June 17, 1953

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WWII is over ... it's the Cold War now. Red Berlin.

Eastern Europe/Western Europe. East Germany/West Germany. East Berlin/West Berlin. And for an East Berliner, life is pretty miserable. You do what you're told to do. You work where you're told to work and when you're told to work. You have quotas you have to meet. And then your quotas are raised by 15%, but you get paid the same pitiful wage. Fair? Right? Are you gonna just let it happen?

Well, on June 16, 1953, a group of about 70 construction workers decided to strike after being told they'd get a cut in pay for not meeting work quotas. The next day, June 17th, a peaceful march of protesters took place through the streets of East Berlin, reaching numbers into the thousands as workers wanted just wanted to government to hear them and answer the questions.

The government, rather than face the people, acted like cowards and called for troop reinforcements that opened fire on the protesters. Hundreds were killed.

There is a monument at the site. A photo taken of the front line of the protester march. Men are walking, arms linked, dark, sad, yet resolved. Not wanting to cause trouble, just wanting to be heard, just wanting some answers. Just wanting what's right.

What's even worse is that painted as a mural on one side of the government building is the "fantasy" of what the protesters' livers were supposed to be. Bright colors, smiling mothers, parades, workers and bosses laughing together, a government official shaking hands with the common man ... That's what the protesters saw on June 17th: the lie of their life. And many of them died that day and in the days following, in an effort for the truth.

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