Tag: President John F. Kennedy

August 12, 2011: The Berlin Wall marks its 50th anniversary tomorrow.

There are many people in the world who really don’t understand, or say they don’t, what is the great issue between the free world and the Communist world. Let them come to Berlin. … All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin. And, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words “Ich bin ein Berliner.” – President John F. Kennedy, in a speech in West Berlin, 26 June 1963

  Berlin is the testicle of the West. When I want the West to scream, I squeeze on Berlin.
– Premier Nikita Krushchev, in a speech in Yugoslavia, 24 August 1963

Berlin Wall Detail # 9, from The Wall, Niederkirchner Strasse, Berlin 2010

The two image details shown here are taken from my photograph entitled The Wall, Niederkirchner Strasse. The original photograph is a construction, not a stitch. It measures eight feet long and is currently on view in my exhibition CITIES OF STONE – PEOPLE OF DUST at the Red Wall Gallery in Ottawa until September 2nd.

This photograph is intended to simulate a walk along the Berlin Wall today, 50 years after it first appeared. Tomorrow I will post the entire image at 2 a.m. to coincide with the time that the Berlin Wall was born on August 13th, 1961.

Berlin Wall Detail # 10, from The Wall, Niederkirchner Strasse, Berlin 2010

© Leslie Hossack

August 11: The Berlin Wall marks its 50th anniversary on Saturday.

Why would Krushchev put up a wall if he really intended to seize West Berlin? … This is his way out of his predicament. It’s not a very nice solution, but a wall is a hell of a lot better than a war. – President John F. Kennedy to an aide, 13 August 1961

In August 1961 a curtain was drawn aside to reveal an empty stage. To put it more bluntly, we lost certain illusions that had outlived the hopes underlying them . . . Ulbricht had been allowed to take a swipe at the Western super-power, and the United States merely winced with annoyance. – Willy Brandt in People and Politics, 1978

Berlin Wall Detail # 7, from The Wall, Niederkirchner Strasse, Berlin 2010

The two image details shown here are taken from my photograph entitled The Wall, Niederkirchner Strasse. The original photograph is a construction, not a stitch. It measures eight feet long and is currently on view in my exhibition CITIES OF STONE – PEOPLE OF DUST at the Red Wall Gallery in Ottawa until September 2nd.

This photograph is intended to simulate a walk along the Berlin Wall today, 50 years after it first appeared. I plan to post two different details everyday this week, leading up to Saturday when I will post the entire image at 2 a.m. to coincide with the time that the Berlin Wall was born on August 13th, 1961.

Berlin Wall Detail # 8, from The Wall, Niederkirchner Strasse, Berlin 2010

© Leslie Hossack

August 10, 2011: The Berlin Wall marks its 50th anniversary this week.

The construction workers of our capital are for the most part busy building apartment houses, and their working capacities are fully employed to that end. Nobody intends to put up a wall. – Walter Ulbricht in a press conference, 15 June 1961

Khrushchev is losing East Germany. He cannot let that happen. If East Germany goes, so will Poland and all of Eastern Europe. He will have to do something to stop the flow of refugees. Perhaps a wall. And we won’t be able to prevent it. – President John F. Kennedy to Deputy National Security Advisor Walt Rostow, August 1961

Berlin Wall Detail # 5 from The Wall, Niederkirchner Strasse, Berlin 2010

The two image details shown here are taken from my photograph entitled The Wall, Niederkirchner Strasse. The original photograph is a construction, not a stitch. It measures eight feet long and is currently on view in my exhibition CITIES OF STONE – PEOPLE OF DUST at the Red Wall Gallery in Ottawa until September 2nd.

This photograph is intended to simulate a walk along the Berlin Wall today, 50 years after it first appeared. I plan to post two different details everyday this week, leading up to Saturday when I will post the entire image at 2 a.m. to coincide with the time that the Berlin Wall was born on August 13th, 1961.

Berlin Wall Detail # 6, from The Wall, Niederkirchner Strasse, Berlin 2010

© Leslie Hossack

August 9, 2011: The Berlin Wall marks its 50th anniversary later this week.

So we’re stuck in this ridiculous situation. It seems silly for us to be facing an atomic war over a treaty preserving Berlin as the future capital of a reunified Germany when all of us know that Germany will probably never be reunified. -President John F. Kennedy to his aides, 1 June 1961

Berlin is the most dangerous place in the world. The USSR wants to perform an operation on this soft spot to eliminate this thorn, this ulcer. -Premier Nikita Krushchev to President John F. Kennedy at their Vienna Summit, June 1961

Berlin Wall Detail # 3, from The Wall, Niederkirchner Strasse, Berlin 2010

The two image details shown here are taken from my photograph entitled The Wall, Niederkirchner Strasse. The original photograph is a construction, not a stitch. It measures eight feet long and is currently on view in my exhibition CITIES OF STONE – PEOPLE OF DUST at the Red Wall Gallery in Ottawa until September 2nd.

This photograph is intended to simulate a walk along the Berlin Wall today, 50 years after it first appeared. I plan to post two different details everyday this week, leading up to Saturday when I will post the entire image at 2 a.m. to coincide with the time that the Berlin Wall was born on August 13th, 1961.

Berlin Wall Detail # 4, from The Wall, Niederkirchner Strasse, Berlin 2010

© Leslie Hossack