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Chronicle 1963

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    • 1 June - 1 July

      1963

      The start of actually paying ransom for prisoners: after another trial run with eight prisoners, where both partners successfully test whether the other side is willing and able to guarantee the confidentiality of this trade, the GDR shows itself prepared to sell between 500 and 1,500 political prisoners to West Germany each year. more
    • 21 June

      1963

      The GDR Council of Ministers issues a regulation on “Measures to Protect the State Border between the GDR and West Berlin”. Defence Minister Heinz Hoffmann adds an order regarding “The Establishment of a Border Zone on the State Border of the GDR to West Berlin”. After this, the border area in Berlin consists of a “protective strip” that is 100 metres wide; in the district of Potsdam it is 500 metres wide. To enter the border area, it is necessary to obtain permission.
    • 26 June

      1963

      John F. Kennedy and Willy Brandt at the Schöneberg Town Hall in Berlin, 26 June 1963
      During his German trip from 23 to 26 June, US President John F. Kennedy visits West Berlin on 26 June. His words at a rally at the Schöneberg Town Hall – "All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words: Ich bin ein Berliner" – provoke a storm of applause.


      At the Berlin Free University, Kennedy voices his conviction that reunification will one day be a reality. For the great powers, he says, there is a necessity to work together "to preserve the human race, or otherwise we can be destroyed."
      During Kennedy’s speech at the Schöneberg Town Hall in Berlin, 26 June 1963
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