August 12 marks the 20th anniversary of the infamous Berlin Wall which free nations can only view as a monument to tyranny and deprivation of liberty. The 29-mile concrete and wire barrier along the border between East and West Berlin was erected in 1961 by the East German govemment to halt large numbers of East Berliners from defecting to the West. First appearing as a chain link fence., the wall also was intended to pre vent East Berliners from commuting to jobs in West, Berlin. thus depleting the labor supply in the East. The divided Berlin – a consequence of World War ll – became a major “cold war” issue in the postwar period. The wall was erected at a time of heightened tension between the United States. Great Britain. France and West Germany on the one side and the USSR and East Germany on the other. West Berlin became an escape hatch for Germans fleeing East Germany. In July. 1961. alone, more than 30.000 persons sought refuge in the West. Thousands of families were separated as a result of the border closing that year. After 1963. limited passage between East and West was allowed on various holidays. Today. as in the beginne ing, the wall stands as a symbol of a divided city and a divided political philosophy. Rep. William Dannemeyer, R-Calif., took note of the anniversary in Congress. asserting that the waIl’s main purpose continues to be “containment of thousands of East Germans dissatisfied with life under communism.” He continued: “The fact that the Communist government of East Germany, backed by the Soviet Union, should have to put up a wall speaks louder than any words on the human bankruptcy of their communistic system. “That action said then. and it says now. that if given the choice between coercive egalitarianism and economic liberty, Communist rulers will always choose the former and their subjects the latter.” “It also reinforced the lesson of Hungary in 1956, which was repeated in Czechoslovakia in 1968 and Afghanistan in 1979, that Communist powers will do whatever is necessary, irrespective of world opinion, to protect what they perceive to be their vital interests.” The chain of events has relevance today in Poland where workers have been struggling for rights taken for granted in free nations. The possibility of Soviet Union intervention raises continual apprehensions. The anniversary is a time for sober reflection on the causes. philosophies and consequences of the Berlin Wall and on Free World blessings of being able to come and go without the restrictions of such barriers.