Speech #870111248

But it is grimly in the making. It Is visible in fact in event and in atmosphere the minute you come within sighting distance of the desolate Brandenburg Gate. through which so many thousands of East Germans fled to freedom. I am not referring only to the Red militia. who have turned their guns on their own people to halt the refugees. I am not referring only to the tanks. and tear gas and water hoses. or the 6foot wall of. concrete with which East Germanys Herr Ulbricht is now lining the whole 25mile border. so that East Berlin will be as hard to escape from as Alcatraz. These massive and violent acts of repressionall in bald violation of the fourpower agreements to permit free travel between East and West Berlinhave been permanently in the headlines. But the truth. the symbol. the forecast of the shape of things to come are contained in the less publicized fact that the three Western Powers took the most "tactful" elaborate. letsnotprovokeanybody precautions at the Brandenburg pass to make sure that the West Berliners did not gather to hurl even an unkind word at the Communist troops. or even an encouraging cheer to an East German who might still break through to freedom. Now. the new Chinese wall is sealing off the borders so that it can be neither scaled nor pierced. Not only has the flow of refugees been brought to a standstill but hope of escape has been snuffed out. The fact is. the Berlin crisis is entering a new phase and. from the standpoint of the West. a deteriorating phase. I say this because the knownbut not always admittedposition of the West is to accept these events with reluctancy. yes. even with anguish. but also with a kind of relief.