The Divided City

Part one

People thought it was impossible. The Russians, under the leadership of Nikolai Krushev, had decided to build a wall through the city of Berlin. It seemed like an impossible task. How could they build a forty-three kilometer wall through a sprawling European city? Berlin had stood for eight hundred years. Families lived on the east and the west side. The people did not want the wall, but they did not have a choice.

Early in the morning on August 13th, 1961, the Russian military began building the wall that would divide the city. They moved quickly, rolling out barbed wire and delivering bricks. My father, who owned a small store on the western site of the wall, sighed. They really are serious, he said, after he returned from the construction site.

What are they doing? Martin, my younger brother asked.

They are building a wall!

To divide the city? Our mother asked. She was in an apron, arranging cabbages on a wooden crate.

Can I see?

Sure, Erich, my father said. But if you are going out, please stop by Mr Honecker’s shop and see if he has received his shipment of apples.

Ok! I ran out of the shop, down the block, and turned the corner. I stopped when I saw group of armed soldiers patrolling the construction site. Behind them, Germans and Russians were busy constructing the wall.

I shoved my bands in my pockets and pretended not to stare. A crowd had gathered on the western side of the new wall. A few journalists were with the crowd, taking pictures. There were also some American soldiers with the crowd, taking pictures. There were also some American soldiers with weapons standing near the construction site. A riot would start later, but I would be safe inside my home by them.

Soldiers wearing brown uniforms were busy surveying the start of the new wall. I tried to think of where exactly the wall was being built. It seemed as if it would come straight down the street. I looked to my right, to the place where my best friend Konrad lived. Konrad and I had gone to elementary school together. We met almost every day to play and to explore the city. Sometimes, he would help us around the shop. My mother liked to call him her “third son”. We were inseparable, but things were about to get a lot more difficult.

The Russians were building the wall between Konrad’s home and the street. Konrad’s home would be on the eastern side of the city and ours would be on the western side. They had not started construction yet, but they had put barbed wire on the ground. I ran through an opening in the barbed wire and over to his house.

Konrad! I shouted, seeing that his window was open,

He came to the window. “Erich!” his father appeared behind him.

They are building a wall, I said, pointing at the barbed wire,

I know

Both of us were children at the time and had not quite realized what this wall would do to our friendship.

When did they start? I asked.

Early in the morning! My dad has to help them later……. He started to say.

That’s enough, Konrad, his father said, putting a hand on his son’s shoulder.

Can you come out and play? I called up to him.

A soldier appeared nearby. He seemed to be talking to one his commanders. They looked over at me; the commander was pointing at the hole in the barbed wire that I had run through.

Go home, Erich, Konrad’s father said. Now! It’s dangerous here.

But…

Now!

I’d never heard Konrad’s father raise his voice. Like and kid who has been scolded by an adult, I turned and ran as quickly as I could, back through the hole in barbed wire and to the western side of the street. I did know at the time, but it would be the last time I saw Konrad of many years.

Part two

It took them a little over a moth to build the wall separating East and West Berlin. Many people did know what to do. Some of my relatives who lived in East Berlin were able to escape before the wall was finished. Others were not so lucky. Checkpoint Charlie was set up near my home. The checkpoint allowed people to legally cross from East Berlin to West Berlin, but only if they had the right documemts.

My father did not think that building the Berlin Wall was a good idea at all. They can’t divide an enter city! He would say every morning as he read the newspaper. People will do anything to get to other side. They will climb over the wall or build tunnels. The people of Berlin can’t be separated from each other!

He was right about the tunnels. As soon as the wall was finished, East Berliners began digging tunnels under the wall. The tunnels usually started in the basement of someone’s house. They had to be careful because of the sewers. They also had to know where the tunnel would come up on the western side of the city. Eventually, Russian soldiers began using listening equipment. They would listen to the walls, and if they heard digging, they would arrest the people making the tunnel.

However, my father was wrong about people climbing the wall. It was foolish to climb the wall because of all the barbed wire. Also, there were watchtowers along the, making it very difficult to cross. Several East Berliners were shot trying to climb the wall. This made matters very complicated because the Americans soldiers did not know what to do if they saw someone crossing the wall, and the Russian soldiers did not want to get the person down from the wall, because they thought the Americans would shoot.

Things really got bad in October. I noticed some people running towards Checkpoint Charlie while I was on my way to school one day.

Come on, Martin! I said to my little brother. Let’s go and see what’s happening?

But Erich, he cried, we need to get to school!

This will be more interesting than school…

We ran several blocks, dodging people on their way to work and shop owners opening up their shops. We arrived near Checkpoint Charlie and saw that a large crowd and formed.

Look! Martin said, pointing at Us airplane flying overhead. It was very big; it sounded like some sort of monster.

Come on, I said, grabbing his hand. We pushed our way through the crowd. It was easy to do this because we were smaller than the adults. We stopped once we saw about thirty Us tanks with their guns aimed at the other side of Checkpoint Charlie. On the East side, about thirty Russian tanks guns were aimed directly at us.

It’s a standoff I said.

A man in a grey suit put his hand on my shoulder. Do your parents know you’re here?

I did not answer. Instead, I grabbed my younger brother’s hand and went deeper into the crowd. We stopped again once we’d lost the man.

Are they going to fight? My brother asked. He had a few toy tanks and sometimes played with them in our living room.

I do not know, I said, recognizing the severity of the situation. There was a chill in the air; people were afraid of what would happen next. After about twenty minutes, the Russian tanks started to back up.

They are turning back! I said.

The crowd began to cheer. It was a small victory for West Berlin, but the problems still remained. A giant wall divided the city, and Konrad, my best friend, lived on the other side of the wall,

Part three

In 1979, eighteen years after the Berlin Wall was built, something miraculous happened. I was managing my father’s business at the time. We had been prosperous in West Berlin and had opened ten other grocery stores across the city.

I preferred to work at the grocery store that was near Checkpoint Charlie. I hadn’t heard from my best friend, Konrad, in eighteen years, but part of me believed I would see him one day. It was a foolish belief. For all I knew, he had started a family in East Berlin and had completely forgotten about me. Still, I looked out of the window of the shop from time to time, expecting to see him.

It was a cool day, slightly breezy and depressing. The grey days in Berlin always felt depressing to me. At around ten, I decided to go for a stroll. I told my dad, who was in the back room going over our finances, that I was popping out. He did not mind watching the shop; he knew that I worked better when I had a clear mind.

I decided to walk on the street opposite the wall. This wasn’t the usual path that I took, I usually walked in the alleys behind Mauer Street. As I walked along, I noticed something red floating in the air above the wall.

I started running, getting as close to the wall as I could. Then, a hot air balloon passed over me. I looked up just in time to see a sniper’s bullet hit the balloon.

I could not see how many people were in the balloon, all I could see was the bottom of the basket, which was now falling onto the western side of the wall. A man walking next to the wall looked over at me. Both of us know what needed to be done — we had to help the people that were in the balloon.

Another sniper bullet hit the top of the basket. The balloon was floating back over to the other side of the wall. I could hear the scream of a child, a young girl, inside the balloon’s basket. Papa! She cried.

Snap!

One of the ropes that held the balloon the basket broke. Then another broke. Only two ropes, one at each corner of the basket, were stopping the people from falling.

What should we do? The guy next to me asked, but I had already sprung into action.

I moved towards the street, where cars had stopped and people were getting out. I noticed the rope hanging from the basket. Air was hissing out of the balloon and if I did not do something soon, the basket would spill into the street. Luckily, I grabbed the rope just in time.

I started running, holding the rope. This straightened out the basket. I could hear the girl crying inside and could now see her father peeking over the sides at the street below. The Russian soldiers would not dare shoot bullets over the wall, but their guns were still pointed at the balloon.

Another hand grabbed part of the rope. It was the man from earlier who had first seen the hot air balloon with me. We worked as quickly as we could to safely bring the hot air balloon to the ground. Inside the basket was a family of four; a father, a mother, a young girl and a baby. We had saved their entire family.

Part four

By the time 1989 came around, I was married and had two children. I was running my father’s business alone now as my father had retired. There was talk of the Berlin Wall coming down, but people my age did not believe it. We had lived with the wall nearly all our lives. That was why I was so surprised by what happened in the autumn of that year.

Tensions were already high; many East Berliners had escaped to West Berlin throught Hungary. On November 9th, the situation in East Berlin had become too difficult to control. It was announced that night on the news that the checkpoints would be opened.

A funny thing happened next. Naturally, some people lined up at the checkpoints waiting to move peacefully from east to west. However, the vast majority of Berliners from both sides of the wall took to the wall with all sorts of construction equipment; hammers, picks and shovels were used to break down the wall.

I can still remember the excitement in the air. I had a pick in my hand and had been taking down parts of the wall all night. It was exhilarating to think that such a big part of my life, this ugly wall, would disappear. By instinct, I worked on the piece of the wall that had separated the street from my best friend Konrad’s old apartment. It had been almost thirty years since we had last seen each other, but I had a feeling that if I could find him anywhere, it would be there.

The crowd worked into the night dismantling the wall. Some people cried and other cheered. I had never witnessed so much pure emotion in my life. I felt like the destruction of that wall was the destruction of everything bad in this world. At around two in the morning. I heard some call my name from the other side of the wall. I pushed my way to the front of the crowd and saw Konrad.

I thought that was you! He said, running to hug me. He had gained weight and had lost most of his hair. He still had the same clever eyes and sharp nose he had when we were children. You look well fed! He said, punching me in the stomach.

Yes! I was overwhelmed with emotion. I had no idea what to say to him, luckily he was more talkative.

How have you been, Erich? He asked, hugging me again. I can’t believe it has been so long…

I’ve been well, finally said.

We hugged one more time and we turned back to the crumbling wall. We worked together for the rest of the night, taking down as much of the Berlin Wall as we could. It was the dawn of a new age for our friendship, for our city and for the entire country of Germany.

The Berlin Wall stood from August 13th , 1961 until November 9th , 1989. It was forty-three kilometers long and nearly four meter high. There were over three hundred watchtowers along the wall and at least 136 people died trying to cross it. These days, the Berlin Wall is remembered as both a physical structure and as a symbol the Cold War, which took place between Western and Soviet powers from 1947–1991.