Thread by @GdrMemories

13th Aug 1961 (A thread)

Yesterday, 60 years ago the construction of the Berlin Wall began.The GDR regime separated families & locked out freedom for good. How #ahnenstory great-uncle Alfons (pictured) then 27 years old, experienced this turning point, he told her in August 2001

From 1960 to 1961 I was at the officers' school of the People's Police (Volkspolizei) in Aschersleben in what was then the Halle district (now Saxony-Anhalt). On the evening of August 12th and after a whole day of lessons in politics, we went on to some exercise in the evening.

There was a football match against the district champions on the actual school premises that day. I was a passionate football player then and shot my team to victory with a 2:1 goal. Big cheers and applause, almost 800 spectators on the sports field - what a wonderful feeling.

But then the siren started: long - short - short.
For three minutes.
Alarm!
Everyone ran back from the field to the dormitory.Back in the dormitory we were instructed to put on our uniforms & shoulder a gun. I was assigned to a truck several comrades were already sitting on.

Around 20:30 a trek of almost 2.5 km left the city of Aschersleben - crews, guns, water cannons - I think we were roughly 1000 men.
The regiment was led by radio, nobody knew exactly where we were going or what had actually happened.

We arrived in Berlin around 6 a.m. on August 13, final destination. It became clear to me then that the reason for it all was that the capturing of West Berlin was imminent. By then we had heard rumours about it on and off.
At the assembly point I received ammunition, 72 rounds

After that, I was asked to take up my post.

So there I was on August 13, 1961, on the first floor of the war ruins of the former "Haus Vaterland" on Potsdamer Platz - ready to fire.

But where was the enemy?

Or did they expect me to shoot my own people? "

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