At 2 a.m. on Aug. 13, 1961, a low, barbed-wire barrier was strung between East and West Berlin. It effectively divided the city in half. Within days, workers cemented concrete blocks into a low wall through the city.
 
Moscow called the wall a barrier to Western imperialism. "It pleases me tremendously," Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev said. "The working class of Germany has erected a wall so that no wolf can break into the German Democratic Republic again."
 
The West Germans called it Schandmaur, the "Wall of Shame." It was rebuilt at least three times – each time bigger, stronger and more repressive – hand-mortared bricks, pre-cast blocks and finally concrete slabs. Towers, guards, and dogs stood watch over a barren no man's land. A pipe, too large in diameter for a climber's grip, ran along the top of the wall. "Forbidden zones," miles wide, were created behind the wall. No one was allowed to enter the zones. Anyone trying to escape was shot on sight.
 
The East German government saw the Berlin Wall as a symbol of its superior technology. But, as strong as the wall was, it would never be strong enough.
 
The Role of the Wall
Think about other walls in history. The Great Wall of China was built to keep foreign enemies out. Walls were built around castles in the Middle Ages with a similar purpose, to protect those inside. But the Berlin Wall was the first wall of its kind. It trapped people in their own country.
 
Communist propaganda said the wall was built to shield East Berliners from capitalist philosophies. But the Berlin Wall cut through the city's heart – separating families and friends, and preventing people from getting to their jobs.
 
Look up some of history's other walls at the library or on the Internet. Why were they built? If you lived in East Berlin, how would you feel about the wall getting progressively bigger and more impassable? Would you feel safer? Or would you feel more trapped?