Erecting the Berlin Wall: Berlin Children (August 1961)

Figure 1.--Here we see three West Berlin children playing Berlin Walll. I think the verical structure at the left is mean to be a guard tower which the chikldren almost certainly knew meant guns to shoot escapees. The photograph was taken as the Wall began to take shape (October 1961). erlin children building a pretend Berlin Wall. The children are Peter Friedrich (5 years old). Katrin Kull (4 years old), and Jurgen Bottcher (8 years old). It would be fascinating to know what was going through their minds as the built their pretend wall. Notice the bricks. This was probably rubble from the World War II Allied bombing.

Children in East and West Germany were at the front line of the Cold War. It was here that American and Soviet tanks were mussle to mussle. They watched the Wall go up. And it was covered in great detail on teklevision and newspapers. The youngerchildren could not understand the issues, but theycould not miss the wall going up, it became the major construction feature of the city. Many lost contacts with granparents, aunt and uncles, and cousins as well as family friends. We see West German boys playing with wall building. We do not know if this occurred in East Germany. We suspect tht girls were less interested in wall construction and do not know if the Wall affected their play. The Wall must have been discussed at school. Children in East Berlin would have received the standard Party line. The East Germans called the Wall the 'anti-fascist protective rampart' ( antifaschistischer Schutzwall ) and was built to counter Western agression. There were a number of other justifications. We are unsure to what extent the children believed that. It probably depended on what was being said at home. Of course the parents of younger primary children probably exercized caution about what they said. Children in West Berlin were more able to openly discuss the Wall with their parents and at school. The issues involved are complicated, but what was not complicated was a wall in cement and barbed wire. This must have affected children's thinking. And for many children the Wall affected their lives in a negative way. This was something that Communist propaganda no matter how often repeated could not alter.

Created: 12:09 AM 10/4/2012
Last updated: 12:10 AM 10/4/2012