Berlin Wall

There’s been a lot of talk on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and that got me thinking about post-WWII German history–specifically the so called “Democratic Republic of East Germany.” The cold war certainly had its share of absurdities and the Berlin Wall was a very poignant example of this. The fact that East German guards were ordered to “shoot on sight” (Reuters, 2009) anyone that tried to flee to West Germany should have made clear even to Communist sympathisers that its entire philosophy could not work in the real world. If it could, why would there be orders to kill and imprison those who tried to leave? The very fact that East Germans were coerced by threat of death or imprisonment from leaving also meant that many such people wanted to leave. If communism was so great it would be logical to assume that there would be no need for such enforcement as people would want to stay voluntarily in order to reap the benefits such a system provided. The fact that the East German Government labelled the wall an “anti-fascist barrier” in 1961 only serves to highlight the hollowness of its system of governance. One thing that has puzzled me at times is–although I am sure travel throughout this “Democratic Republic” was restricted–why did not many East Berliners attempt to leave the city proper and escape to West Germany via the unwalled borders? After all, it was only Berlin that was walled in so far as I can tell.

That question aside, it can be aggravating to see how East Germany’s final head of state Egon Krenz felt about his fellow citizens. Did he truly believe that he was doing the people of East Germany a favour by forcing them to remain inside the country? Did he truly feel that the East Germans were “ungrateful” for not accepting an imposed system of governance he helped to enforce? It is maddening to think of such arrogance.

On a completely unrelated but very important note, please check out Eric Reeves’ latest post pertaining to Sudan–it is most enlightening.

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Tags: News, Politics

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