“Why was the Berlin Wall not Effective?”

The Berlin Wall was one of the most famous and controversial structures in history. After the fall of Hitler and the end of World War Ⅱ, the Soviet Union put a barrier between the communist east and the democratic west of Berlin. Over the span of 28 years, families were separated, people were trapped, and a community was divided by this barrier. On November 9, 1989, East Berlin was set free of this border, now allowing them to travel to west berlin with no regulations Soon after, the wall came tumbling down. This structure was used as a visual reminder to east Berlin that they were no longer a part of the west. The Berlin Wall was meant to show the people of Berlin that the government still had control over them after World War Ⅱ, but it ultimately failed because you cannot separate a community with an artificial barrier.

To begin with, by putting up an artificial or physical barrier, the government may have literally separated the people of Berlin, but overall brought them closer together as a community. A quote from the article “The Fall of the Berlin Wall” by Bryan Brown from Upfront magazine, depicts the scene from when the wall was being knocked down. It says, “On the other side, West Berliners met them with flowers, chocolate, and wine.” This shows that even though the two sides had made little to no contact because they were literally separated, the West Berliners showed how they still cared about them and would welcome them back into their community. A different quote from this article that showed the seriousness of this artificial barrier was, “an iron curtain has descended across the continent.” An iron curtain represents a blockage from the outside world. It literally stops you from seeing what’s going on outside your window. But an iron curtain? That is an extreme version. There is absolutely no way of seeing past an iron curtain. Almost like how many people could not see any hope while they were stuck in East Berlin.

Furthermore, the Berlin wall was used as a symbol of power. It was meant to isolate the people of east berlin and make them feel trapped. for example, the day the Berlin wall started to be built, an elderly woman asked a police officer when the next train to west berlin would arrive. He replied, “ None of that anymore, Grandma. You’re all in a mousetrap now.” The government used this wall to establish control and dominance over these citizens. A later quote in the article referring to the stasi (secret police) says, “In every workplace, school, and home, the Stasi played and elaborate game of cat and mouse.” This related back to the concept of these people being mice in a mouse trap. A book called “Maus” is a story about jews in World War Ⅱ, but depicts the story through mice. Mice are a constant way of representing innocent people that are being ruled by an oppressive government.

Overall, the Berlin Wall was not used just to separate the communists and democrats of Berlin, but as a symbol of power, a visual reminder of separation to the people of East Berlin, and the separation of one community into two ideologies. This wall made a huge impact on so many peoples lives and caused so much suffering and pain. Our world today still has many problems similar to this. We are all mice stuck in a the grasp of the governments claws, just like the people of East Berlin were stuck behind the wall. The question is, how will we escape?

-Katie