Guest
Want to support this channel and help us preserve old films? Visit Visit our website Created by the United States Information Agency in 1961, this Cold War propaganda film “Barbed Wire World“ is hosted by Dwight Weist. It examines the start of the construction of the Berlin Wall, and was part of a special effort by the USIA to focus the West's attention on the new barrier. The film was also accompanied by a photographic exhibition when originally released. “Barbed Wire World“ begins with two famous scenes, one of a West German woman crying while looking at her relative across the barbed wire in East Berlin, and East German Border Guard Hans Konrad Schumann escaping to West Berlin by jumping across the wire. Dwight Weist gives a short historical introduction to Berlin’s status as a divided city. This is followed by contrasting shots of happy people in West Berlin and unhappy East Germans that are fleeing in the thousands. It ends with a speech by Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson reassuring the USA's commitment to the people of West Berlin. 0:08 women crying and looking at each other across the barbed wire fence dividing East and West Berlin, 0:39 East German Guard Hans Konrad Schumann jumping over the barbed wire to escape, 0:51 host Dwight Weist looks at both images and speaks to the camera, 1:30 “Focus: Berlin – Barbed Wire World”, 1:48 Host Dwight Weist, 1:55 Weist speaks to the camera, 2:24 celebrations for the end of the second world war in different cities, 3:02 animated map showing the division of Germany and Berlin into four zones, 3:47 Weist standing in front of a map of divided Berlin and a wall, 4:09 rebuilding activities in West Berlin, 4:29 Weist walks from East to West Berlin on his map, 5:20 scenes of amusement in West Berlin interjected with police harassing people in East Berlin, 6:28 protests during the 1953 East German Uprising, 6:41 Soviet tanks crushing the revolt, 7:00 East Germans fleeing with their possessions to the West, 7:39 long queues at refugee reception centers, 8:14 Weist speaking to the camera, 8:42 the barbed wire fence in different parts of the city, 9:20 East German troops standing in front of the Brandenburg Gate, 10:16 footage of people at the border, 10:34 Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson speaking in front of a crowd while standing next to West Berlin’s Mayor Willy Brandt, 11:10 return to the woman crying and Schumann jumping over the fence, 12:08 Focus: Berlin Barbed Wire World, We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: “01:00:12:00 -- President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.“ This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit
