FROM ZONE BORDER TO LINE DIVIDING GERMANY

The regulation and monitoring of cross-border traffic by the Allied Control Council was originally intended as a contribution to overcoming chaotic conditions in post-war Germany. From September 1945, a permit from the Allies was required for all journeys into or out of Germany. The line of demarcation between the different sectors could only be crossed at certain fixed points and only with a permit. Due to the emerging economic gap between the western occupied zones and that occupied by the Soviets, the interest in controlling border crossings persisted above all on the eastern side. The economic situation in the west of Germany was better for a variety of reasons: here, the old industrial zones had seen less severe destruction than those in the Soviet occupied zone; in addition, reparation payments to the western powers were considerably reduced in 1949 and even partly compensated for before that date through the Marshall Plan, the United States’ programme for rebuilding Europe. On the other side, the Soviet Union did not stop deducting reparations from ongoing industrial production until 1954, and reduced the share of the cost of occupation to be paid by the defeated country itself to five percent of the state budget only when major discontent among the population over the economic situation threatened to jeopardize Soviet power in East Germany. In the west of the country, the currency reform of 1948 created sufficient confidence in the new Deutschmark for traders to begin officially offering their wares in shops again, thus successfully reducing levels of black-market activity. In East Germany, on the other hand, rationing of meat, fat and sugar did not end until 1958.

The “fight against the evil of black-marketeering” thus became a key concern of the East German border police, aimed among other things at preventing the “illegal transfer of industrial plant to the Western zones”. Besides the trade in consumer goods, there was also large-scale speculative smuggling: in the first days after the currency reform in the west of the country, large amounts of the now valueless money were taken to the Soviet occupied zone where it was still in use. Although the explanation always given for the reinforcement of border controls was “hostile imperialist and militarist activities”, the real reason was the ongoing exodus to the West. After the founding of the East German state, the early years to 1955 were marked by the adoption of the Soviet model. At its second party congress in 1952, the SED officially stated that the phase of "anti-fascist democratic upheaval" was over and declared its aim "to build Socialism". The measures passed by the congress included accelerated development of heavy industry, the establishment of armed forces, and the centralization of state apparatus. The congress was followed by increases in planned economy and collectivization, accompanied by far-reaching ideologically motivated purges in many areas of society. In this situation, numbers leaving for the West rose sharply and on May 26, 1952, the SED leadership ordered the line of demarcation between East and West Germany to be sealed. Only in Berlin did the border between the sectors remain open.

From November 1946, the line of demarcation was guarded by border police, whose number quadrupled between 1948 and 1950 (from 4,000 to 16,800), following the official order of December 1, 1946, from the Soviet Military Administration in Germany (SMAD) for the establishment of a border police force in the Soviet occupied zone. The guidelines for this force published in 1947, signed by Marshall Sokolovsky, stated that if “other possibilities for the arrest of border infringers (shouted warning, shots fired into the air) have been exhausted […] weapons may be used”. After the founding of the German Democratic Republic, the responsibility for the border police was transferred to the Ministry of the Interior (MdI). In 1952, it was transferred to the Ministry for State Security (MfS, also known as the Stasi), which gained notoriety for its system of spies and informants inside the country. Following the Soviet model, this meant that the border police was independent of the “People’s Police” that was still run by the MdI. In its “Introduction of special orders for the line of demarcation” published in 1952, the MfS issued a more clearly formulated order for the use of firearms: “Crossing the 10-kilometre control strip is forbidden for all persons. Persons attempting to cross the border in the direction of the German Democratic Republic or West Germany will be arrested by border patrols. Where orders from border guards are ignored, firearms will be used.”

From 1952, the hinterland at the border was sealed off by a zone five kilometres wide. More than 11,000 of the total 345,000 inhabitants of this area who were seen as “border racketeers”, “speculators” or “refugee helpers” were forced to resettle deeper into the interior. In the course of “Campaign Border”, they were expropriated without compensation and had to “leave house and home within a few hours.” Within the five-kilometre exclusion zone, a separate “500 m exclusion zone” and a “10 m control strip” were set up. On the 10 metre wide control strip, all trees and bushes were removed along the entire length of the east/west border; all buildings were demolished and the ground was ploughed over twice a year to ensure every attempt to cross the border was identified. Several settlements along the border were divided by the barbed wire fences gradually erected by border guards along the line of demarcation. Once the exclusion zone was in place, anyone wishing to enter this area required a pass, including those employed at factories in the zone, farmers whose fields lay behind the line, as well as friends and relatives from other parts of East Germany. The previously relaxed attitude to local cross-border traffic was replaced by a total ban. Throughout the exclusion zone, all meeting places (cinemas, restaurants, hotels, boarding houses, etc.) were forced to shut. There was a ban on assemblies and events after 10pm. Due to these restrictive regulations, many people left the border area over the following years. Those who moved to the border zone later were ideologically loyal: the population included disproportionately high numbers of former officers and police, as well as “Voluntary Helpers of the Border Police”.

The Workers’ Uprising of June 17, 1953

As the economic situation deteriorated, and with consumer goods in short supply due to the emphasis on heavy industry, the first workers’ uprising in the Stalinist part of Europe took place in 1953, initially triggered by an increase in production quotas. The uprising began with a strike by the construction workers involved in the gigantic project of building the Stalin Allee boulevard in the Soviet wedding-cake style. Although individual clashes were reported by the Free German Trades Union Congress (FDGB, the federation of all authorized unions in East Germany), these accounts were always from the perspective of the ruling party. One report on “The Stalin Allee Construction Workers” from June 16, 1953, states: “During my period on duty yesterday, I noted in particular that the noisiest, most aggressive individuals were young people. It is an unfortunate fact that many of them were construction workers from Stalin Allee. They were chanting slogans like ‘We don’t need a People’s Army, we need butter,’ ‘We demand free elections,’ ‘We call for a general strike.’ [...] Through my personal intervention I was twice able to prevent serious hand-to-hand fighting by explaining to these young construction workers that it is a disgrace for workers to fight among themselves. [...] Another typical observation was that several hysterical women, who looked less like workers and more like West Berlin prostitutes, gave highly inflammatory speeches against the government and the SED.”

The Soviet military declared a state of emergency and used tanks against the demonstrators to prevent a possible toppling of the East German regime. Obeying the logic of zones of influence, the Western powers did not intervene. Although this prevented a military confrontation between East and West, the consequences were felt by those in Eastern Europe. In East German society, the discontent remained and the exodus via West Berlin continued, placing a further burden on the East German system in both social and economic terms.