Today in class we watched a documentary on the Berlin Wall and the drastic measures in place and how people escaped Eastern Berlin into Western Berlin. The first progress of the wall was just rows of barb wire along with it being watched over by soldiers on the Eastern Side to try to prevent the spread of communism within the area. While this wall was up many found it the time to escape jumping the barb wire into Western Berlin before it was to late. But soon a brick wall was to be built and People on the inside had little to no time to escape. Searching for the last openings People ran to safety as officers shot at young children, men, and women in attempt to escape. Soon windows and all the wall would become brick and those who didn't make it out would be trapped for years to come. In the end the West part of Berlin was a welcoming civilization who helped those wanting to escape make it.
Do you think the people behind the Berlin Wall will soon come to regret their decision of staying on the eastern side?
As always, there is hindsight bias to consider - but some people could not leave, due to things such as jobs, family, etc. For many people, it was a choice that they didn't have until it was too late.
ReplyDeleteI think the people that would regret their decision to stay on the eastern side would include those who had the means to escape with no ties in eastern Berlin. Sadly I think a lot of people couldn't leave because it would mean that they would have to leave their families or jobs.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the conditions in East Berlin were undoubtedly worse, I'm sure there were at least some communist/socialist sympathizers. Logically, if one truly despised communism, they would have escaped immediately. Those that procrastinated their escape for so long probably didn't want to leave so much anyway (that is, until they were separated from their families or went into poverty).
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