1960s Timeline

Jan. 24, 1962 - Twenty-eight East Germans, including a 71-year-old paralyzed woman and an 8-year-old girl, fled to West Berlin early today. The group was the largest to escape from East Berlin since the Communist regime closed the border last August. The paralyzed woman was carried across the border by other members of the party. The woman had had two strokes. Five persons among the ten men and eighteen women were over 60, according to the West Berlin police. The refugees esc

Dec. 15, 1961 - In Israel today, Adolf Eichmann was sentenced to death by hanging for his role in the killing of 6,000,000 Jews during World War II and for other war crimes and crimes against humanity. The three judges of the Jerusalem District Court delivered the sentence at 9:20 a.m. (2:20 a.m., Eastern Standard Time). Eichmann, looking very pale, was led to his glass cage at one minute to 9. He remained standing stiffly and arrogantly while Presiding Judge Moshe Landau acc

Oct. 10, 1961 - Fifty thousand Soviet combat troops and ten thousand Polish troops have arrived in Communist East Germany to take part in Warsaw Pact maneuvers near the West German border. An undisclosed number of Czechoslovakian troops have also arrived in the southern part of East Germany. The Polish and Soviet units include paratroopers and other airborne troops. The Poles brought tanks, artillery, at least 650 trucks, and enough field kitchens to provide meals for three d

Sept. 24, 1961 - Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy said today that there "is no question" that his brother, President Kennedy, would order use of nuclear weapons if they were essential to save West Berlin's freedom. The Attorney General, on NBC's "Meet the Press," said: "If we retreat, we will never be able to stand up again. The President has said again and again that if we don't stand up in Berlin, when can we stand up?" He predicted that Premier Khrushchev would continue

Sept. 16, 1961 - It is not only humans who are bothered by the Communist wall across Berlin - dogs are affected as well. A fox terrier named Mausi finally got back to his mistress in the West today. An East German policeman at Friedrichstrasse led the dog on a leash to the border and then turned him loose. Mausi dashed across the border and leaped into the arms of his owner, a hospital nurse, and licked her face. She had been waiting three days at the crossing point to see if

Sept. 15, 1961 - Horst Buchholz, the German film star who appeared in "The Magnificent Seven" last year, was discharged from a Munich hospital today and promptly sentenced to 25 days in jail on drunken driving charges. The sentence was suspended on condition that he have no traffic violations until 1965. The court also suspended his license for 10 months and fined him 25,000 marks ($6,250). The actor had been in the hospital for 18 days recovering from injuries suffered in a

Sept. 9, 1961 - The United States will send about 40,000 Army troops to Europe "in the immediate future" to strengthen combat and support forces there, the Pentagon announced today. The announcement was expected. It was the latest in a series of moves, including the call-up of military reserves and plans for a broad expansion of the armed forces, that President Kennedy has undertaken to cope with the crisis in Berlin and other trouble spots. #germany #berlin #communism #commu

Sept. 9, 1961 - The Pentagon took action against two Army officers in Berlin today for having permitted the use of U.S. forces in the filming of a Jack Paar television show. Col. John R. Deane Jr. (pictured), commanding officer of the Second Battle Group, Sixth Infantry, in Germany, was admonished for "exercising poor judgment." The Defense Department also announced that Lieut. Col. Dallas Hoadley, public information officer of the Berlin Command, had been relieved of his dut

Sept. 8, 1961 - "Shocking," "disgraceful," and "highly dangerous" were descriptions applied by Senators today to describe the use of U.S. Army forces in the filming of a Jack Paar television show in West Berlin yesterday. The Defense Department, with White House approval, ordered an investigation. Majority Leader Mike Mansfield told the Senate that the situation in Berlin was a world tragedy, not a television spectacular "to be made into some kind of game for the personal pro

Sept. 7, 1961 - Fifty armed U.S. soldiers moved rapidly down the street, then took possession of buildings overlooking the East-West Berlin border. A jeep mounting an anti-tank gun and several others mounting machine guns moved into position along either curb. Two colonels arrived. It was the biggest turnout the U.S. Army had yet made along the wall that divides the city - and it was all for Jack Paar, TV star. Mr. Paar filmed one of his shows along the "concrete curtain," so

Aug. 30, 1961 - President Kennedy said today that Gen. Lucius D. Clay would return to West Berlin next month as his personal representative. The President described the situation in Berlin as "fraught with danger” and promised to use all means to find a peaceful settlement, but he said he had no indication from Moscow that made him optimistic about the prospects. Gen. Clay, retired, who was military governor of Germany when an Allied airlift broke the Communist blockade of Be

Aug. 26, 1961 - Eight British soldiers in a jeep and a small armored scout car escort 12-year-old Erwin Schabe (pictured right) to school these days past the Communist police. Erwin lives in an enclave on the northwest edge of Berlin that called "Eiskeller" (Ice Cellar), which is surrounded by Communist barbed wire and observation posts. Eiskeller juts into East Germany. A corridor only eight feet wide connects Eiskeller with the British sector of West Berlin. East German pol

Aug. 26, 1961 - British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan (right) said today that the situation in Berlin was "very worrying, but nothing more." "Nobody is going to fight about it," he declared. "I think there would be much more danger of war if weapons were not so destructive. Fifty years ago, we could have had a war. Now it is not much fun for anybody. But we have to be very careful that nobody does anything foolish." #greatbritain #british #britishpm #communism #communist #c

Aug. 24, 1961 - The East German Communists are cracking down on their foes in what was described by West Berlin authorities today as a "widespread campaign of intimidation and oppression." Accounts of arrests, trials, public indictments and other repressive measures filled the pages of many of the East German newspapers that still reach West Berlin. In at least 20 cases, East German men and women were arrested and sentenced to prison for publicly criticizing Walter Ulbricht,

Aug. 24, 1961 - The White House gave the Soviet Government a "solemn warning" today that any Communist interference with Allied access to West Berlin would be "an aggressive act" for which the Soviet Government would bear full responsibility. In a stern statement approved by President Kennedy, the U.S. dismissed as false, cynical, irresponsible, and slanderous an accusation by Moscow that the Western Allies were violating their air access rights to West Berlin by flying spies

Aug. 23, 1961 - The Western powers deployed 1,000 troops of their West Berlin garrison, backed by 10 40-ton U.S. tanks, along the border with East Berlin today. This was the swift Allied answer to the attempt by East German Communists to establish remote control over a 110-yard zone all along the West Berlin side of the 25-mile border. The Communists have warned all persons to stay at least 110 yards away from both sides of the intracity border. Two of the American tanks were

Aug. 21, 1961 - Here is video of President Kennedy's remarks at the White House upon the return of Vice President Johnson from Berlin: #JFK #americanhistory #politics #communism #communist #coldwar #soviet #sovietunion #germany #berlin

Aug. 21, 1961 - President Kennedy said today that "difficult weeks and months" lay ahead in maintaining the freedom of West Berlin. But, he said, "maintain it we will." The President spoke briefly of the Berlin crisis as he stood with Vice President Johnson in a reception room of the White House. He had received a report on the Vice President's weekend mission to Germany, undertaken as a symbol of the United States' determination to oppose Communist pressures on West Berlin.

Aug. 20, 1961 - Fifteen hundred additional U.S. troops arrived in West Berlin today. The grateful city poured out its heart to them and to Vice President Johnson. The troops and the Vice President were there for the same purpose: to bolster the morale of the West Berliners, whose spirit was badly shaken by the closing of the border between West Berlin and Communist East Berlin a week ago. Mr. Johnson greeted the soldiers as an example of Washington's intention to fulfill its

Aug. 19, 1961 - The United States Army battle group ordered to reinforce Allied forces in West Berlin crossed into Communist territory at dawn today for the 110-mile trip to that isolated Allied outpost. The 1,500 combat-ready men were ordered to move into Berlin from West Germany by President Kennedy on Friday. The leading vehicle crossed the 200 yards of No Man's Land between the Western and Eastern checkpoints and halted at a Soviet sentry post. Clearance went fast and wit