Barbed Wire Sunday

Barbed Wire Sunday (Stacheldrahtsonntag), is the name given to Sunday morning August 13, 1961, when the military and police of East Germany began the construction of what would become of the Berlin Wall with the intention of preventing citizens of the East Germany migrating to the West.[1]

Timeline

Beginning at midnight, Walter Ulbricht directed the beginning of construction.[2] Under extreme secrecy, East German troops arrived at certain points to unload concrete, barbed wire, shovels, stone blocks and more.[3] Stasi agents were stationed throughout major intersections between the Soviet and Western sectors of Germany.

Around 4 a.m., radio reports of commotion in the streets were being broadcast in West Berlin. By 4 p.m., half a million Berliners from both the West and East congregated around the sector.[3] While police in West Berlin held back West Berliners who were calling for action, police in East Berlin were keeping its people away from the construction.

Results

That day, only a few hundred escaped, and only a few dozen the following day. The Berlin Wall had officially been established.

Notes
  1. "The Berlin Wall: A Secret History".
  2. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1034949456
  3. "'BARBED-WIRE SUNDAY.': EBSCOhost". web.a.ebscohost.com. Retrieved 2017-04-13.


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