The Berlin Wall: Barrier to Freedom

Children's Literature - Meredith Kiger

One of eight books in the "Snapshots in History" series, this edition discusses the events that led to the building of the Berlin Wall, what life was like living in a divided city, and the eventual fall of the wall in November of 1989. It is a complex situation involving many countries, and condensing it for upper elementary students often reduces it to a series of events. The book begins with the actual event then looks back to the time period prior to the ending of World War II. Escalating turf problems between the Allies and the Soviet Union followed their combined defeat of the Germans in Berlin. The Soviet Union responded by erecting a stone wall between East and West Berlin. While readers will get the overall idea of what Germans and Allies went through from 1945 to 1989, the relationship between East Germany and the Soviet Union versus West Germany and the Allies is confusing. However, plenty of period black-and-white photos, colored maps and boxed personal comments from actual participants will provide students with an interesting window on this time period. Hopefully, teachers will not focus entirely on memorizing facts from the book, but instead use it as a spark for discussing conflict. An extensive timeline, a glossary, an index and a list of sources for further study are included. Reviewer: Meredith Kiger, Ph.D.