The Wall: One Year LATER

Although New Frontiersmen and their cheerleaders may prefer to ignore it, the mood of Berlin has been changing over the past year. The “brave Berliners,” as they have been rightly stereotyped since blockade days, are as brave as ever, and just as eager as always actively to resist Communism; but today they often wonder whether their bravery is still wanted by the Free World.

Most foreign visitors in Berlin hear few of these doubts. The taxi driver and the reception committee official still feel duty-bound to assure them that the city’s fighting spirit remains strong. But among themselves Berliners talk in a different, more disenchanted way. Their confidence in the West seems somewhat shaken. Not that they believe in the outright betrayal of their city—hardly anyone foresees a “deal” at the price of their own freedom. What they are afraid of is that the West will not resist—let alone counterattack—the next and all subsequent minor Soviet moves undercutting their strength until, in the end, Berlin will be ripe for surrender. The “salami technique” by which this would be achieved is a term with which everybody in Berlin seems familiar, and which recurs in every talk about the future.

NM

About the Author

Norbert Muhlen

Although New Frontiersmen and their cheerleaders may prefer to ignore it, the mood of Berlin has been changing over the past year. The “brave Berliners,” as they have been rightly stereotyped since blockade days, are as brave as ever, and just as eager as always actively to resist Communism; but today they often wonder whether their bravery is still wanted by the Free World.

Most foreign visitors in Berlin hear few of these doubts. The taxi driver and the reception committee official still feel duty-bound to assure them that the city’s fighting spirit remains strong. But among themselves Berliners talk in a different, more disenchanted way. Their confidence in the West seems somewhat shaken. Not that they believe in the outright betrayal of their city—hardly anyone foresees a “deal” at the price of their own freedom. What they are afraid of is that the West will not resist—let alone counterattack—the next and all subsequent minor Soviet moves undercutting their strength until, in the end, Berlin will be ripe for surrender. The “salami technique” by which this would be achieved is a term with which everybody in Berlin seems familiar, and which recurs in every talk about the future.