Berlin: Guns at the Wall

The Communists’ East German wall was virtually complete. Behind it, Red Boss Walter Ulbricht could whip his sullen millions into line without fear of an other mass exodus. But barricading Berlin was just the first surprise Old Spitzbart (pointed beard) had in mind for the West. Last week, pointedly, arrogantly, he began to reach for more, and as a result, on the tense and anxious Berlin frontier more and more armed men faced each other with weapons at the ready.

Just before midnight, word of the latest Communist move was flashed to duty officers at U.S. headquarters in West Berlin. Not satisfied with damming up the flow of refugees from East Berlin, the Reds now blandly announced restrictions on Westerners who wanted to enter the eastern half of the city. From that time on, said the East-zone radio, a West Berliner would have to get a pass and use only selected border crossings; “foreigners,” i.e., Western Allied civilians and officials, would be allowed to use only one route for entering and leaving East Berlin. This was violation enough of the Four Power agreements guaranteeing free movement throughout the entire city, but the East Germans audaciously added another new “rule”: Westerners on their own side of the line must stay 100 meters (110 yds.) back from the walled frontier “for their own safety.”

On the Line. Hurriedly, U.S., British and French troop commanders met, decided on a tough reply. “The three Western commandants take a most serious view of [this] effrontery [and] are taking the necessary action to ensure security and the integrity of the sector borders,” they announced. Within hours, a thousand heavily armed Allied troops (600 Americans, 200 British, 200 French) were taking positions all along the 25-mile East-West city frontier. Where the Wilhelmstrasse enters Communist territory, a hard-bitten U.S. sergeant and his crew raced up in a Jeep armed with a 106-mm. recoilless rifle and parked with the gun’s muzzle pointed directly across at the Reds. At Friedrichstrasse—the one entry point now open to non-Germans—a platoon of American infantrymen moved up directly to the border opposite a group of East German Vopos and a water-cannon truck; an M48 tank and two armored cars rumbled up and parked near by.

Hour after hour, Western tanks, armored cars and armed Jeeps rumbled slowly back and forth along the frontier, making certain that the Communists did not try to enforce their 100-meter rule. West Berliners remained free to travel the border streets as they pleased. Overhead, U.S. helicopters kept constant watch. Next day, when one water cannon fired a stream at a crowd of West Berliners, G.I.s of the 6th Infantry Regiment, who were also splattered, reached grimly for the tear gas grenades that they carried conveniently on their shoulder straps. The squirting stopped abruptly.

Tense Half-Hour. Then, three busloads of sightseeing U.S. troops were sent across the Friedrichstrasse entry point in a deliberate showdown. Bluntly, a Vopo at the barrier demanded to see the drivers’ identity cards. But the convoy’s captain just as bluntly refused. The rules required, he said, that documents be shown only to Russians. “These buses are going through in 30 minutes,” declared U.S. Provost Marshal Colonel Robert Sabolyk. “If they are held up, we know what to do about it.” When the half-hour was up, no Russian was in sight. Grimly, the bus drivers started their engines and began their tour of East Berlin. This time, the East German guards made not a move to stop them.

Behind their new wall, the Communists were busy stamping out the unrest that had swept the nation ever since the Berlin crackdown. Dozens of East Germans went on trial for “insulting the state.” Many panic-stricken East Germans who bought up groceries and clothing in fear of war were called on the carpet for hoarding. There was still a trickle of refugees sneaking out to the West. One mason who was at work on the wall itself leapfrogged over the cement blocks and fled into West Berlin when his day’s labor was done. Less fortunate was the man who jumped into a Spree River inlet near the old Reichstag and tried to swim the 100 yards to safety; border guards riddled him with bullets before he got halfway across.

To West Berliners, this was evidence enough of the fate that waited for them if the Reds ever managed to take over the entire city. And the intention was clearly there. When West Berliners boycotted the East German-owned S-bahn (elevated railway), which runs partly through West Berlin, East German Railway Boss Otto Arndt hinted darkly of interruptions when supplies were shipped to West Berlin.

Test at Hand? Then came the most ominous threat yet. Moscow, taking on an outraged tone, sent harsh notes to Washington, London and Paris, accusing the West of violating the 1945 Berlin access agreement by allowing West German government officials to fly the Berlin air corridors along routes that for years have been used by Pan American, British European Airways and Air France, as well as by Allied military craft. “All kinds of revanchists (revenge seekers), extremists, saboteurs and spies are being transferred from the Federal Republic of Germany to West Berlin” by this means, Moscow growled.

The Allies were violating no agreements whatsoever with their civilian flights (see below), but the Moscow note was evidence enough to President John F. Kennedy that a test of the West’s access routes was near at hand. Swiftly, he sent a strong reply (see THE NATION) that made clear that U.S. patience was nearing the breaking point.

At the Berlin wall, where the West’s guns now faced Communist armor, the risk of serious incident was already great. In the fierce tension, there was the ever present danger that a single soldier’s itchy trigger finger, or a brickbat hurled by a bitter West German, could touch off the fuse. The West could only hope that the East Germans might finally realize that enough was enough. At week’s end, wily old Walter Ulbricht dropped a hint of a softer line. “We are ready to give every reasonable guarantee of nonintervention in West Berlin and for a secure and quiet life there . . . We are ready to include this in our peace treaty.” But everyone knew that the Communist technique of aggression always included an occasional mild word to lull the naive, relieve the anxious.