Even though the Soviet ended the blockade, two separate governments emerged. In the West, the Federal Republic of Germany was founded, and in the East, the German Democratic Republic. The German Democratic Republic was a communist government, which most people didn't like because they suffered under repressions of the communists. Therefore, many East Berliners escaped the harsh treatment by fleeing to the West. In fact, more than three million people left the East for a better life in the West. By 1961, the communist government knew it had to stop the exodus. As a result, at 2:00 A.M. on August 13th, the Soviet Union began the construction of the Berlin Wall (Berlin).
After the Berlin Wall's erection, living with it was not an easy task. As West Berlin Mayor Will Brandt said, "The Wall must go, but until it does, the city must live." The wall divided families in half. For this reason, most families didn't get to say good-bye because it was built at night while most Germans were asleep. As a result, West Germans would hold their babies above the wall for relatives to see. Also, several Germans lost their jobs because they lived on one side, and their job was on the other. Consequently, many Germans lost their homes and starved because they couldn't find work. On the West, people put up billboards and painted slogans to put capitalist ideas in East German's minds. Furthermore, East Germans learned about the West by listening to newscasts from Radio Free Europe, Radio in the American Sector, the British Broadcasting Corporation, and West German radio stations. With these capitalist ideas, many Germans tried to get past the wall to the West. However, if they were caught, they faced severe persecution. Still, many East Germans made it past the almighty great wall (Bouglogne).
Ironically, the fall of the Berlin Wall had begun with building of it in 1961, and it fell for the same reason it was built: too many East Germans were escaping to the West.