This post is in support of the exhibit “25th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall”, which will be available in Joyner Library from September 15 until November 15. The exhibit is located on the 1st floor hallway leading to Research & Instructional Services. Dean William Downs and Dr. Jill Twark will present a lecture on “The Berlin Wall: A Historical and Photographic Exhibit to Commemorate the 25th Anniversary of its Fall” at 4:30 PM on Monday, September 15, in Room 2409, Joyner Library.
Erected by the Soviets in 1961 to stem the massive population flow from East Berlin to West Berlin, the Berlin Wall became the embodiment of the Cold War struggle between the U.S.-led west and the Soviet bloc. Ultimately, the wall came to symbolize the failure of Soviet communism to offer a viable alternative to liberal western capitalism. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 marked the end of the Cold War, the demise of communist East Germany and Soviet hegemony in eastern Europe, and just two years later, the Soviet Union itself. It paved the way for the reunification of Germany and subsequent growth of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and European Union.
The following is a select bibliography of items available in Joyner Library that are relevant to the Berlin Wall and the history of the German Democratic Republic (GDR: the communist East German state that existed from 1949-1990). It includes items from the CWIS Collection, Joyner Library’s Federal Documents Collection, and from our general collection. This list is far from comprehensive, and is merely intended to provide an introduction to our relevant holdings and a starting point for research. Please contact David Durant, Federal Documents & Social Sciences Librarian, for further assistance on this topic.
1. CWIS Documents on the GDR and Berlin Wall
An American Prisoner in Communist East Germany. Hearing Before the Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws, of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Eighty-Fifth Congress, Second Session. 1958. (Joyner Docs CWIS Y 4. J 89/2: P 93/7)
Analysis of the Khrushchev Speech of January 6, 1961. Hearing Before the Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws, of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Eighty-Seventh Congress, First Session. 1961 (Joyner Docs CWIS Y 4. J 89/2: K 52/3) -June 16, 1961 assessment by scholar Dr. Stefan T. Possony. Includes analysis of Khrushchev’s actions in Berlin just prior to the wall going up.
The Erica Wallach Story. Report by the Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Eighty-Fifth Congress, Second Session. 1958. (Joyner Docs CWIS: Y 4 Un 1/2: W 15) -The account of a woman arrested in the GDR and imprisoned from 1950-1955.
International Communism (Testimony of Ernst Tillich). Hearings Before the Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Eighty-fourth Congress, Second Session. 1956. (Joyner Docs CWIS: Y 4 Un 1/2: C 73/69) -Testimony regarding current conditions in East Berlin by a West Berlin-based activist.
Soviet Political Agreements and Results: The Words of American Statesmen who Negotiated With Soviet Representatives Since 1959. Staff Study for the Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws, of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Volume II. 1964 (Joyner Docs CWIS Y 4. J 89/2: SO 8/6/V. 2) -Contains substantial material on the 1961 Berlin crisis.
Who Are They? Prepared at the request of the Committee on Un-American Activities by the Legislative Reference Service, Library of Congress. Part 4: Walter Ulbricht and Janos Kadar. 1957. (Joyner Docs CWIS: Y 4. Un 1/2: W 62/Pt. 4) -Ulbricht was leader of the GDR from 1950-1973.
2. Additional Federal Documents on the GDR and Berlin Wall
At Cold War’s End: U.S. Intelligence on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, 1989-1991. Benjamin B. Fischer (ed.) Center for the Study of Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency, 1999. (Joyner Docs Stacks: PREX 3.2: C 67)
Background: Berlin, City Between Two Worlds. Office of Public Affairs,U.S. Department of State, 1952. (Joyner Docs Stacks: S 1.74: 39)
Background: Berlin, City Between Two Worlds. Rev. ed. Office of Public Affairs,U.S. Department of State, 1960. (Joyner Docs Stacks: S 1.74: 61)
Background: Berlin-1961. Office of Public Services, Bureau of Public Affairs, U.S. Department of State, 1961. (Joyner Docs Stacks: S 1.74: 64/2)
Berlin Crisis: A Report on the Moscow Discussions, 1948, Including text of a note addressed to the Soviet Government on September 26 by the Governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. U.S. Department of State, 1948. (Joyner Docs Stacks: S 1.74: 1)
The Berlin Crisis: Report to the Nation by President Kennedy, July 25, 1961. Office of Public Services, Bureau of Public Affairs, U.S. Department of State, 1961. (Joyner Docs Stacks: S 1.74: 63)
Current Foreign Policy: Berlin, The Four-Power Agreement. Office of Media Services, Bureau of Public Affairs, U.S. Department of State, 1971. (Joyner Docs Stacks: S 1.74: 73)
East Germany Under Soviet Control. Office of Public Affairs, U.S. Department of State, 1952. (Joyner Docs Stacks: S 1.74: 34)
Focus, Berlin: USIA in Action: United States Information Agency, 1963. (Joyner Docs Stacks IA 1.2 B 45)
Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961-1963: The Berlin Crisis, 1962-1963. Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State (Joyner Docs Stacks S 1.1: 1961-63, V. 15)
Grathwol, Robert P. and Donita M. Moorhus. American Forces in Berlin: Cold War Outpost, 1945-1994. U.S. Department of Defense, Legacy Resource Management Program, Cold War Project, 1994. (Joyner Docs Stacks: D 1.2: B 45/2)
The Soviet Note on Berlin: An Analysis. Public Services Division, U.S. Department of State, 1959. (Joyner Docs Stacks: S 1.74: 52)
3. Additional Sources
Childs, David and Richard J. Popplewell. The Stasi: The East German Intelligence and Security Service. New York: New York University Press, 1996. (Joyner Stacks DD287.4 .C45 1996)
Engel, Jeffrey A. The Fall of the Berlin Wall: The Revolutionary Legacy of 1989. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. (Joyner Stacks D860 .F35 2009)
Gelb, Norman. The Berlin Wall: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and a Showdown in the Heart of Europe. New York: Times Books, 1986. (Joyner Stacks DD881 .G45 1986)
Maier, Charles S. Dissolution: The Crisis of Communism and the End of East Germany. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1997. (Joyner Stacks DD289 .M34 1997)
Naimark, Norman M. The Russians in Germany: A History of the Soviet Zone of Occupation, 1945-1949. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1995. (Joyner Stacks DD285 .N35 1995)