Page 101 - A History of the World in 25 Cities

In 1948, the Soviet Union decided to blockade the West German part of Berlin. The blockade stopped all food, fuel and other supplies from arriving by road and rail. West Berlin had only 36 days’ worth of food in reserve. The Western Allies responded with one of the biggest ever airlifts, using aircraft
to fly supplies directly into Tempelhof Airport. At the peak of the airlift, one plane arrived every 30 seconds! One enterprising pilot, who became known as the ‘Berlin Candy Bomber’, even dropped
sweets carried by miniature parachutes to the city’s children. West Berlin was kept supplied with food and the Soviets
ended their blockade nine months later.
The Berlin Wall not only split the city, but it split up family and friends as well. Living conditions were very different on the two sides of the Wall. In the western section of the city, shops had food and goods imported from the West, while in the East German section consumers had much less choice of things they could buy. Here too, it was forbidden to play rock ‘n’ roll music in public, and people weren’t even allowed to dance in styles popular in the West.
A few months after the Berlin Wall went up, railway worker Harry Deterling spotted a disused track that led to West Berlin. Harry loaded a train with his family and friends and, on 5 December 1961, drove ‘the last train to freedom’ towards a new life in the West. Scattering surprised border guards, their escape was successful. The East German police sealed off the route the next day.
In the late 1980s, a series of revolutions in other countries under Soviet control spilled over into East Germany. East German border guards were overwhelmed by the numbers of protesters arriving on the eastern side of the Wall. The authorities reluctantly had to allow free passage from East Berlin to West Berlin. Celebrating crowds soon gathered and started to climb onto and over the Berlin Wall. After 28 years of dividing a city, the Berlin Wall had fallen.
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