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The attention of an anxious world is focused on East and West Germany and
Berlin.
The last great exodus of refugees from the East is processed in the Marienfelde Center
as the Communist German regime moves to
close their border against further flights.
Since the Khrushchev announcement that he would sign a separate peace treaty
with East Germany, the flow of those seeking asylum here on the fringe of
freedom has reached 1,500 a day. But from now on crossings into free Berlin
will be fugitive affairs.
Once the East Germans are processed,
they are absorbed into the hungry West German labor market.
Flown to those cities where they are needed most and where they are safest from
from Red inspired kidnappings.
No sooner did one group fly to safety from West Berlin, then others would arrive to take their place.
Leaving most of their possessions behind them
and taking the one choice they charished most,
the desire for freedom.
East German troops swooped down on the border between Red Berlin and the free
city in the predawn hours
to close the sixty-six points, where movement between the sectors has been relatively
free. East Berliners who held coveted jobs in the West were told to stay home
and the elevated trains were halted.
Mayor Willy Brandt, commenting on this latest Russian move in the war of nerves,
cautioned East Berliners against revolt, exhorting them to do nothing
rash.
The mayor along with other West Berlin authorities
feels that some minor incident might give East German and Soviet troops an excuse to oppress the people further.
Two battle-ready Soviet army divisions have ringed the city
to bolster the army of the East German puppet government.
Meanwhile, the Allies set to work immediately to draft a strong note of protest.
Even when the corridor to Berlin was blocked
and the Allies resorted to the famed airlift,
free movement within the city was never interrupted.
The Russians have told their people that the border was closed to prevent the
infiltration of agents from the West. Never a word about those who fled to the arms of freedom.
Fled from the rule of guns and tanks
that cast ominous shadows on the Red side of freedom's border.