Located in the heart of historic Potsdam, the Lindenstrasse memorial site is a unique place of memory. With its history under National Socialism as well as in the Soviet Occupation Zone and GDR, it is a symbol of the political persecution and violence practiced during two different German dictatorships in the course of the twentieth century. At the same time it stands for the efforts to overcome communist one-party rule, and the victory of democracy ushered in by the Peaceful Revolution of 1989–90.
Although many deaths at the Berlin Wall have been publicized over the years in the media, the number, identity and fate of the victims still remain largely unknown. This handbook changes this by answering the following questions: How many people actually died at the Berlin Wall between 1961 and 1989? Who were these people? How did they die? How were their relatives and their friends treated after their deaths? What public and political reactions were triggered in the East and the West by these fatalities? What were the consequences for the border guards who pulled the trigger and the military and political leaders who gave them their orders after the East German border regime collapsed and the Wall fell? How have the victims been commemorated since their deaths? By documenting the lives and circumstances under which these men and women died at the Wall, these deaths are placed in a contemporary historical context. The authors, in addition to systematically researching the relevant archives and examining all the legal proceedings and Stasi documents, also conducted interviews with family members and contemporary witnesses.
Where did the Berlin Wall actually stand? Why was it built? How did people keep managing to escape across it - and how many died in the attempt? Why did it come down in the end? Photographs document the construction of this barrier system of barbed wire, alarm fences and concrete. Escape stories and shocking deaths are chronicled here in words and images, as are the dramatic events surrounding the construction and the fall of the Wall.
Wo eigentlich stand die Berliner Mauer? Warum wurde sie gebaut? Wie gelang es immer wieder, sie zu überwinden - und wie viele Menschen kamen an der Mauer zu Tode? Warum ist sie schließlich gefallen? Was erinnert noch heute an das Symbol des Kalten Krieges? Zahlreiche bisher unbekannte Fotos dokumentieren den Auf- und Ausbau der Sperranlagen aus Stacheldraht, Alarmzäunen und Beton. Spektakuläre Fluchtgeschichten und erschütternde Todesfälle werden ebenso in Wort und Bild dargestellt wie die dramatischen Ereignisse um den Bau und den Fall der Mauer. Eine bewegende Gesamtschau auf die Berliner Mauer, das zentrale Symbol des Kalten Krieges. Where did the Berlin Wall actually stand? Why was it built? How did people keep managing to escape through it - and how many died in the attempt? Why did it come down in the end? What is there today to remind us of this icon of the Cold War? Numerous previously unknown photographs document the construction of this barrier system of barbed wire, signal fences and concrete. Spectacular escape stories and shocking deaths are chronicled here in words and images, as are the dramatic events surrounding the construction and the fall of the Wall. A stunning survey of the Berlin Wall, the cenrtal symbol of the Cold War.
