Germans on Saturday .................................. (mark) the 50th anniversary of the rise of the Berlin Wall, which .................................. (divide) Berlin and .................................. (come) to define the Cold War.
The city .................................. (observe) a minute of silence at noon in memory of those who .................................. (die) trying to escape.
Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit .................................. (tell) people attending the ceremony that the construction of the wall 50 years ago must be a constant reminder to maintain freedom and democracy.
German President Christian Wulff and Chancellor Angela Merkel also .................................. (attend) the ceremony.
After the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, the victorious World War II allies .................................. (divide) Germany into four zones of occupation. The U.S., French and British sectors .................................. (become) West Germany, while the Soviet sector .................................. (become) communist East Germany.
On August 13, 1961, authorities in the communist East .................................. (order) all crossing points from East Berlin to West Berlin to be sealed off with barbed wire, later reinforced with concrete. The wall .................................. (divide) streets and neighborhoods and .................................. (tear) apart families and friendships. The wall .................................. (design) to keep residents in the east from fleeing to the West. The 161-kilometer wall later .................................. (include) 45,000 cement blocks and dozens of watchtowers.
Historians .................................. (say) 125 people .................................. (die) trying to cross the wall from communist East Berlin, but some experts .................................. (say) the death toll .................................. (be) much higher. East German border guards .................................. (have) orders to shoot to kill anyone they ............................................. (spot) trying to escape.
In June of 1987, U.S. President Ronald Reagan .................................. (deliver) a speech in Berlin in which he .................................. (challenge) then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall."
In November 1989, East German residents and the government in the communist state .................................. (bring) down the wall. East and West Germany .................................. (reunite) October 3, 1990.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
