Iain MacGregor > Quotes

“Such was the carnival atmosphere that Brenner, her boss, his wife, and a local journalist managed to summon up the courage to walk directly toward the white line of the border crossing—where twenty-eight years ago tanks had famously faced one another—to present the East German guards with bottles of champagne. The guards refused the offer, but they didn’t point their weapons, or bark out warnings. It was a surreal moment as the joyous posse from the Adler walked back to the café and prepared the bar for guests—lots of them.”
― Iain MacGregor, Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth

“The Berlin Allied commanders could do very little but issue letters of protest to the Soviet commander of the city. West Berlin was not under threat, so in essence the principles agreed to at Potsdam in 1945 had not been violated: for Allied troops in the city, free access to East Berlin had not been prevented yet, and the right of self-determination by the West Berlin population was not under threat as such.”
― Iain MacGregor, Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth

“By November 4, an even bigger rally had taken place in Berlin—where half a million protestors gathered in Alexanderplatz to not only hear speakers from the country’s leading democratic movement that had been set up that September—New Forum—but Krenz himself, who spoke to the crowd promising change.”
― Iain MacGregor, Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth

“Finally, the brutalism of the Wall was there for all to see. President Kennedy discussed the incident at the cabinet level, as did Ulbricht and Khrushchev. The patrol commander and the two guards who shot and killed Fechter were personally awarded a flag by Ulbricht himself for their action, but this became an act seen around the world as shameful, and one the GDR would never recover from.”
― Iain MacGregor, Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth

“With the backing of Soviet first secretary Leonid Brezhnev, Erich Honecker now took on the mantle of leadership, ruling with his small clique, including the minister of state security, Erich Mielke. Ulbricht retained the official title of head of state, but this new leadership was now closely aligned with Moscow. The ailing and somewhat bitter Ulbricht would suffer a stroke and pass away in August 1973. The Wall was his legacy, and by 1976 construction of a fourth-generation Wall began. “Grenzmauer 75” would be state-of-the-art in design and construction, a world away from the prefab first version of 1961. The new iteration was speedily installed, comprising L-shaped reinforced concrete sections”
― Iain MacGregor, Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth

“For the next two and a half years Knackstedt lived a clandestine military life.”
― Iain MacGregor, Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth

“Margit Hosseini was also a child of this decade, and she undertook various visits to East Berlin with her family and witnessed firsthand the disparity in everyday living standards compared with her own life. “My French-born father was working for the government and had been transferred over to the French zone in 1949. The suburb of West Berlin that was my home was a world away from the life of my cousin in East Berlin. The only way my family crossed was by S-Bahn, and even as a child one immediately sensed and saw how quickly the atmosphere changed. . .”
― Iain MacGregor, Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth

“The city of Dresden is in the Elbe River valley, and it was known to many Germans and Allies alike as the “Valley of the Clueless”—Tal der Ahnungslosen—because the population there couldn’t receive West German television. Kelley said, “During the Cold War the West German government went to great lengths to inform and influence the East German populace, and the media played a prominent role in the effort. By the early 1980s West German television’s broadcast coverage extended to virtually the entire territory of the GDR, save for the corner of the country near Dresden.”
― Iain MacGregor, Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth

“The vehicle for Germany’s reunification would be through Article 23—where as long as the majority of the GDR population voted to accept the FRG’s laws and institutions—reunification could be processed within a six-month time frame.”
― Iain MacGregor, Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth

“The US military’s security hut was located at the exact spot where the world’s two dominant political and economic systems now collided. When they reported back into their command center, the order came back: “Do nothing!”
― Iain MacGregor, Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth

“Bowing to what he saw as inevitable to save the GDR, Khrushchev seized the initiative and finally ordered Ulbricht to build a wall. “We will give you two weeks to make the necessary economic preparations . . . then you will issue the following communiqué:”
― Iain MacGregor, Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth

“grew up in East Berlin and we could literally cross the street and we were in West Berlin and in a completely different world. The luxury of Coca-Cola, oranges, chocolate, and vegetables; you could buy all of this with your East money, you only had to put up with the exchange rate.”
― Iain MacGregor, Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth

“new currency to replace the bankrupt Reichsmark in February 1948 led the following month to a dramatic walkout by the Soviet delegation at the Allied Control Council, which had governed Germany since the end of the war. The Russians had intentionally debased and over-circulated the Reichsmark by excessive printing, deliberately reducing the German population to penury, until bartering with cigarettes and the black market underpinned their economy. The introduction by the West of the new Deutschmark in June subsequently brought the hostility of the negotiating table out into the open. On June 16, Colonel Yelizarkov, the deputy to the commander of the Soviet Sector, withdrew from the Four Power Kommandatura [the governing body of Berlin].”
― Iain MacGregor, Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth

“Nachama, his parents, and two sisters would eventually be rounded up and transported to a concentration camp, Auschwitz, in the spring of 1943. All but Nachama were gassed, and he would spend the next two years of living hell surviving on his wits, charm, and his extraordinary singing voice. Prisoner 116155, as was tattooed on Nachama’s wrist, entertained the camp guards, inspired and revived his fellow prisoners with his unique and powerful baritone, his popular rendition of “’O Sole Mio” gaining him the nickname “the singer of Auschwitz.”
― Iain MacGregor, Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth

“In early 1952, alarmed at the continued and rapidly increasing exodus of professionals and skilled workers from East Germany, Moscow flexed its muscles. Although initially pleased that this brain drain benefited the Soviet vision of the GDR by the departure to the West of potential opposition, it became obvious that this tap couldn’t be left open much longer.”
― Iain MacGregor, Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth

“The File, and recalled a more personal message”
― Iain MacGregor, Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, The Berlin Wall, and the Most Dangerous Place On Earth

“Situated 177 kilometers (approximately 100 miles) inside the Soviet Zone of Occupation, West Berlin was isolated and vulnerable, surrounded by at least three hundred thousand Soviet troops and three thousand tanks. Although Stalin had signed in 1946 to formally grant the Allies access of supply into Soviet territory, the agreement could easily be thwarted if he so wished. Thus, on June 24, 1948, the Soviets mounted a blockade of the city, effectively turning the supply tap off from its western road,”
― Iain MacGregor, Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth

“Drafted and approved by Ulbricht and Honecker, it stated, “In order to prevent the enemy activities of the vengeful and militaristic powers of West Germany and West Berlin, controls will be introduced on the borders of the German Democratic Republic, including the border of the Western sector”
― Iain MacGregor, Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth

“The Wall was dead, and so were the dreams of Ulbricht, Honecker, Mielke, and Krenz. Under a new prime minister, Lothar de Maizière, the Treaty of Monetary, Economic and Social Union was signed on May 18.”
― Iain MacGregor, Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth

“The Berliners now looked on their British, French, and American occupiers as true protectors, and”
― Iain MacGregor, Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth

“And I could clearly see this young man now huddled against the Wall. He was lying in an ‘S’ shape and first he screamed, cried, and pleaded for help. As time elapsed, slowly, his voice got weaker and weaker, until he stopped. It was so heart-rendering [sic] that in the middle of nowhere was a human being dying, and two groups were facing each other, too worried to act, because they didn’t know what the other one was going to do. “You felt anger and sadness at the same time. Lots of onlookers like myself were crying or shouting ‘Murderers!’ at both the Americans who stood motionless and the Vopos who stared blankly back at us holding their machine guns close to their chests.”
― Iain MacGregor, Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth

“He was one of the key figures who rebuilt the Jewish community in the heart of Hitler’s Reich.”
― Iain MacGregor, Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth

“Mr. Schabowski, what is going to happen to the Berlin Wall now?” Unwittingly, he had made the fatal error of not stating that the press release was embargoed and would come into effect the following day at 4 a.m. More significantly, Schabowski had also failed to state that there would be strict criteria each applicant would need to fulfill”
― Iain MacGregor, Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth

“Instead, tragedy struck that would destabilize international relations. Major Nicholson was shot and killed that afternoon outside tank sheds located on Ludwigslust Sub-Caliber Range 475, in a move that stunned the West, brought shock and revulsion down on the Kremlin, and created a crisis between the superpowers”
― Iain MacGregor, Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth

“George Blake was different. He had embedded himself deep inside MI6 as a trusted linguist and case officer in Berlin, having been turned by the KGB during his captivity during the Korean War in 1950–53. He had discovered Gold’s existence before it went live, and had informed Moscow,”
― Iain MacGregor, Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth

“His name was Erik Yaw, and he was a sergeant in the US Army.” Sergeant Yaw listened carefully to Spitzner’s proposal of wishing to get to the West with Peggy, who was now asleep in a car near the sergeant’s. At first, the American soldier didn’t react, but just stared at the East German while he mulled over what he’d listened to.”
― Iain MacGregor, Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth

“surprise. A dark figure towered over the boot. ‘It’s okay now, we’re across the border, you can get out of the boot.”
― Iain MacGregor, Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth

“He didn’t just transfer money—coffee, bananas, and citrus fruits were favorites of his East Berlin community.”
― Iain MacGregor, Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth

“Wood and his friends knew their phones were tapped, and he was personally aware of being monitored. His daily routine would have him cross through Checkpoint Charlie into the western zone, mainly to coordinate coverage with Uli Jörges, or report on West Berlin stories, occassionally meet our guys in the military to trade gossip, or simply do some shopping. Uli Jörges was aware of the East German intelligence service’s surveillance in West Berlin as well as East. “The Stasi obviously bugged my phone in our West Berlin Reuters office, and we knew they had mapped out our homes and wherever we stayed.”
― Iain MacGregor, Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth

“Provoking military conflict had been specifically forbidden by Khrushchev. Commander-in-Chief Ivan Konev’s tank divisions encircled the city as a display of force, nothing more. This was Ulbricht’s show, and he would dictate the pace of Phase Two. On August 15, along the border of the US and Soviet Sectors on Zimmerstraße, workers began to erect a more permanent structure”
― Iain MacGregor, Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth