Berlin Wall Built (1961): Just past midnight during the night of August 12-13, 1961, East German soldiers and construction workers headed to the border of West and East Berlin. While most Berliners were sleeping, the workers quickly constructed a barrier made of concrete posts and barbed wire along the border.
When Berliners did finally wake, they found themselves stuck on whichever side of the border they had fallen asleep on. For nearly three decades, East Germans would be kept behind this barrier, the Berlin Wall.
While comparing our situation with those who found themselves the "wrong" side of the Berlin Wall is rather disingenuous, the parallels between the construction of each are worthy of our consideration.
And, yes, August 12-13 1961 was a weekend.
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