Berlin August 12 1961- October 28,1961

Timeline created by catchwing in History

Event Date:	Event Title:	Event Description:
08/12/1961	Operation Rose begins	Under the leadership of Erich Honecker and highly secretive. Only abut 20 high level officials are aware of the plan. Others are told that preparations are being made for "exercises". The operation is given the name 'Rose' and all correspondence is hand written.
08/13/1961	Barbed-Wire Sunday	The sectorial border between East and West Berlin is closed. This took place very early on Sunday morning. It began with a razor sharp barbed wire fence across the city, splitting it in two. Fence is to "protect citizens from Capitalism." Phone lines and mail service are cut between East and West and East Berliners are not allowed to visit family in the West. It begins at 1am and by 6am the provisional sealing of the border is complete.
08/13/1961	The Girrmann Group	In the months after August 13, this group of students from Free University in West Berlin helped some 5,000 trapped East Germans attain a new life in the West.
08/13/1961	Human drama unfolds as people in the Bernauer Strasse try to escape	Broadcast around the world, West Berliners encourage East Berliners to jump from windows. Fire fighters and police use sheets to help break their falls. Some did not survive. The windows were later boarded up.
08/14/1961	Brandenburg Gate is closed	West Berlin Mayor Willie Brandt watches as the Gate is sealed off
08/15/1961	Private Hagan Koch paints a white line	Newly married East German soldier assigned to documenting the state of the extension of the border fortification works on topographical maps, picks up a can of white paint and paints a precise white line to show the "imperialists" where East Berlin begins.
08/15/1961	Conrad Schumann 1st to escape	19 year old East German border guard, Conrad Schumann, jumps the fence and escapes to the West. All he ever said was that he hadn't wanted to shoot anyone.
08/15/1961	The Berlin Steering Group meet in Washington	In attendance are Secretaries of Defense, State, Commerce and Agriculture, the Under-Secretary ot the Treasury, Attorney General (Robert Kennedy), Director of the CIA, plus Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Wilson, Edward Murrow's Deputy, and some President's assistants. They did not discuss how to reverse the closure but rather, how to deal with the public relations aspect.
08/16/1961	Willy Brandt's letter to JFK arrives at the White House	Though Kennedy is mad at Brandt for having the affront to write such a letter, it is impossible for him to ignore Brandt's clear criticism of the lack of action from the West, and in particular, the US government.
08/17/1961	Berlin Steering Group meeting	This time JFK was present. The meeting approved the strengthening of the American garrison in Berlin. Clay and Johnson to travel to Berlin
08/18/1961	6 Crane Trucks arrive at Potsdamer Platz	They unload dozens of concrete slabs and begin building a barrier across the entire square.
08/18/1961	Johnson and Clay travel to Berlin	Johnson carries a response letter to hand deliver to Brandt.In the letter he refuses every concrete action that Brandt asked for.
08/23/1961	Checkpoint Charlie opens	US Military opens checkpoint at Friedrichstrasse. This is the only crossing available for tourists, diplomats and military personnel from the Western Powers
08/24/1961	Gunter Litfin is shot dead	24 year old tailor's apprentice is shot dead while trying to swim across Humboldt Harbour.
08/26/1961	All crossing points are closed for West Berlin citizens
08/29/1961	27 year old Roland Hoff killed while swimming across the Teltow Canal
09/14/1961	38,000 Border police brigades are transferred from the Ministry of the Interior to the Ministry of Defense	Poilce become soldiers and are subject to military discipline. One of the reasons for this was to thwart escape attempts by the men.
09/20/1961	Spectacular escape occurs	A truck driving at speed crashes through a concrete post and wire barrier between Treptow and Neukolln.
10/06/1961	Minister of Defense issues order	"A firearm may be used to the extent that is required for the purposes to be achieved." The "main purpose" was to stop fleeing citizens.
10/17/1961	At the XXII Congress of the Communist Party, Khrushchev rescinds his ultimatum to the West	Walter Ulbricht thought that a separate peace treaty would be signed but Khrushchev had other plans.
10/22/1961	Deputy Leader of the American Mission, Allan Lightner and his wife, attempt to go to the theatre	They had planned to attend a performance in East Berlin but were stopped by East Berlin guards and held until 8 American MPs, with bayonets fixed, entered East Berlin and escorted them back to West Berlin
10/27/1961	Tank-off	American and East German tanks face off at Friedrichstrasse. Show of power but not gunfire.
10/28/1961	American and East German tanks face off at Friedrichstrasse. Show of power but not gunfire.	To many, this represented the end of the Berlin crisis. It was a symbolic representation of the recognition of the status quo established August 13, 1961. With a peace treaty unlikely, the Wall would stand for longer than Ulbricht or Khrushchev had planned.