HISTORY DECLASSIFIED: THE BERLIN WALL

On the night of 12 August 1961, the lights suddenly went out on the Brandenburg Gate in the centre of Berlin. Troops started gathering on the east side of the city’s famous gate. The border between East and West Berlin was closed and protected with fences and wire. And so began construction of the Berlin Wall. Next morning, many Berliners found themselves cut off from their work, friends, and relatives. Many believed the wall was built by the German Democratic Republic together with the Soviet Union. But 50 years later, declassified documents tell a completely different story.