It's 50 years ago...tomorrow.

...I was on holiday, and then things happened, so - just like those poor Politician's - I came back to work!
Tomorrow, the 13th August 2011, marks a day in history which had a profound influence on my own life, but particularly on the lives of millions of other people...Tomorrow it will be 50 years exactly, to the day, that "somebody" gave the order to build a wall surrounding and separating the Western power zones from the Eastern power zone in Berlin, Germany.
"Somebody", because finally, nobody wanted to accept responsability... but between themselves, the Eastern German "DDR", and the Russian occupying powers, did a job which lasted many, many years, and destroyed totally or partially, the lives of millions of people - on both sides of the monstrosity.
Personally I was affected, in my own life by the presence of the Wall insofar as I started by having to patrol the thing, within the British Sector, and ended up "securising" both sides of the thing, along with thousands of other serving military and, in the end, civilian personel - some of whom lived alternately on both sides.....for various reasons.
Later, the Central point for me was the "Glienicke Brucke" - an Internationally arranged crossing point for "official" and occasionally "unofficial" persons, of all countries,  most of whom were either being "exchanged" or had been "bought free" - Simple releases from custody were rare, this being the place that all the occupying forces used to swap Espionage Agents who had been caught and sentenced, but who were now of more value as a "bartering" currency to get back other more important Agents.
There was no real sense of the romantics of Espionage, no beautiful Russian spies, just normally grey skies - grey people and grey thoughts, the most colourful things being the spinning gyrophares on the roofs of the military and civilian Police and Security services vehicles!

It took many years, and many deaths before the monster was finally eradicated, and "Es konnte zusammen wachsen was zusammen gehorte..." - GER...
(EN.."what belonged together could finally grow together") - namely the German nation.
Even now the Wall still throws long shadows on life in Germany. There are still many who lament the passing of the wall, because in the Eastern Zone, life was totally arranged for everyone - workers or non-workers, in the West - effort and originality was, and is, required.
Another long shadow is that it is still forcing people like me to break into their holidays......and that's where I'm going back to right now.....!

In any case - it's gone - that brick and mortar affront to Society.



iwmpop(mrlemarquis)  -   Vauvert,France   -   Aout 2011