I keep a piece of the Berlin Wall close to my computer. The conversations about building “A Wall” have been bizarre. If Obama had built a wall, the entire RW would have gone bonkers, because they would have been under the assumption that the wall was being built to keep us IN. They are authoritarians, but they want “their” authoritarian.
Given what I know about authoritarian regimes, I assumed I’d find evidence of state propaganda in favor of the Berlin Wall.
I found a very interesting story about a 48 page pamphlet that was written for August 13, 1961, the day the wall was completed. I was able to locate the pamphlet at a German library website.
I was able to visit East Berlin before the wall fell. In 1987 a visitor to East Berlin that someone needed to have a sponsor. We happened to have a sponsor, so we “exchanged” the mandatory 20 W. German Marks for 20 E. German Marks.
A description of the pamphlet in English can be found at here.
You can view the complete pamphlet at this library website.
The pamphlet reads a lot like any paranoid conservative talk about Trump’s wall/. Or for that matter, any of the Modern American Conservative views on politics.
The same imagery is used, the same basic propaganda techniques and similar language usage as we might see today.
Ratholes, Happy Faces, Displays of Authority Over Unwanted People.
The imagery is pretty clear.
They use the term “Agent” to describe West Germans. These four images are exactly what we see today. Ratholes are exposed and flushed of Agents and Border Crossers. Subsequently closed off to prevent any further usage.
Happy faces- “It worked!” “klappen” means “to close”, but “Klappe” means “lid”. However, the term “Klappe zu” either means, “close the lid” or “shut up”.
At the bottom, the “signal is on red” for agents and border crossers. A display of border control, similar to what we see now. Trump hiring 10,000 new border agents- they serve as a personal police force to his whims.
The guitar players are probably playing one of the 4 songs that are included in this propaganda piece.
Im Sommer einundsechzig
Im Sommer einundsechzig
beim Kurs von eins zu fünf,
da machten die Grenzgänger
sich täglich auf die Strümpf
Klappe zu, Affe tot,
endlich lacht das Morgenrot.
Im Sommer einundsechzig,
da holten aus Westend
Die Werber sich das Kopfgeld,
die Waffen der Agent‘.
Klappe zu, Affe tot,
endlich lacht das Morgenrot.
Im Sommer einundsechzig,
am 13. August,
da schlossen wir die Grenzen
und keiner hat’s gewußt.
Klappe zu, Affe tot,
Endlich lacht das Morgenrot.