On a railroad siding, General Vladimir Petrov, chief of Russian rail transportation in Berlin, sweated in his greatcoat as he directed other Russian officers who hooked engines to stalled freight cars. In its second week, the railroad workers' strike against their Communist bosses had effectively tied up Berlin rail transport.
The strikers offered to man certain switch-boxes from the Western zones into Berlin's Western sectors, while still blocking Soviet trains bound for the Russian sector. The Russians indignantly refused. Their German stooges said they were ready to pay 60% of the workers' wages in West marks. The strikers said no....
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
