EAST GERMAN WOMEN PUT TO WORK TURNING BERLIN'S EAST-WEST BORDER INTO 'NO-MAN'S LAND'
Berlin, Germany (JFK+50) On September 29, 1961, Associated Press reports that "East Germany put girls and women to work today at turning Berlin's East-West border into a no-man's land."
West Berliners refer to the area as "the death strip."
East German women along with "thousands of laborers" cleared ground and razed houses along the 25-mile sector. They were under supervision of "armed guards."
JFK+50 NOTE
The Berlin Wall (1961-1989) was started on August 13, 1961 to stop the movement of Germans in Communist East Berlin into free West Berlin. JFK said, "A wall is a hell of a lot better than a (nuclear) war," but on his visit to Berlin in June 1963 he predicted the eventual reunification of the city.
The Berlin Wall was a series of concrete barriers accompanied by a wide area containing anti-tank vehicle trenches, beds of nails and other defenses.
SOURCES
"The Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall," The National Museum of American Diplomacy, www.diplomacy.state.gov/
"Women Toil to Tighten Berlin's 'Death Strip,'" The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., September 29, 1961, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
