What Was the Berlin Wall?

What was...?

by Nico Medina

The Berlin Wall finally came down in 1989. Now readers can find out why it was built in the first place; and what it meant for Berliners living on either side of it. Here's the fascinating story of a city divided.

In 1961, overnight a concrete border went up, dividing the city of Berlin into two parts - East and West. . The story of the Berlin Wall holds up a mirror to post-WWII politics and the Cold War Era when the United States and the USSR were enemies, always on the verge of war. The wall meant that no one from Communist East Berlin could travel to West Berlin, a free, democratic area. Of course that didn't stop thousands from trying to breech the wall - more than one hundred of them dying in the attempt. (One East Berliner actually ziplined to freedom!) Author Nico Medina explains the spy-vs-spy politics of the time as well as what has happened since the removal of one of the most divisive landmarks in modern history.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Childrens, Germany, Historical, Middle Grade

112 pages, Paperback

Published September 24, 2019

Reviews

[Fatma Al Zahraa Yehia]

من مجموعة "ما هو" الشهيرة التي لاقت انتشارا واسعا بين الأطفال في السنوات الأخيرة، "أُجبرت" على قراءة هذا الكتاب الذي يحكي تاريخ سور برلين الشهير.
ولا أعني هنا "بالإجبار" أنني كنت راغبة عن قراءة هذا الكتاب كموضوع أو كطريقة عرض، على العكس، فأنا عاشقة لكل ما كُتب عن ألمانيا ما بعد الحرب العالمية الثانية. كما أن لتلك السلسلة أسلوب حكي وعرض شيق لكل الفئات العمرية وليس للأطفال فقط.
ما أقصده أن تكدس جدول قراءاتي مع ظروفي الحالية التي جعلت وتيرة قراءتي أبطأ بكثير عن العادة لم تكن تحتمل اضافة كتاب أخر.

ما حدث هو أن الكتاب وقع في يد طالبة في الصف الرابع الابتدائي في المدرسة التي أعمل بها، واكتشفت والدة تلك الطالبة وجود "سطر ونصف" بالكتاب يتحدث عن وجود ما يسمى ب "نوادي المثليين" في برلين ما قبل الحرب. وبالطبع لم أكن أعلم بوجود هذا الجزء.
أخطرتني الادارة بذلك، وقمت بما يجب أن أقوم به من تغطية تلك الجزء، وأضطررت إلى قراءة باقي الكتاب للتأكد من عدم وجود ذكر آخر لما قد يثير حفيظة أي ولي أمر.

وهنا ثار بداخلي السؤال المعتاد، ما مدى جاهزية مجتمعاتنا العربية المُحافظة لتوضيح معنى "الإختلاف" لأطفال هذا الجيل؟
سواء كان هذا "الإختلاف" عقائدي أو أخلاقي أو قيمي، أو "نمط حياة" نرفضه بوضوح أصبح أمر واقع في المجتمعات الغربية، كيف نشرح لأطفالنا "بهدوء مُقنِع" ومنطق غير صاخب بأن الأمر سواء كان تناول لكحوليات أو علاقات خارج مؤسسة الزواج أو غيرها من المحرمات هو "لكم دينكم ولي دين".

أتصور أنني-لو كنت أم-سأعرف أنني سأواجه تلك "الأجزاء الغير مقبولة" في كثير من الوسائل المرئية أو المطبوعة الموجهة لأطفالي في جميع الأعمار، وأن المنع التام هو حماقة لا معنى لها. وإنني سأفرق بين "الذِكر العابر" الذي سأتخطاه بتعريف طفلي أننا من مجتمع له حدوده الدينية والأخلاقية، وأن ما نقرأه هو انطباع لمجتمع يختلف عنا في حدوده وقيمه. وأن لله في تلك الاختلاف حكمة أوجدنا لنتأملها ونتأمل المعنى في أوامره ونواهيه.

وأن الأمر يشبه منطقتنا الشعبية التي أصبح من الصعب أن نتجنب رؤية من يتعاطى الممنوعات في بعض جنبات طرقاتها، أو رؤية الأطفال الذين لم يتجاوزوا العاشرة يقودون الدراجات النارية بسرعة جنونية، أو حتى مساحات القمامة الشاسعة التي تغطي معظم شوارعها، وأنني أيضا في هذه الحالة لن يكون الحل في أن أمنع أطفالي من مغادرة المنزل حتى لا يروا مثل تلك المشاهد، ولأ "نو" مش هاينفع أعزل ل زد التجمع أو "جريان" اللي طالع لنا في المقدر جديد دي لأن الأماكن دي زي م انتم عارفين مش من مستوايا :)))
وإنما سأشرح لهم أن للعالم جوانبه المظلمة التي نحاول عبثا أن نبعث فيها ولو قدرا ضئيلا من الضوء. او للأسف، نُرغم على التعايش معها محاولين الاحتفاظ بهويتنا وما نحن عليه.

وأكرر ثانية، أنا أعني بذلك "الذكر العابر" وليس المحتوى الذي يقوم كليا أو حتى جزئيا على تلك الموضوعات أوالقضايا.

ونعود لموضوع الكتاب الرئيسي وهو قصة بناء سور برلين وانهياره، وكما ذكرت في البداية فإن لتلك السلسلة الشهيرة أسلوب عرض تاريخي شيق ويسير جعلها ذائعة الصيت بين الأطفال. وأنني أيضا استمتعت به، وإن كان الأمر في نظري لم يخلو من "الترويج" الخفي ل أن الرأسمالية أحلى وأحن وأطيب وأطعم وكده يعني. شغل أمريكان بقى.

[Manybooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

What Nico Medina achieves with his 2019 What Was the Berlin Wall? is both textually and thematically impressive. For yes indeed, Medina manages to provide a both extensive and also basic introduction to the Berlin Wall that is sufficiently informative and also specifically geared to the intended age group, to young independent readers from about the ages of eight to eleven or so, with an easy to read text (gloriously and appreciatively penned with a large font size) that shows pretty well everything that is essential knowledge related to the Berlin Wall and to the division of Germany (from the aftermath of WWII and Naziism to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the reunification of East and West Germany in 1990). And while if What Was the Berlin Wall? were being read aloud, Nico Medina's presented text should actually be simple enough to also work with younger children (from about the age of five or six), considering that Medina mentions Nazi atrocities, describes how in East Germany the STASI (the East German equivalent of the Russian KGB and the American CIA) relentlessly spied on and monitored both its own citizens and West Germany and that many escape attempts from East Germany to West Germany ended tragically, although Medina's narrative is never gratuitously violent and does not provide lurid and descriptive details, I would still not recommend What Was the Berlin Wall? for younger children, I would definitely consider What Was the Berlin Wall? as having a solid thematic cut-off of seven to eight years of age.

Now most of the information Nico Medina presents in What Was the Berlin Wall? has not been new to and for me (except for the part about Martin Luther King Jr. visiting East Berlin in the early 1960s and how the Americans actively tried but failed to prevent this by confiscating his passport). And for me, what I have found so refreshingly textually delightful regarding Medina's narrative is that What Was the Berlin Wall? shows a critical but equally also a nicely balanced depiction of East Berlin and of East Germany, with Medina thankfully and appreciatively not rendering every single detail about East German as automatically suspicious and to be totally and utterly disregarded and discarded but also without ever making East Germany look too positive either and that the STASI is always and rightfully so shown by Nico Median as having been utterly and totally negative and dangerous (although I do wish that Median would also be pointing out in What Was the Berlin Wall? that the CIA also often acted like the STASI regarding East Germany and also spied on both East German citizens and also on West Berliners). And furthermore (but importantly), I also majorly appreciate that Medina points out and demonstrates in What Was the Berlin Wall? that while there indeed were many who tried to escape and also sometimes succeeded escaping from East to West Germany (prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall, of course), many East Germans actually were relatively happy with their lives, had no thoughts about escaping and unlike it is often shown in both fiction and non fiction about East Germany and the Berlin Wall, that not every person from East Germany wanted out and that not everyone was automatically against the Berlin Wall and East German style Communism either.

Highly recommended is What was the Berlin Wall? (and with a nice starting bibliography for further reading and research), and the only reason why my rating is four and not five stars for What Was the Berlin Wall being that for one, I have always thought that Elton John's song Nikita is about a Russian and not an East German border guard (and that Nikita is a Slavic and not a German name) and that for two I really do wish that Nico Medina would point out that US president Ronald Reagan should have directed his 1987 words about tearing down the Berlin Wall NOT at Michail Gorbachev but at East German president and dictator Erich Honecker (for I watched Reagan's speech live with my parents and all three of us were just shaking our heads and realizing that Ronald Reagan, that the Americans, obviously had no idea how much of a vile dictator Erich Honecker was and that it was up to Honecker and the East German people to tear down the Berlin Wall in the 1980s and not up to the Soviet Union, and that even if Gorbachev had insisted on the Berlin Wall coming down, Honecker would not have listened and would not have done so).

[Readasaurus Rex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read

The author claims at the end of this book that Russia interfered with the American 2016 election, yet he gives no proof or sources for his claim. For that alone, the book gets 4 stars instead of 5

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like other books in this series, What Was the Berlin Wall by Nico Medina provides a nicely detailed overview about who built the wall and why. I covers the politics of that time and also delivers on the background from the end of WWII and what led to the Cold War with Russia and the Eastern European countries it had under its control and the US, Britain, France and other western allies facing off against each other. Because the parts of Germany under western control were on the path to a much faster recovery, many people who lived under Soviet control moved to the west to find a better life. This as well as families that had been split apart when a defeated Germany was divided among the Allied powers who wanted to reunite. Crossing from east to west was initially quiet easy and most would cross to visit and then go back. But because many chose to cross to the west permanently, the Soviet-backed East German government decided to restrict departures and made it more difficult to cross. Eventually they resorted to building the Berlin Wall to stop the loss of population. Many historical facts and lesser-known details about the Wall are included as well as its final removal.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since the Berlin Wall is not something I know a lot about, (besides just the basic facts of its existence) it was interesting getting a brief history. For instance, I didn't realize that the wall wasn't built until the 60s. I had this idea that it was built right after the war.

It was horrifying how they put the wall right through people's apartments. That would've been so awful. There were so many ways that people tried to escape. I liked the one where a whole train car of people got out on old railroad tracks.

Another thing I learned was that Angela Merkel grew up in East Germany.

Another great addition to the series. These books are great for teaching history and learning about events.

[Nygel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this book because it explains the Berlin wall in great detail. The book talks about the after-effects of WW2, And how Germany was split between France, Britain, the US, and the USSR. They built the wall because people were going to the west and the USSR did not like that so they first stopped people from crossing from sides, and then the wall was built. They were going from both sides because the east was so bad to the point where people were not eating and it was just really bad. And they saw the west and they had big cities can great places. So when they visit they stay in the west. And the berlin air-lift which took supply from west to east to feed the people in the east. And many people died from going over the wall. And after long years they finally opened up the wall and after it was open they broke down the wall. This book is great when it comes to explaining historical aspects of history.

[Amanda up North · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the clearest explanation of the Cold War, the Iron Curtain, and the Berlin Wall I've ever processed. As part of the Who HQ series, the content here is, I'd say, much more mature than most. The intro starts off with East Berlin guards killing a man trying to escape to the west. This is followed by more death of innocent people. The reading is serious and more advanced, containing complex ideas and concepts (politics, Marxism, Communism, Nuclear Weapons, world leaders toeing the dangerous line of potential war) and vocabulary.
I think this is a very informative read for middle school to even high school students who are studying this part of history. Or any person curious to learn and understand world events. It's much more thorough explanation than my daughter got while studying this in her 10th grade World History class.
I personally learned a lot from it, as this was all still playing out while I was a kid, so it wasn't taught as history yet, nor was I old enough to be aware or understanding of what was going on.
Well done explaining the Berlin Wall, but again I would say this isn't for younger chapter book readers.
The ending.. "History is made every day, and what happens next is anyone's guess." ..kind of gave me chills.

[Hadassah Buie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is packed full of information and written in an engaging way. I was reading it for research, which sucks out the joy from reading. Otherwise, I would have rated it higher. Side note: Berlin is mentioned as thriving before WWII. One of the examples given is that there was a large lesbian and gay social crowd.

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting little history book. Really explained the Berlin Wall well. There is a drawing of the Berlin Wall that is at the Reagan Presidential Library. We were just there & saw it. So fun when history is a part of you.

[Kyle Govert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really nice quick read that gets some really solid information out there for kids. I'd recommend this for sure, adults can definitely read these for some quick reliable info on these topics in this book series.

[North Landesman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Berlin Wall for kids, pretty comprehensive.

[QNPoohBear · Rating 5 out of 5]

What Was the Berlin Wall?

This book is highly informative for even an adult reader. It opens with a story, a true story I assume. I love stories! It's how I learn best. Right away I got caught up in Peter's tale and was horrified by what happened to him. This author sure knows how to open a story with a literal bang.

It backtracks to HOW things got to that point, quickly explaining the history of Germany to WWII, the history of Marxism, the Soviet Union and the Cold War. Some of the side bars were a little rambling but the main text was interesting. I lived through some of this but was too young to understand where Berlin was let alone what the Berlin Wall was and why. I only remember when the wall came down.

This author does not shy away from all the violence that happened because of the world wars and the Cold War. It explains atomic bombs, nuclear war, and how close we came to WWIII. It also explains how people were killed trying to escape to West Berlin. The book shares a fair and balanced portrait of life in both the East and West sides of Berlin. There were good and bad parts about both. I appreciated that balance. Unlike some readers, I don't have a problem with the throwaway line about the homosexual scene in Berlin. Of course readers need to know what it was like and why that ended. The Nazis persecuted homosexuals too, not just Jews, and readers need to know that so they can prevent it from happening again. Queer kids need to know that queer people didn't just spring up out of nowhere too, that there were safe spaces they could go and be themselves. It's a powerful line.

There are many black and white line drawings throughout and photographs in the back. Some of the illustrations and photos depict disturbing scenes.

This book is not for very young students. It's more for the advanced elementary reader or middle school student on up. It's long enough to be informative, current up to Angela Merkel's last term and contains bibliographic information for young readers and older readers.

[Idelle Kursman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent history of the Berlin Wall. I decided to read it because I wanted to find out what the younger generation is learning about the history of the Berlin Wall, but I learned a lot myself. I didn't know the Berlin Wall wasn't built until 1961 (Between 1949 and 1961, almost 20 percent of East Germans fled to the West), the British, French, and Americans helped form West Germany, and the East German government kept adding reinforcements to the Wall to make sure its citizens could not escape.
This book is a reminder of the dangers of communism. In studying and reviewing history, young people should be wary of any politician promising a better life through totalitarian measures. The photos inside the book also made the history come alive for readers.

[Lora Lowery · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 4th grader was attempting this book but got lost in the many details. He just doesn’t have the worldly knowledge to piece it all together quite yet. So I decided to read it since I remember the wall coming down as a child. From an adult perspective, this was a nice quick read to freshen up in historic events. The “What/Who Was” series is fantastic for introduction to hundreds of important people, places and events of the world.... both for kids and adults. One of our family favorite series.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Keeping this brief... Nico Medina's book is not patriotic dogma, but an honest look at the circumstances leading up to, the events surrounding the, and the repercussions since the fall of the Berlin Wall. From this book, I read a story that I had never heard or read about previously involving Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s visit to the Berlin Wall. I also learned about bone music. I will allow you to read this book for yourselves or to research for yourselves. :)

[Mickey Bits · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent explainer book for younger readers (middle–high school). It presents a balanced, mostly non-political book about this historical event and time period. Admittedly, the book is written from a Western perspective.

Excellent informational text to help with writing essays, citing sources, and doing research. School librarians should take note and perhaps order the entire series.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I decided after reading another book that mentioned the Berlin wall that I needed a basic intro to that piece of history. We never learned about it in school but I didn’t really want to delve into the subject on an academic level, so I picked this book up and it was honestly a perfect little summary!

[Ellison · Rating 4 out of 5]

After WWII Berlin was split up between the winners. When people saw how Communism was going they literally skipped out! The leaders saw they were losing smart people so an ever increasing wall was built. People got desperate and were shot! JFK could only come and talk, fear of WAR!

Eventually a spokesman misspoke and it all collapsed. Pix, drawings, RIP.

[Suzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like our school’s history classes focus so much on the American revolutionary and civil wars, that there is not enough time left for the world wars. I had no recollection of German history or the country being split into four regions that were ruled by the US, Britain, France, and USSR. This was such an interesting book to read.

[Rafaela Lomba · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my core special interests is Berlin, more specifically the time in which the Berlin Wall stood, and even more specifically, life in the DDR.

The little book deals with the topic in an excellent manner. It goes from the beginning of the history of Berlin until after the wall fell. It dives into topics such as the Stasi and Bowie’s “Heroes”. Excellent to understand the topic clearly.

[Yvonne]

Very interesting book about the buildup to building the Berlin wall. Very well detailed and included the wall, the struggle, the build up of aggression, the stand off between the US and the USSR, and the sad loss of life of those who tried to escape the wall and East Germany. I learned a lot.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I swear sometimes I missed big chunks of my history class or perhaps the topics I read about now were not covered? The What Was/Who Was series books help me get caught up on some of the things I missed. This one was a great overview of the Berlin Wall.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the book was informative but the two lines referencing the hopping homosexual lifestyle in Berlin had NOTHING to do with the book. It was NOT needed and I felt it inappropriate to add it to the book that is supposed to be about the Berlin Wall.

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent primer on Eastern Europe and Berlin during the Cold War. I read this to my kids ages 12 and 14 as a prep book for our trip to Berlin and Prague. They both learned something new and it was a great crash course refresher for me.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love this series. So much information but in an easy to understand format. I learned so much about the Berlin Wall.

Sometimes my kids read these to themselves and sometimes we read as read alouds.

Highly recommend!

[Natsu · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn'tunderstand why this wall was built becuase I was small, but clearly remembered when the Berlin Wall was broken. This book leads me easy understanding with plain English and it's good for Tadoku(多読).

[Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave the 2 stars because it was critical of East Germany and didn’t make a lot of attacks at the USA though did talk good about East Germany on page 69 and 72 besides that I didn’t like this book so far.

[Nathaniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it.

[Chelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an adult, I found this a bit hard to follow. Kind of confusing, so definitely something for middle schoolers and older.

[PottWab Regional Library]

SM