Crack In The Wall (1971)

[Music] Thank you. [Applause] There are many people in the world who really don't understand or say they don't what is the great issue between the free world and the communist world. Let them come to Berlin. [Music] 1945, the war in Europe is won. And in July, President Truman and Prime Minister Winston Churchill come to Potdam to meet with Premier Stalin on the fate of post-war Germany. The conquered country is partitioned into allied and communist zones with Berlin placed under forpower rule. But the western allies with Clement Atley replacing Winston Churchill failed to secure unlimited access to and from the divided city 110 mi inside Soviet occupied East Germany. This will be the last of the big three meetings as wartime allies soon become peacetime adversaries. In 1945, Berlin is a skeleton city. 85% of its buildings are damaged or totally destroyed. Tens of thousands of people have fled or been killed. And those who remain must live in rubble and struggle against starvation. [Music] A new city, a new nation, a new future must rise out of the ruins. The job is begun and brick by brick, day by day, it is done. The people of West Berlin exhibit an independence and tenacity that will be severely tested many times in many crises. Soon the city is caught up in a surging post-war prosperity that contrasts sharply with the sluggish pace of reconstruction in East Berlin. April 1st, 1948. The communists react, blockading all land traffic into and out of West Berlin. The Soviet leaders are determined to starve the Allies out of the city. The United States, England, and France respond with a massive airlift of food and supplies. Planes land at 3minute intervals around the clock and more than 2 million tons of cargo are flown into West Berlin in Operation [Music] Vitals. September 1949, the communists yield. The blockade is lifted. Through the 40s and 50s, refugees stream out of East Germany, riding trains that are pitifully slow and unbelievably crowded. Upwards of 2,000 people a day cross over the border in search of asylum and a new life. By 1960, the postwar total of refugees reaches 3 million persons. For Walter Ulrich, the East German leader, and Nikita Kushchoff, the Russian premier, the flight to freedom is a source of growing concern and [Music] embarrassment. West Berlin is a dangerous cancer, says Kushchoff. A bone in my throat. 2:00 a.m. August 13th, 1961. East German border guards stream out of the night and work is begun on the [Music] wall. The barbed wire and barricades that slash Berlin in two come to symbolize the ideological differences that divide the free and communist worlds. [Music] [Applause] [Music] The action is in direct violation of post-war agreements guaranteeing free passage between the two sectors of the city. The guards and barricades still cannot halt the flight to freedom. Refugees find the will and the way to cross into West Berlin. Entire families come and babies are passed through the barbed wire to eager helping [Music] hands. More than 5,000 East Germans risk their lives and leave all their possessions behind as they flee through the wall. The defectors include a member of the Communist People's Police who throws down his gun and shouts, "Thank God I'm a free man." The Communists step up their efforts to keep their people captive. More than $5 million is spent to seal off the 25m border between East and West Berlin. Residents of the city watch in disbelief as homes and buildings are demolished to make way for newer and higher concrete [Music] barriers. As days, months, and years go by, the wall becomes a grim spectre that casts its dark shadow over both sides of the divided [Music] city. Families and loved ones separated by bricks and barricades must remain on opposite sides of the wall to look for each other, to wave, and to weep. [Music] At night, blinking lights spell out words that cannot be spoken nor heard. Refugees continue to flee the Soviet zone, but not all who seek freedom find it. A young boy is shot in the back climbing the wall and lies dying without medical help for an hour before he is carried away by East German police. [Music] The youth's name is Peter Fector, and he is one of 65 refugees killed by border guards between 1961 and [Music] 1971. All are remembered in West Berlin. Monuments and markers are erected where each of the martyrs died in search of freedom. And the people make certain that the memorials to the dead are never without [Music] flowers. In 1963, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy comes to West Berlin to tell its people that they are not alone. Freedom is indivisible and when one man is enslaved, all are not free. All all free men wherever they may live are citizens of Berlin. And therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] West Berlin survives and industrially continues to prosper. Its plants produce at peak capacity and its goods are exported all around the world. But there continue to be confrontations over Allied use of the Ottabban to convoy troops and supplies across East Germany and into West Berlin. Communist border guards closed the roadway for varying periods of time. There are threats and harassment, warnings, and attempted intimidation. But after minor delays and inconvenience, the Ottabbon is opened and traffic is allowed to proceed into and out of the city. Finally, in February 1969, during a visit to West Berlin, President Richard Nixon calls for big four negotiations aimed at ending the recurring crisis over the island city. After 5 months, the Russians agree. Negotiations begin in 1970 in the same building where a Russian walkout in 1948 triggered the first postwar Berlin crisis. Attending the ambassadors from America, Russia, England, and France. A key issue is the free flow of people between East and West Berlin. In the years between 1961 and 1971, the communists on special holidays have opened the wall to allow brief family visits. The reunions spell out in human terms the tragedy of the divided city. [Music] After 17 months and 240 hours of negotiations, the big four reach an historic agreement. Russia promises the allies not to interfere with land traffic across East Germany and says it will also work to improve communications between West and East Berlin. In return, the Soviet Union wins the right to diplomatic representation in West Berlin. The allies also agree to Russian demands that West Berlin not be considered a constitutional part of West Germany. After the agreement is signed, the Soviet ambassador tells the other members of the Big Four, "All's well that ends well." At last, a crack in the wall. And yet, only a crack. The people of West Berlin still live in the shadow of the barbed wire and concrete barricades, waiting for their nightmare to end, their new life to begin. [Music] [Applause] [Music]