Evening star., 1961-08-14
BERLIN
Border CIompdown HoIts Refugees
And 10000 Eastern Workers

mained open, however, to such
West Berliners and foreigners
as wished to enter East Berlin,
among them about $4,000
persons who regularly work
there.
Perhaps to cut off the
possibility that West Germans
would make melting calls to
relatives and friends in the
East. the Communists severed
phone service to West Germany
about 4 am.
A spokesman for the Bonn
Postal Ministry said the East
German government gave no
explanation. but West Germany
believed this was another
arbitrary measure to keep the
17-million East German people
from openly expressing their
views, particularly on the
Berlin developments.
The Postal Ministry said the
only kind of communications
from West Germany accepted
by East Germany were tele-
grams. 1t did not know whether
East Germans could still send
kilograms West.
1000 Berliners March
About 1000 angry West Ber-
liners marched to the Schoene-
berg borough hall, headquar-
ters of the West Berlin city
government, to demand action
against the Communists and
quick reunification of Ger
many. 90,
Paper protests are not
enough" dem onstrators
shouted. Freedom for ALL"
They carried signs reading
"Reunification-Fast."
Mayor Willy Brandt said he
was going to take action on
several fronts. He compli-
mented the demonstrators on
what he called their restraint.
IF the Berliners were not so
disciplined and prudent and if
they did not have such a good
police force" he said. "this
playing with fire would have
brought a situation that would
have caused the greatest con-
Germ to the whole world"
He appealed to Communist
police not to shoot at fellow
Germans, and to West Berlin
irs not to provoke them.
Special Session Studied
Eugen Gerstenmaier, presi-
dent (speaker) of West Ger
many's lower house, arrived to
study the situation. He will
confer with party leaders here
tonight to determine whether
The West German Parliament
will hold a special session on
the Berlin crisis. The next reg
ular session opens August %.
The Red ban on East German
travel to West Berlin. imposed
carly Sunday, was at least tenn
norarily effective in damming
Se flood of refugees. West
German authorities said thou
sands probably are stuck in
East Berlin.
The last few reguees to make
it across raised the total reg
istered since Friday noon to
e,624. Most were people who
had arrived in West Berlin
earlier, stayed a day or two
with friends and relatives and
then checked in at the Marien-
felde reception camp.
Communist currency took a
new plunge in value as the last
refugees threw thousands OF
east marks on West Berlin'S
narrow market. Banks were
taking only so east marks at a
lime, and giving only $50 west
marks ($2.45) for them. Anyone
who wanted to change west
marks could get $40 east marks
apiece. Officially, the rate is
one-for lone.
Traffic Diverted
Western cars and sightseeing
buses had passed through the
Brandenburg gate this morning
as usual. The closing order, ef-
fective at 8 p:m.,. meant their
diversion to other crossings.
In ordering the gate closed,
Mr.. Maron accused West Ber-
lin and West German repreSen-
tatives of making provocative
demonstrations there. West
Berlin radio stations. he said,
had been urging border -vio-
lations."
Yesterday, West Berlin police
halted a flying wedge of young
sters making for the gate. A
crowd of 5000 shouted swine"
at a busload of Soviet soldiers
bound for the nearby Russian
war memorial in the British
sector and banged with their
fists at a car full of Soviet
officers.
U. S. Army watching"
A United States Army spokes-
man refused to say whether
any special precautions are
being taken by the 5,000-man
American garrison except that
it is watching the situation
closely"
The marchers at Borough
Hall carried signs reading Re
unification-Fast," a call for
union of East and West Ger
many under a single govern
ment that has been a Western
aim since the end of World
War II.
Mayor Brandt told the DEM
onstrators some of the things
he was going to do:
/. Have. a look at Commu-
mist Party offices in West
Berlin.
2. Talk to the allies about
the Communist management OF