soviet military power to crush the uprising in poznan yes they will resist and they will also vote with their feet they will make every effort to escape since the soviet occupation began in 1946 they have been escaping from east germany as the realities of living under communist tyranny made themselves felt more and more people fled to the west in what became a tidal wave of humanity night and day winter and summer an average of 4 000 men women and children a week came across the boundary line they had to leave behind their earthly possessions but still they came doctors engineers teachers workers people with skills badly needed in the communists faltering economy young people who hold the hope of germany's future so when there has been no freedom of choice the result has been cleared revolt and escape so in august of 1961 the soviets and their east german puppets could no longer tolerate the mass flight from communism they sealed off the brandenburg gate and the other exits and a barbed wire barrier now stood between east germans and freedom two soviet divisions ringed the city protecting under their bayonets this extension of communist tyranny [Music] and a so-called worker's paradise is revealed for what it is a concentration camp where tension is building tension increases when people are repressed close the escape hatch intensify and extend repression and you invite an explosion that could endanger world peace the ambitions of communism for worldwide domination deny the real solution of the german problem a solution based on the right of the german people to hold free elections to be reunified on the basis of self-determination this has been the position of the united states a concern for the fate and freedom of berlin a concern shared by great britain and france there is room for negotiation but the liberty of west berlin is not negotiable that is why vice president johnson of the united states went to berlin and assured the people of the city that the united states would never forget its obligations to help them stay free speaking for president kennedy and the government of the united states he said we americans have pledged in effect what our ancestors pledged in forming the united states our lives our fortunes and our sacred honor [Music] a barrier of barbed wire has been thrown across your city it has broken vital human and communal ties ties that reach back into the lives of families and friends and into the long life of this great city yes a barrier of barbed wire across the city a woman cries why a man assigned to guard the barricades and prevent the escape of east germans himself escapes to freedom [Music] two moments of decision in a barbed wire world [Music] two moments frozen in time to tell so much of what is happening in berlin today [Music] you