Pertti Ahonen. Death at the Berlin Wall.

Abstract

The fiftieth anniversary of the construction of the Berlin Wall in August 1961 predictably produced a spate of popular and scholarly studies about the infamous structure that quickly became the symbol of German division and the Cold War. Looking at the intersection between high politics and everyday life, the two monographs under review here are both interested in the “human dimensions” and “human costs” of the wall. Pertti Ahonen concentrates on a series of fatal shootings that took place at the concrete barrier itself, while Patrick Major examines the impact that the wall had on the lives of those Germans who chose not to flee. Ahonen's account is a masterful look at twelve violent incidents that occurred between 1961 and 1989, resulting in the death of more than a dozen would-be escapees, border guards, and West Berliners. Arranged chronologically, each chapter looks at the backgrounds of the individuals involved, the circumstances leading to their deaths, and, most important, the consequences of their untimely demise. He embeds all of this in a highly readable narrative describing larger developments in the two German states.