2 - Operation "Wall of China" (3)

2 - Operation "Wall of China"

A secure lock

On 19^th August, police and members of combat units barricaded the doors and basements of buildings in the Schwedter Strasse (Prenzlauer Berg) and Brunnenstrasse (Mitte). Two days later, people living in houses located on the border were expelled by force. The drains were blocked up and over 50 houses, 37 shops and 1 253 windows in Bernauer Strasse were walled up. Within a month 2 000 inhabitants had been driven out of their homes. Other forced expulsions took place later on. On 24^th August, the first fugitive was shot as he swam across the border.

In protest against the building of the Wall, on 16^th August, West Berliners decided to boycott the S-Bahn, which, in accordance with an Interallied agreement dating from the end of the war, was operated by the Reichsbahn under East German control, even in the west. This was the beginning of the end for the S-Bahn which East Germany finally sold off to West Berlin city council in 1983.

The wall cemented the division of Berlin, Germany and Europe.

Berlin

	The 1958 crisis
	International reactions
	A secure lock
	The Men of the Wall

Berliners and the Wall

Doors and windows were walled up

back - annexes - forward

French soldiers
scrutinise the border

The Wall at the Brandenburg Gate