The Berlin Wall | A city divided between East and West by the Cold War
CHANNEL | The Light Programme
FIRST BROADCAST | 26 June 1963
DURATION | 3 minutes 24 seconds
FIRSTBROADCAST
1963
Cold War paranoia is highlighted in this report by Ivor Jones about a visit to Berlin by Robert and Edward Kennedy. Jones details the labyrinthine diplomatic implications of Edward Kennedy having shown his passport to East German officials so that he could visit the communist sector of the city.
In the year before the Kennedys' visit, an 18-year-old called Peter Fechter was killed while trying to escape from East to West Berlin. He was shot while climbing over the wall and left unattended by either side until he eventually bled to death. His demise became symbolic of the fear and paranoia of the Cold War and a memorial to him was constructed on Zimmerstrasse in 1990.
Berlin | Cold War | Communism | Germany | World War II
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The BBC reports from the scene as the Berlin Wall is constructed.

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A Christmas truce for the people of Cold War Berlin.
HM Queen Elizabeth II visits West Berlin at the height of the Cold War.
Andrew Sachs shows his wife around East and West Berlin.
Reporting live from Berlin at the dawn of a new era for the city and the world.
The formal reunification of Germany ends 45 years of divided nationhood.
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