27 August 1961
In the GDR, around 20,000 "voluntary helpers" are enlisted to bring in the rain-sodden harvest. The situation in rural areas is not serious only because of the bad weather, however, but mainly owing to forced collectivisation. A farmer from a collective farm (known in the GDR as "Landwirtschaftliche Produktionsgenossenschaften" or "LPGs" [Agricultural Production Cooperatives]), who has fled today (Sunday) to West Berlin, talks a few days later about his former work and the situation in his village.
The West Berlin Senator for Construction, Schwedler, opens the new underground line G. The line runs from Spichernstrasse to Leopoldplatz and is officially put into operation on 28 August. In a RIAS interview, the senator stresses the special importance of the new line after the division of the city.
Western press comments:
The West Berlin newspaper "Der Tag" writes that, although the closure of the offices issuing passes for East Berlin at first appeared unpopular to many West Berliners, the move had been necessary to avoid "a whole network of Soviet-zone offices being established on West Berlin territory, thus by hook or by crook creating conditions for a so-called 'free city'". The "Tagesspiegel" draws attention to the fact that the Senate had already rejected the opening of such offices in West Berlin on 23 August.
Eastern press comments:
On its title page, the central SED organ "Neues Deutschland" focuses on the closure of the pass offices in West Berlin. The headlines run: "Brandt-police forbid visits to democratic Berlin – West Berliners brutally terrorised – Gangs of thugs say: ‘Kill everyone who wants to visit the eastern sector!’ – West Berliners locked in again by Brandt".
At an extraordinary plenary session of the members of the German Academy of Arts, Fritz Cremer, a winner of the GDR National Prize, responds to the letter by West Berlin authors Günter Grass and Wolfdietrich Schnurre. According to "Neues Deutschland", Cremer says: "Once more I hear fascist cries disguised as democracy on the other side of the Brandenburg Gate. I heard it through the walls of my studio on 17 June 1953 and I heard it during the Hungarian counter-revolution. (…) Anyone who does not want to hear must feel. Barbed wire can be removed. Only malicious idiots and demoralised egoists could want this situation to go on in perpetuity. But barbed wire surrounding a peaceful country is a thousand times preferable to one that is ravaged by war, contaminated by radiation and deserted. And if it is the only way to hold in check the scoundrels of all shades and calibre, then I am all in favour of taking the measures that were forced upon us through our responsibility for our people." (ND, 30.8.1961)
