Berlin Wall Research Paper

Divided: a History of the Berlin Wall
Twenty-eight years of oppression, brother separated from brother, friend from friend, on one cold November night as thousands of people gathered together to tear down the concrete barrier between them; an event that brought tears to the eyes of millions occurred. The Berlin Wall, which had separated the East and Western halves of Germany had finally come down. Strangers found themselves hugging each other and families reunited, thousands stood together finally having overcome the obstacle between them. This moment in history, a glorious one, was a moment that signified both the end of the Cold War and the reuniting of not only a country, but the people as well.

After World War II and the defeat of the …show more content…
It is estimated that during this time around 4,000 people managed to cross, afterwards however that number stopped rising and the amount of those who died attempting to do so rose. When the final wall was finished it stood 15 feet vertically, 300 guard towers placed alongside it. By this time it became nearly impossible to escape the Soviet ruled Eastern territory, those who even dared to touch the wall were all shot down. The number of those who died in an escape attempt, at least 137, their bodies often left where they …show more content…
One such story is that of Sigrid Paul, an East German woman who found herself separated from her newborn son because of the East and Western division. In January of 1961, Sigrid and her husband Hartmut gave birth to their son Thorsten who suffered from many ailments such as a ruptured diaphragm and severe internal bleeding from complications at birth. When it was decided that a patient transfer would be necessary to save the young boy’s life, Sigrid immediately rushed her son to a West German hospital where, with the help of many doctors, Thorsten was saved. However, after their return to the East Thorsten was still in critical condition and Sigrid still had to make the weekly travel thru the border in order to procure her son’s medication. It was only a few months later that East Germany announced it’s closing borders. Unable to gain access to the medicine her son desperately needed in order to survive; Sigrid, with the help of two doctors on either side of the wall, was able to sneak her son across to better hospitals. Unfortunately, by doing so she was left unable to see her son for many months. Time went by with Visa after rejected Visa, only being able to see her son once in five years afterwards and then learning of his worsened condition. After both a failed escape attempt by Sigrid and Hartmut and neglecting to inform

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