25th anniversary of the construction of the Berlin Wall in Berlin, Germany In April, 1986-

GERMANY - APRIL 01: 25th anniversary of the construction of the Berlin Wall in Berlin, Germany In April, 1986-On the night of August 12,13, 1961, the first bricks of the wall were cemented together under the protection of the East German Vopos, army and police. The Berlin wall was completed by 20 000 men, on November 29th 1961. 48 kms long, the wall consisted of 2 rings in which some 10 000 men watched over a no man'sland 100 meter wide. Over the years, sentinels and guard-dogs were slowly replaced by electronic sensors and automatic firing mechanisms. Night and day, guards manned their watch-towers to look at the west. Sensing the "trap", some 38 000 East Berliners "crossed" the line in August 1961. The average defection rate fell to 5760 in 1962, and in 1980, only 18 persons made it across. The "wall of shame" has been responsible for many divided families, many deaths. (Photo by Patrick PIEL/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)