10th Republic Day Celebration in Berlin,Germany. Aerial view of the city. Large crowd of civilians gathered in front of the Reichstag building. President of Germany Paul von Hindenburg inspects troops.
Opening scene shows stadium filled with spectators for the 1936 Summer Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany. View from behind six sprinters ready to start the 100 meter dash. Front view closeups of African American runners, Jesse Owens and Ralph Harold Metcalfe Sr. Official fires gun for the start, and the runners are off. Camera tracking the runners shows Jesse Owens well ahead of all the rest, at first, but Metcalfe soon catches up with him. Crowd roaring and cheering in the stadium. Scoreboard shows Owens first, Metcalfe, second, and Osendarp (of Holland) third, separated each by only one tenth of a second. The American National Anthem can be heard in the background. The next event is the men's high jump. Sign shows the bar initially set at 1.97 meters height. The first competitor is Gustav Weinkötz of Germany. He fails to clear the bar. Next is Hiroshi Tanaka of Japan, who also fails to clear. Bar is reset to 2.03 meters (6 feet-8 inches). African American, Cornelius Johnson makes the next attempt. He successfully clears the bar and the crowd roars its approval. (He had set a new olympic record.) Three American flags flying over the stadium as the U.S. National Anthem is again heard being played.
Opening scene shows the Rathaus Schöneberg (John-F.-Kennedy-Platz, 10825 Berlin, Germany) where Mayor of Berlin Willy Brandt addresses a large crowd of West Berlin citizens, concerned about the building of the Berlin Wall by the Soviet Union. Many carry placards and signs, including some in English, reading: "We trust Kennedy, Pay any price, Bear any burden, for survival of Liberty" and "Millions behind the Iron Curtain ask for help." Scene shifts to a limousine driving into the center of a crowd. United States Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson steps from the car, accompanied by General Lucius D. Clay, who is seen next, with arm raised, acknowledging the crowd, while standing with Johnson and Brandt, at a podium cluttered with microphones. (Narrator refers to him as "Father of the Airlift.") The next day, British and American soldiers are seen driving in jeeps and trucks and M59 Armored Personnel Carriers, through cheering crowds, as they arrive to reinforce their Berlin garrisons. Closeup of cheering Berliners, waving handkerchiefs. Change of scene shows animated map of Europe illustrating the Westward expansion and growth of Soviet Communist occupation through World War II and the postwar era, concluding with East Berlin, in 1962. The threat to other Nations and regions is also illustrated. Legislators are seen in session in the plenary chamber of the German Bundestag in Bonn. Chancellor Konrad Adenauer is addressing the assembly. He states that Germany does not stand alone in the world. In France, Prime Minister Georges Pompidou addresses the National Assembly, regarding the Berlin Wall. In London, Prime Minister Harold Macmillan addresses Parliament. In the United States, on September 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy, is addressing the UN General Assembly, in New York, about the dangerous crisis in Berlin. Scenes of the Berlin wall and Checkpoint Charlie. Memorials to persons killed attempting to escape East Berlin, are seen along the wall.
Former United States Vice President Richard Nixon visits West Berlin. View of Berlin Wall. Richard Nixon with his family reaches at Checkpoint Charlie (Friedrichstraße 43-45, 10117 Berlin, Germany) in West Berlin. Signs in Checkpoint Charlie saying, “ALLIED CHECKPOINT” AND “U.S. ARMY CHECKPOINT CHARLIE”. Former Vice President Nixon is joined by his family, Mrs. Pat Nixon and daughters Patricia “Tricia” and Julie. Then Nixon visits the East Berlin Wall with his family. Nixon and his family at the Preview stand. Nixon waves at East Berliners. View of East Berlin beyond the Berlin Wall. Close view of Nixon. The Union-Verlag (Charlottenstrasse 79, DDR-1080 Berlin), a publishing house of the East German Christian Democratic Union of Germany (East CDU) bloc party, can be seen on the other side of the Berlin Wall.
The Freedom bell of West Berlin is seen ringing. The Brandenburg Gate from behind barbed wires. The Berlin Wall crossing and blocking Bernauer Straße. It appears to be under construction with wooden forms in places. It is covered with obstacles and barbed wire. Anti-tank obstacles inside the inner and outer walls of the Berlin Wall. The Church of the Reconciliation, next to the Berlin wall on Beinauer Street. Berlin street sign “Potsdamer Platz”. Anti-tank barriers behind barbed wires in Potsdamer Platz, Berlin. A small sign reads “Ida Siekmann”, the first casualty at the Berlin Wall. Bricked up windows of a building in Bernauer Straße 48. United States flag atop a flagpole in the US Army checkpoint, popularly known as Checkpoint Charlie, in West Berlin. A sign board outside a building reads: 'US Army Check Point'. Checkpoint Charlie seen from above. U.S. soldiers aboard a jeep passing on the street. Memorial services held by West Berlin mayor Wiily Brandt for the people who died attempting to cross the wall in Bernauer Straße. People march to protest against the Berlin wall and carry a cross with the words 'Wir Klagen An' which mean 'We Accuse' in English. Crowd gathered at the wall throwing rocks in protest.
Life of Americans in enclave in West Berlin. American children at United States Army community school in West Berlin. American music being played on radio as youth dance to rock and roll tunes. American soldiers on duty outside the United States Headquarters in West Berlin. In East Berlin soldiers including Russian comrades march and salute. Nikita Khrushchev arrives at an airport in Berlin and greets East German leader Walter Ulbricht with an embrace and hand shake. East Berliners move as refugees to refugee camps in the western half of Berlin, to escape East German communist rule. Khrushchev and other Soviet leaders pounding fists on a table at a diplomatic gathering.
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