Berlin: The Wall of Trees

As winter dusk settled over West Berlin last week, Mayor Willy Brandt threw a switch. Instantly, 400 Christmas trees lining the 25 miles of the hated Communist-built Wall burst into twinkling lights—beacons of freedom for the sullen population of East Berlin.

A few hours later, three young men crept into West Berlin's Jerusalem Street, cut in half by the Wall, and planted a bomb. The explosion tore a jagged nine-foot hole in the bricks, shattered nearby windows. Before any lucky refugees could make their escape. Communist Vopos rushed to the gap, threatened the West Berlin crowd with submachine guns. "Get...

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