When the wall first went up. the Communists explained it was needed to keep West Berliners from illegally crossing into East Berlin. They reluctantly admitted that some East Berliners were traveling Westand staying there. Indeed they were: Between 1945 and 1961. an estimated 3.300.000 crossed from East Germany to West Berlin. During the time official records were kept from 1949 to 1961. 2.600.000 entered from East Germany. And in the period just prior to the building of the wall. refugees were entering at the rate of 4.000 a week. Since the building of the wall. hundreds of freedomseeking East Germans have dared guards and bullets by going over and under the wall into West Berlin. Many have succeeded.
Keywords matched
refugees