PETER WOODS:
As threats and counterthreats go on over this torn city, the Iron Cur-tain running through Berlin has today become a cement wall. I have come to the Wedding district, a notorious-ly tough area, to see the effect of the East German government decision to seal off its people from the West-ern zone.
And what a grim picture it makes. In side streets only a hundred yards from this barricade, a group of ten Russian T-34 tanks are lurking. The steel-helmeted East German police guarding the barricade have al-ready pointed their guns at us in a threatening way when they saw our camera.
Earlier today I watched workmen supervised by troops putting the finishing touches to the Ce-ment Curtain through which no East German can pass.
Along the length of the border, mobile cranes lowered thousands of massive cement blocks into position while West Germans looked on and jeered. At one checkpoint, which is still open to West Berliners near here, I saw an East German policeman turn a blind eye as three men pushing a handcart loaded with odd bits of furniture bluffed their way through into West Berlin and freedom. The leader of the three, who cov-ered his face in front of our cameras, said that they were just taking the stuff round the corner. He didn't say they weren't going back.
West Berliners visiting their families in the Eastern zone must have special passes. And I have watched scores of pathetic scenes as the Westerners back on their side of the wire wave to their kinsfolk over the sentries' heads. The scenes were made even more tragic by rumours that by tonight no West Berliners will be allowed into the Eastern zone.All links between the two sides are closed, even the underground which used to be a route to freedom for so many East Berliners. Only a few yards from freedom, people watched gravely from flats as the sealing-off went on. Then a child's kite skidded and twirled through the stormy sky, almost a symbol of free-dom in this far-from-free city.
Video summary
This clip from the BBC Archive shows journalist Peter Woods reporting on the building of the Berlin Wall in August 1961, dramatically showing the time ‘when the Iron Curtain became a cement wall.’
It shows workmen constructing the wall with huge cement blocks dividing the city as well as East German police guarding the barriers between east and west.
The clip includes footage of men moving furniture to the west before Berlin became permanently divided.
It shows how all routes between the two halves of the city were closed, including the underground, resulting in West Berliners not being allowed into the eastern zone and families being unable to see each other.
Teacher notes
This video could be shown as part of a series of lessons around this possible overarching enquiry question:
- Why was the Berlin Wall built and what were the consequences?
Before the video:
It is important to provide the historical context before playing the clip, recapping on the division of Germany and Berlin after the war, as well as the events of the Berlin Blockade and Airlift. However, the clip would be more dramatic if no further context were provided so the students can witness history as it happens.
While watching the video:
Students could consider the following:
- What can be learnt from the clip about the actual building of the wall?
- What effects of the building of the wall are mentioned?
- What do you think about the way in which the report ends with the footage of a child’s kite?
- Do you think the news reporter is providing an objective report, or do you think he is on either the side of the east or the west?
At the end of the video:
The students will need to study why the Berlin Wall was built and possibly consider which was the most important reason for its construction.
Once the students have studied the building of the wall, it would be important to explore the response of the west to the event.
The video could be interrogated as a historical source by answering a question like:
- How useful is this source to a historian studying the Berlin Wall?
Also, it could be compared with a contrasting source to explore different interpretations.
Suitable for teaching the GCSE History units on The Cold War in England and for National 5 examinations in Scotland.
More from this series:
1989 East Berliners crossing the wall. video
A clip from a BBC news report from 10 November 1989 as the Berlin Wall is freely crossed for the first time.
1962 President Kennedy's Cuban Missile speech. video
A clip from the BBC Archive from President John Kennedy’s television broadcast to the American people on the Cuban Missile Crisis.
1949 Signing of the Atlantic Pact. video
A BBC Archive newsreel clip of the signing of the Atlantic Pact, the establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
