# data[].attributes.body
Escape from East Berlin
Andy Marino
Scholastic
2022

Uprising
Margaret Peterson Haddix
Simon & Schuster
2007

Youtube, 21 Apr. 2022, www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRA1EB-JKHg. Accessed 19 May 2023.

Jones, G. (n.d.). A friend by Gillian Jones. Poemist. https://www.poemist.com/gillian-jones/a-friend

# data[].attributes.body
by the The Office of the Historian

# data[].attributes.body
The information that a massive wall now divided the city of Berlin shocked the world.  When the USSR put the wall up it wasn't the 15-foot concrete wall that we are familiar with, it was instead a series of bard-wired fences that divided the eastern section of Berlin from the western section of Berlin. The response from the current world powers like The United States, NATO, and other anti-communist countries was quick, they condemned the wall and sent US, UK, and French troops to keep guard and get the upper hand if the USSR decided to attack. Neither side attacked and decided to reach a compromise, but when the USSR said that they would not allow anyone to cross the border and anyone caught escaping would be shot or returned to the Soviet-controlled area, the USA stationed their tanks in front of the border crossing stations, the Soviets responded by doing the same. On the brink of war, a call was made between Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev and President John F. Kennedy during this call both sides decided that they would pull away their troops, but they will keep the border guarded and they would not give any escaped Berliner to the East. To conclude both sides responded to each other's demands, war would never occur between them, and the wall would eventually wall fall 38 years later.

To respond to the question "Did the reaction of the character in the story accurately depict the reactions of the people during that time," I believe they do. The first part of the story takes place weeks after the wall went up, Marta and her family are adapting to their new lives on the east side of the wall. They are not doubting the soviet's threats because they killed Marta's brother. They don't like their situation but can't help it, and this was the reaction of most people in the east.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
On November 10, 1958, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev delivered a speech in which he demanded that the Western powers of the United States, Great Britain and France pull their forces out of West Berlin within six months. This ultimatum sparked a three year crisis over the future of the city of Berlin that culminated in 1961 with the building of the Berlin Wall. The division of Germany and its capital city of Berlin among the four victors of the Second World War was frozen in time by the onset of the Cold War despite the postwar agreements to unify the zones.

West Berlin remained under western control, but it was located deep inside East German territory, and that made its protection from communist takeover a constant challenge for the western powers. In 1948, the Soviet Union sparked a crisis in the city by cutting off land access between West Germany and West Berlin, necessitating a year-long airlift of supplies to the stranded citizens before the Soviets reopened the passageways. By 1958, however, a similar situation would have doomed the city; it was already too populous and too prosperous to be supplied via air. The United States heralded the economic success and political freedom of West Berlin as a symbol of the success of the capitalist system, and it was deeply committed to its security, so a Soviet decision to cut off land access again had the potential to lead to a more serious conflict between the two powers. At the same time, the existence of West Berlin was increasingly becoming a liability for the Soviet Union and the East German government. The divided city highlighted the sharp contrast between the communist and capitalist systems, and the freedom of movement between the sectors had resulted in a mass exodus from the eastern side.

Looking for a way to stop the flow of people from east to west and a means to check the growing military power of West Germany, Khrushchev insisted in his November 1958 speech that it was time for the United States to pull out of the city. The west interpreted his speech as an ultimatum, and U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower became determined not to give in to Soviet demands. Instead, the two sides opened a foreign minister's conference at Geneva in the summer of 1959 and made an attempt to negotiate a new agreement on Berlin. Khrushchev wanted the Western garrisons out of West Berlin as a precursor to reunifying the city, but Eisenhower believed that protecting the freedom of West Berlin required an ongoing U.S. presence. Although Khrushchev and Eisenhower made some progress toward mutual understanding during talks at Camp David in the United States in 1959, relations became tense after the Soviet Union shot down an American U-2 spy plane canvassing Soviet territory in 1960. In the wake of this incident, there appeared to be little hope for accommodation. At that point, talks ceased, and the Soviet premier appeared willing to wait for the U.S. presidential elections to take place so he could begin anew with the incoming administration.

However, the first negotiations between the new U.S. President and Khrushchev did not result in a resolution. In the summer of 1961, President John F. Kennedy met with Khrushchev in Vienna to address the ongoing issue of Berlin, in addition to the countries' competing interests in Laos, and the question of disarmament. Although they agreed to further discussions on Laos, they found no solution to the Berlin problem. In the wake of the conference, Khrushchev once again gave the United States six months to withdraw from Berlin. Kennedy responded by activating 150,000 reservists and increasing defense expenditures, in preparation for a potential conflict over the future of the city. Unwilling to face a potential nuclear escalation over the city, Khrushchev prepared to take his own form of action.

On the morning of August 13, 1961, Berliners awoke to discover that on the orders of East German leader Walter Ulbricht , a barbed wire fence had gone up overnight separating West and East Berlin and preventing movement between the two sides. The barbed wire fence was soon expanded to include cement walls and guard towers. The Berlin Wall would prevent the West from having further influence on the East, stop the flow of migrants out of the communist sector, and ultimately become the most iconic image of the Cold War in Europe. The United States quickly condemned the wall, which divided families and limited freedom of movement.

Shortly after the wall was erected, a standoff between U.S. and Soviet troops on either side of the diplomatic checkpoint led to one of the tensest moments of the Cold War in Europe. A dispute over whether East German or Soviet guards were authorized to patrol the checkpoints and examine the travel documents of U.S. diplomats passing through led the United States to station tanks on its side of the checkpoint, pointing toward the East German troops just beyond the wall. Concerns that U.S. forces would either attempt to take down the wall or force their way through the checkpoint led the Soviet Union to station its own tanks on the East German side. A wrong move during the face-off could have led to war, and any conventional skirmish between two nuclear powers always brought with it the risk of escalation. Instead, Kennedy made use of back channels to suggest that Khrushchev remove his tanks, promising that if the Soviet Union did so, the U.S. Army would reciprocate. The standoff ended peacefully.

The Berlin Wall remained in place until November 9, 1989, when the border between East and West Berlin was reopened and the wall itself was finally dismantled.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Milestones: 1953-1960 - Office of the Historian

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
On November 10, 1958, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev delivered a speech in which he demanded that the Western powers of the United States, Great Britain and France pull their forces out of West Berlin within six months. This ultimatum sparked a three year crisis over the future of the city of Berlin that culminated in 1961 with the building of the Berlin Wall.

# data[].attributes.body
by Gillian Jones

# data[].attributes.body
by Margaret Peterson Haddix

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A person who will listen and not condemn
Someone on whom you can depend
They will not flee when bad times are here
Instead they will be there to lend an ear
They will think of ways to make you smile
So you can be happy for a while
When times are good and happy there after
They will be there to share the laughter
Do not forget your friends at all
For they pick you up when you fall
Do not expect to just take and hold
Give friendship back, it is pure gold.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A person who will listen and not condemn Someone on whom you can depend They will not flee when bad times are here Instead they will be there to lend an ear They will think of ways to make you smile So you can be happy for a while When times are good and happy there after They will be there to share the laughter Do not forget your friends at all For they pick you up when you fall Do not expect to just take and hold Give friendship back, it is pure gold.

# data[].attributes.body
by Andy Marino

# data[].attributes.body
Escape From East Berlin is a story from the perspective of two people living in East Berlin when the Berlin Wall was up. One of the perspectives in the book is Marta. She lived in East Berlin near the start of the wall. She got caught up in a plan to escape to the West, and her family and her barely managed to escape without getting caught. The other perspective was Kurt's. He lived in East Berlin near the very end of when the wall was up. He managed to convince his grandfather to help him escape, even though he was loyal to the government. He managed to escape, but his best friend was left behind.

# data[].attributes.headline
How it relates to the essential question 

# data[].attributes.subject
How it relates to the essential question 

# data[].attributes.body
The "Dumb Song" by AJR relates to the question how do relationships affect people. In the song he sings about how other people view him as dumb and not a great person to trust or count on. He also sings about how he relies on people because he can't work out simple things like using a microwave. This relates to the essential question because his relations are souring because he became too dependent on other people and isn't smart enough to live in this day.

# data[].attributes.body
This story follows three girls at the Triangle Shirtwaist factory, Bella, Yetta, and Jane. Bella has just immigrated to America from Italy. Gets a job at the shirtwaist factory. In the meantime, Yetta another shirtwaist worker is trying to organize a union and get a closed shop, to do this she goes on strike with many other girls who work there. While on strike Jane shows up to the picket line and becomes fast friends with Yetta. Their friendship grows and Jane eventually moves in with Yetta and Bella. Bella and Yetta get Jane a job to serve the Triangle company's owners and educate two kids named Harriet and Millicent. Finally in the end the Triangle factory burns down after someone drops a cigarette into the scraps. The factory erupts in flame and Yetta and Jane perish the flame while Bella survives and tells the story of the Triangle factory.

# data[].attributes.body
“Have you heard from our parents, Grandfather?” Kurt asks….”Kurt!” Franz says sharply. Then he turns to Lothar.”Sorry, Grandfather. He knows he’s not to discuss them in this house. Or anywhere else.”(Marino, 76)

“Kurt stands rootedto the floor in kind of a numb panic. He doesn’t understand what just happened. Surely it’s a trap. There’s no way Lothar Muller, Stasi hero, just offered to help him to escape over the wall.” (Marino,79)

"'Listen to me, Kurt. You can't go" (Marino 69)

# data[].attributes.body
This poem relates to the essential question of how relationships effect people. This peom describes how friendship is important. This relates to the question because it shows how positive relationships allow you to be able to keep going. Relationships can effect you both positively and negatively depending on what type of relationship it is.