Remarks on signing the Golden Book, Rudolph Wilde Platz, Berlin, 26 June 1963
This file contains materials collected by the office of President John F. Kennedy's secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, concerning President Kennedy's remarks upon signing the Golden Book at the Rathaus Schöneberg on Rudolph Wilde Platz in Berlin, Germany. In his speech the President d...
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OCR Page 1 of 25TCS - 1st draft 6/25/63
Mr. Chancellor, Mr. Mayor, Citizens of Berlin:
Fifteen years ago this very day an airplane traveling from Wiesbaden
to Berlin, on the same route I followed this morning, started the greatest
peacetime airlift in history to supply a free city and its free citizens against
the R cruel blockade of its oppressors. Many believed that that blockade would
end this city!s life -- but the city both survived and grew.
Ten years ago this very month a spontaneous uprising of the freedom -
loving people in Germany¹s Eastern Zone was repressed by harsh and brutal
means. Many believed that this tragic result would crush all hope for
:
freedom among the people of Eastern Germany -- but those hopes are still
living today.
Two years ago this summer the people of West Berlin were warned
that their present status would soon end; and an ugly, shameful wall was
built imprisoning their friends and relatives in East Berlin. Many believed
that this warning and wall would drive people, business and courage away
from West Berlin. But today it is plain to see that there are more people
in West Berlin with more business and more courage than ever before.
The story of West Berlin is many stories -- valor, danger, honor
determination, unity and hardship. But, above all, it is the story of
achievement.
This City was once little more than a ruin of rubble. Today,
on this side of the Wall, it is a vital, prosperous example of a free society
at work. In the face of adversity and threats, in spite of crises and pressures,
it has become a great international center of industry and culture.
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Berlin (Germany)
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