Border wall which previously divided Phillippstal, West Germany from Vacha, East Germany
The photo above was taken in 1987, when I was a 19-year-old private first class in the U.S. Army. My unit, Co. D, 54th Engineer Battalion, was attached to the 1/11 Armored Cavalry Regiment. We were a part of the 1/11 ACR's rotation on the inner-German border. While the Berlin Wall got most of the press, there was a combination of walls, fences, minefields, and other obstacles dividing East and West Germany.
From the the West German side of the border, we primarily watched the East Germans/Soviets, and what they were up to. On the other side of the border, they did watch us, too. But their primary mission was not to keep people out of East Germany—it was to keep people in.
The inner German border will forever be a part of who I am. Two years of my life were spent in its proximity and the rules that went along with it: No armored vehicles within 50 meters of the border; do not point fully automatic weapons across the border; do not converse with East German/Soviet soldiers on patrol; and report anything unusual that you see on or near the border. Never have I lived in an actual police state, but I was close enough to observe one. And it involved a wall.
Keep reading below to learn about the dangers of history repeating itself.
When presidential candidates state that they want to build a wall between Mexico and the United States, or between Canada and the United States, it makes you wonder if they have ever been to a place that was divided by a wall. I have—and it isn't just a wall. There is also a death strip, which is normally filled with land mines. Casual observers would have no idea it was there unless they happened to watch it be installed, or if they were unfortunate enough to step on one:
The outer border fences were lined with anti-personnel mines designed to kill or injure would-be escapees. The mining of the border began in 1966; by the 1980s, some 1.3 million mines of various Soviet-made types had been laid...The minefields were not marked on the East German side, though Achtung! Minen! signs were often posted by the West Germans on their side. The mines were a hazard to civilians on both sides of the border; they were frequently set off by animals such as deer and they could be washed out of position by rain or floods. It was not unknown for mines to travel hundreds of meters into fields and streams on either side of the border.
There were other controls. The East German soldiers were issued shoot-to-kill orders for anyone attempting to escape. And there were no trees on the East German side of the border, not even a
blade of grass:
The Soviets had pioneered the use of control strips on the borders of the USSR. The same technique was adapted for use in Germany when the border was first fortified from May 1952 onwards, at a time when it was still policed by Soviet troops. The construction of the control strip in 1952 was carried out by local villagers conscripted into work brigades. One of those involved, a resident of the Thuringian village of Kella, later recalled:
"The tree stumps were blown up, and there wasn't enough soil left over so they had to carry dirt up [the hill] in baskets. They also had to bring all sorts of gardening tools with them. The ten-meter strip was made into something like cultivated garden soil – so that you could see every footprint, every impression. And it was patrolled regularly ... usually by three [officers]."
The control strips were later maintained by a specialist engineering corps, the Grenzpioniere. They used 3 meter (9.8 ft)-wide harrows towed by KT-50 bulldozers and copious quantities of herbicide to keep the strip free of vegetation.
That is what a border wall looks like: It is not a pretty sight. It won't keep people out unless you fill them with fear, which is what the Soviets and, later, the East German Army did. Fear kept people from trying to escape yet they still tried, failing more often than they succeeded.
What were those who were trying to escape East Germany trying to accomplish when they risked everything trying to cross that god-forsaken border? A better life. They often left everything behind—friends, family, children, parents, and grandparents. All for a better life.
A border wall is not something a free nation builds. A wall will not stop the determined unless, of course, we as a people decide that it is okay to give our border patrol shoot-to-kill orders and we line our borders with land mines, death strips, and control strips.
This linked photo is very similar to the one at that top of this diary. It was taken in 1982, at the same location where I took my photo. Below that photo is the same location in 2009. You'll see a lot has changed over the years—for the better.
Let's remind those in the Republican Party who are screaming the loudest to build a wall on our border that one of their own most revered members once demanded a wall be torn down:
...And now the Soviets themselves may, in a limited way, be coming to understand the importance of freedom. We hear much from Moscow about a new policy of reform and openness. Some political prisoners have been released. Certain foreign news broadcasts are no longer being jammed. Some economic enterprises have been permitted to operate with greater freedom from state control.
Are these the beginnings of profound changes in the Soviet state? Or are they token gestures, intended to raise false hopes in the West, or to strengthen the Soviet system without changing it? We welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace.
General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!
To update this for today: Republican candidates, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the United States, if you seek freedom, then do not build this wall!