Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 12, 1962)
8 A SUNDAY. AUGUST 12. 1962 MEDFOBD MAIL 1K1U0NE. MEDFOHD. OREGON LBN WALL ANNBV By EDWARD SHIELDS United Press International Berlin-dOT-One year ago, goateed Waller Ulbricht hung out the bankrupt sign on Communist East Germany's policy and economy The sign was a wall seven leo.l high and 26 miles long. It spelled out in concrete and barbed wire that East Ger many could survive only by becoming a gigantic concen tration camp. The Communist regime un der Ulbricht has survived for the past year, literally with its back to the wall. It bought 12 months' time with machine guns and Ihe blood of Its own citizens. West Berlin, which the Communists said would with er inside their barbed-wire noose, is booming, backed by the determination of the free world. The wall stands as com munism's desperate admission it couldn't meet the compe tition of the West. Peace Treaty In June, l!)fil, Soviet Pre mier Nikita Khrushchev told President Kennedy that the Soviet Union would sign a peace treaty with East Ger many by the end of the year, and Western troops would have to leave Berlin. To East Germans, that meant Ihe closing of the "Freedom Gate" - the end of free movement between East and West Berlin which had been the way to freedom if life under Communists be came intolerable. In June, about 10,000 East Germans came through the gate. In July, Ulbricht and his lieutenants aired confi dent forecasts of what would happen when they controlled all access routes to a "free city" of West Berlin without its- allied garrisons. But they had to erect road blocks to control East Ger mans entering East Berlin and set up armed sentries to slop them from going on to West Berlin and freedom. They slammed particularly harsh measures on the 60,000 lo 100.000 East Berliners and East Germans who worked in Wesl Berlin every day. Flood of Refugees Despite the ever-tougher border controls. 30,000 refu gees from Ulbricht's Ger many reached West Berlin In July. East German industry came almost to a standstill as skil led workers, foremen and en gineers disappeared. The har vest could not be gathered or transported because of the manpower shortage. Teachers and students, doctors and law yers silently turned their Wks on the "German Demo cratic nepublic." "Wo thought things would get better but now they are as bad as they were eight years ago" at the time of the June 17, 1053, uprising, one refugee told UP1. "We can't even gel diapers for our babies." The refugee stream became a Hood as East Germans be came convinced the freedom gale would soon close. On Aug. 2, liltil. 1,322 refu gees registered at Marienfclric Refugee camp in West Berlin. Six days later the total was 1.741. The next day l.l'-K more people left East Ger many forever. A desperate Ullirii'ht flew In Moscow to consult Khrush chev, whose threat had loosen the Mood. I The only answer the rulers of the Communist world could find to slave off East Ger many's collapse was brutal, harsh and crude. The Halchot FalU On grey, showery Aug. 12. the line oi refugees at Marion h ide contained 2.400 people. Hundreds more were with relatives in West Berlin. Then the Communis" lei Iheir haUhet fall. At 130 a i 1111 Sunday, the 13th of August, the East German news agency AUN reopened ils silent wires and began to run a series of paralyzing decrees. It was announced East Ger many was setting up a system of "reliable supervision and effective controls" between East and West Berlin, with the backing of Ihe Soviet Union and Ihe Communist Warsaw pact. Thousands of Communist police suddenly turned up In Ihe darkness even as the AON teletypes were rolling out Ihe fateful message. The police began lo suing barbed wire along the border. More than HO crosMiii: points between East and Wesl Berlin shrank that night lo 13. In the weeks thai followed they came clown to seven road crossings and one rail line. Subway and elevated (rain connections were severed I ; "'"" ''f?:V.-':&.s: "-1J-JJm. In late afternoon on May 23. Cpl. Peter Goering, 21, arid Cpl. Kurt Laumcr, 20, confidently sprang on the wall beside a border canal and began to pump machine pistol bullets into a 15-year-old boy swimming to the Wesi. A West Berlin policeman raised his American-made car bine and fired two shots, kill ing Goering and seriously wounding Laumer. The boy still is in a West Berlin hospital, permanently crippled. Goering became a Commu nist martyr. A month later, Cpl. Rein hold Huhn, 20, tried to stop a West Berliner running for a tunnel exit in East Berlin. Huhn fell dead of bullet wounds as Rudolf Mueller, his wife and two children and sister-in-law reached Wesl Berlin through the tunnel. West Berlin police claimed Huhn was shot by other Vopos trying to kill Mueller, who had tunneled into the East to rescue his family. The Com munists accused Mueller of the murder. Tunnels became one of the most popular means of escape as the wall grew thicker and the Communist guards grew tougher. West Berlin university stu dents organized many tunnel projects. One even came up in a border cemetery where a tombstone would silently swivel and a "mourner" could disappear underground and come out in West Berlin. The greatest tunnel escape of all was in January, when 28 adults and teen-agers dug from the cellar of a house on the border in East Ger many into West Berlin. The sewers also were an escape route until the East Germans drove metal bars across them, from the surface, and then threw down gas grenades when they suspect ed an escape. Reliable sources estimate about 30 refugees died in the filth and darkness of the sewers. Moved to West Germany After the wall went up, and morale went down, several thousand West Berliners gave up and moved to West Ger many. But in the last six months, many have returned and the places of the others have been taken by new settlers, brought here by good wages, good housing and good jobs, by the desire to live in one of the world's most sophisticated cities - and even by interest in being in one of the most exciting outposts of the West. Part of the renewed confi dence in Berlin is recognition that the United States and the French and British forces here have met and stood up to Communist challenges. Last October U.S. and So viet tanks stood muzzle-to-muzzle in the first hostile con frontation as- the communists attempted to interfere with U.S. rights lo enter East Ber lin. The attempt failed. j East Germany tried to ha-: rass and interfere with Al lied traffic on the Autobahns , and was rebuffed. ' Soviet aircraft tried to squeeze Allied planes out of their vital air corridors to West Berlin. The West filled the corridors with its own planes. One year after the wall, Wes. Berliners know the Com munists still have an arsenal of weapons to use against the city. West Berliners have faith in themselves that they can meet the challenge, and faith that their Western allies are standing by. If either faith is ever broken, the Com munists won't need their wall -the whole city will be theirs. Twistin' Time Comolete With Prizes! t -aasS23 TEEN DATE C48b3 FAIR DANCE I -vSO" A? I . -sJ With OiVIt BnnfW I p 1 I r ...... a 77 Thursday at 8:30 ! IM! DOUGLAS j AUGUST 15-19 R0SEBURG BERLIN WALL A West Berliner walks along the wall at Scbastianstrasse between the U. S. and Soviet sectors In Berlin. In residential areas like this, several lines of barbed wire fences on the East side make Communist border guards are in the center background. The numerous loudspeakers mounted on lamp post are used by Reds to blare propaganda across the wall into West Berlin. It has been one year since the wall an approach to the wall impossible. Two was built. (UP! telephoto) don home and property and IRV darl a nntir I i tn nl.n.iikn.n ! - It was a simple question of how. In the first few days, It was fairly easy. In more than one place, West or East Ber liners clipped holes in the barbed wire, often under the pvp nf rVimmnnictc a 11 a r H c i liu. J " ifrv.;.' and escapees scrambled lUjttVj Others rammed can or f trucks throtich the wire r " . swam ihn rivnr and nana Ik i!,. ' wWt nn the hnrrlWs. nr ovin man- aged to evade Communist In "Vt comrois on irains emering West Berlin. Then the Communisls be gan to replace the barbed wire with concrete blocks, diverted from the construc tion of much-needed apart ment houses. And the guards became much tougher. West Berliners were angrv, shocked and frustrated but, restrained by Iheir own po lice, they made nn serious attempts to smash Ihe wall. The Western powers also were slow in reacting, except In protest notes, and denun ciations. A Wesl Berlin student, trapped lit his parents' home in East Berlin on Aug. 13 week end, dashed past loung ing guards three days later and leaped over the concrete wall lo freedom. He voiced the feelings of many East and West Ber liners at that time: "We ex pected the West to give the Russians an ultimatum when thev sealed the border Sun day. We did not expect the West to shrink back. Wesl Berlin newspapers headlined "The East acts. What does the West do? The West docs nothing." Mavor Willv Brandt wrote a personal letter lo President Kennedy, asking tor wesiem support. The appeal - which has never been made public -drew a dramatic answer. Combat Trooo A combat-ready battle group of the U.S. Army. 1. 500 men with their vehicles, rolled up the Autobahn from West Germany on Aug. 20. Thev were met at the edge of the city by Vice President Lyndon H. Johnson and Re tired Gen. Lucius D. Clay, the "Hero of Berlin" from airlift days, who had flown in from Washington. The Wesl Berliners gave an almost hysterical welcome to the troops, sent lo beef up the 5,000-man U.S. garrison here. The British and French forces also were reinforced. Johnson pledged the Unit ed States would continue to defend Berlin's freedom and a month later Clay returned as President Kennedy's per sonal representative to watch the tense situation. West Berliners fell their spirits rise as Clay flew over East Germany to the little Wesl Meruit enclave of Stein stuecken, or sent U.S. tanks and armored cars patrolling the Eist-West city border atom! the wall. ! But the wall itself a ! growing stronger and more i permanent. Where there had been one strand of barbed wire, mere now were iu. Where there had been two, there were concrete walls East Berlin garden allotments beside the border were bull dozed clear of trees and gar den houses so they could not be esvape routes rrtr tpt! in a -. i' c -w k U: w. v a . - - , s a . B,'-KU ' wtJ. . ''. V:f W "Iff, eMrW,l1l.,J CHECK MAP Here, tourists in West Berlin study a map of the divided city, showing the Communist wall and other border fortifications between the Western sectors and the Communist Zone. The map is offered along with picture postcards of the wall at Potsdamer Platz, which is frequented by tourists. (UPI telephoto) j inlo Bernauerslrasse when Vopos (people's police), came to move him. He died In a hospital a month later. Three wooden posts circled with a barbed wire wreath mark the place on Bernauer slrasse where 5!) -year -old Mrs. Ida Sieckmann died in a drop from her apartment window on Aug. 22. Two days later. Communist bullets claimed their first vic tim. Guentcr Litfin. 24. tried to swim across the Humboldt basin on the border canal sys tem. East German transport police fired at the swimming youth until his hands flew up and he sank. At leasl 40 East Berliners or East Germans have died in sight of freedom. The Wesl German police tried lo hold their fire. In many i cases, they knew, the Vopos : firing at refugees were aiming their shots wide. There always w-as a chance that the Vopo apparently try ing to stop an escape was hoping soon to follow suit himself. But there was no doubt when Bemd Luenser, 29, ap peared 75 feet above the street at Bernauerstrasse and called for help. Vopos on the rooftop were firing at him. West Berlin police fired back. One Vopo was injured. Bui another rushed at Luenser, who lost his grip and missed Ihe firemen's net far below. A cross marks the place. But many Vopos did flee. often in names of many of them arc i sometimes singly unknown to Ihe Wesl. pairs. Their memory is marked j Several Communist police by Ihe granite block on the and Army members were shot edge of the Spree river in by their politically - induc tile center of Berlin, inscribed i trinated comrades as they to "The Unknown Refugee ." j tried to cross the six - inch Broadcast Plea I while line to the West. Most Vopos paid little heed j The loyally-Communist Easl lo Ihe plea broadcast by loud- police have not come through speaker trucks and big plac-1 unscathed. Border gunfiglils aids "Germans, don't shoot j became more frequent this your fellow Germans " spring. ft fumwmiW On Hcrnaurrstrasse, the When the dawn came, the windows of East Berlin apart- Berlin escape rutin li.id n,,,i houses (rooting on Ihe closed. i West Berlin street were be- A chapter of drama and)Uui wal led up and residents tragedy, high politics and ; with friends or relatives in squalid betrayals had opi ned ; West Berlin were moved out Etcape From Eait i The wall begun In take its Escape from East Germany toll was nn longer a matter of i Rudolf Urban. 47, jumped making a derision to ban liom hij upier-floor window C "One must reign supreme . . RODDA PAINT Oregon'! FineX Paint Medford i Fineit Pin Store 1211 Court Street Medford UART ICINE CABINETS 28" x 36" WITH GLEAMING CHROME FRAME B?sSKsste LARGE n J -Tj PREMIUM "'"''" Just Mang On Wall &7l U LIGHT BULBS long Lasting 60-75-1 00 Watt SI 00 STAINLESS SINK 32x21 SELF RIM HIGH POLISH WITH DELTA SINGLE FAUCET (As Pictured) RANGE HOOD 30 INCH COPPERTONE WITH FAN AND LIGHT Also Available 36" & 42" Wide Bedroom LIGHTS Choice of Pink -White Yellow Blue LOOM EX WIRE 12-2 With Ground $2.50 Ft. Coil 58 SHOWER STALL 30x30 With Fittings $3250 32x32 Porcelain Base $39.50 QUIET SWITCHES IVORY A Real Savings 3 ' s1 SOIL PIPE 4" SINGLE HUB Ft. ACCESSORIES HALLMARK PAPER HOLDERS $325 TOWEl BARS $229 Chin TOILET White Stain Resistant 795 Less Seat PIPE 'V Galvanited 14c f 1H" Galvanized 42c rt. 'j" Copper 21c, p ices COMPLETE LINE-LIGHTING FIXTURES Hours ThrUEfAlguset is PLUMBING AND WIRING SUPPLIES m"0 L5 s" 5) ELECTRIC and h lTQ PLUMBING SUPPLY 2740 North Pacific Hwy. Phone 773-4549 V
