Perhaps more than any other structure, the Berlin Wall came to symbolize the bitter ideological divisions that characterized world politics during the cold war. Begun in 1961, the wall was originally called the anti-fascist protection wall by the Communist East German government. But it soon became apparent that the wall's true purpose was to prevent East Germans from emigrating to the West. In the 28 years that followed, more than five thousand people tried to escape across the wall, with more than one hundred losing their lives in the attempt. Throughout the cold war, despite numerous calls...