"A WALL IS A HELL OF A LOT BETTER THAN A WAR"

CONSTRUCTION BEGINS ON BERLIN WALL

East Berlin (JFK+50) On August 13, 1961, the government of communist East Germany announced that a wall was being constructed in order to permanently divide the eastern and western parts of the city of Berlin.

East German guards were posted to stop anyone from crossing the border. While the wall was under construction, barbed wire was used to separate the two parts of the city.  The Newseum says...

 "The Berlin Wall was built to keep citizens in, rather than to keep an enemy out."

Along the border of East and West Berlin the wall ran 26.8 miles and 96 miles around West Berlin.  The concrete portion of the wall rose to 11.8 feet high and stretched 66 miles in length.

President John F. Kennedy publicly condemned the wall and predicted the future reunification of Germany.  Privately he reportedly said, "A wall is a hell of a lot better than a war."

*The Berlin Wall (1961-1989)  a guarded concrete barrier dividing the German city of Berlin.  While the wall was up, more than 100,000 East Berliners attempted escape with 5000 succeeding.  The wall was toppled on Nov 9 1989 as communist regimes fell in Eastern Europe.  It was completely demolished by 1992 & Germany reunified in Oct 1990.

 

Berlin Wall Display

The Newseum

Washington, D.C. (2017)

Photos by John White 

 

JFK at the Berlin Wall

June 26, 1963

Photo by Robert Knudsen

JFK Library Photo

THE BERLIN WALL +55

JFK+50:  Volume 6, No. 2038

EAST GERMANS STARTED BUILDING WALL DIVIDING BERLIN 55 YEARS AGO

Berlin (JFK+50) Fifty-five years ago today, August 13, 1961, the East German government began construction of a wall designed to permanently divide the eastern and western parts of the city of Berlin.

East German guards were posted to stop anyone from crossing the border. While the wall was under construction, barbed wire was used to separate the two parts of the city.

The Berlin Wall had been under consideration throughout most of the 1950s as 3.5 million East Germans crossed over into West Berlin.  By 1960, East Germany had only 61% of its population at working age vs. 70.5% at the end of WWII.  Its losses as a result were estimated between $7 and $9 billion.

The Berlin Wall  stretched 96 miles with 69.5 miles along the border between East and West Berlin.  The height of the wall was 11.8 feet.  Between 1961 and 1989 there were 5000 attempts by East Berliners to cross over the border.

West Berlin became isolated from the Free World completely surrounded by Communist territory as the city was located within the boundaries of East Germany.  The wall was built at a time of increasing tensions of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union.

While President John F. Kennedy was not particularly pleased with the wall, he said to his aides privately, "a wall is a hell-of-a-lot better than a war."  During the Cuban Missile Crisis, there was concern that the Soviets would attempt to seize West Berlin.

With the fall of Communist regimes across Europe in the late 1980s, the Berlin Wall was toppled on November 9, 1989.

Today JFK+50 visited the Newseum in Washington, D.C.  It was an opportune time to learn more about the Berlin Wall and to take some appropriate photographs.

In the panel titled "A Caged City," the Newseum tells us...

"In the early morning hours of August 13, 1961, the Berlin Wall appeared without warning.  Communist-controlled East Germany strung barbed wire (and) guards were ordered to shoot anyone trying to enter West Berlin."

SOURCE

Newseum, 555 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. www.newseum.org/

Original Fragment of the Berlin Wall

Newseum Collection

Washington, D.C.

August 13, 2016

Photos by John White

BERLIN WALL

BERLIN WALL CONSTRUCTION BEGAN 53 YEARS AGO TODAY

East Berlin, Germany (JFK+50) The government of communist East Germany announced fifty-three years ago today, August 13, 1961, that a wall was being constructed in order to permanently divide the eastern and western parts of Berlin.

East German guards were posted to stop anyone from crossing the border. While the wall was under construction, barbed wire was used to separate the two parts of the city.

JFK at the Berlin Wall

June 26, 1963

Photo by Robert Knudsen

JFK Library Photo

REAGAN SIGNED ECONOMIC RECOVERY ACT 33 YEARS AGO

Santa Barbara, California (JFK+50) President Ronald Reagan signed into law today, August 13, 1981, the Economic Recovery Tax Act.

The ERTA included a 25% reduction in individual marginal tax rates phased in over a 3 year period.

The ERTA combined with a 1986 tax cut reduced marginal tax rates on higher income taxpayers from 70 to 30%.

President and Mrs. Reagan

January 20, 1981

National Archives Photo

YANKEE SLUGGER MICKEY MANTLE DIED 19 YEARS AGO

Dallas, Texas (JFK+50) Former New York Yankee slugger, Mickey Mantle, died at Baylor University Hospital nineteen years ago today, August 13, 1995, of complications of liver cancer.

Mantle, who wore number seven and played center field most of his career, was born in Oklahoma in 1931.  He joined the Yankees in 1951 at the age of 19 and retired in 1968.

Mickey Mantle was inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.

Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle (1961)

"HOUND DOG" RECORDED BY BIG MAMA THORNTON 62 YEARS AGO

Los Angeles, California (JFK+50) Rhythm and Blues artist Ellie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton recorded the tune "Hound Dog" sixty-two years ago today, August 13, 1952.

Miss Thornton, a native of Montgomery, Alabama, made the first recording of the song written specifically for her by Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller.*

*Elvis Presley's version of "Hound Dog", recorded in 1956, is based on a rewritten version by Freddie Bell and the Bellboys who Elvis saw perform in Las Vegas.