Bill Downs Reports from Blockaded Berlin
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| Bill Downs and Edward R. Murrow in East Berlin standing under a Free German Youth banner in 1948 |
Berlin, 1948 - 1950
Bill Downs served as the CBS correspondent in Berlin for nearly two years to cover the blockade and airlift. He stayed in the city from 1948 to 1950 with his wife, writer Rosalind "Roz" Downs (née Gerson). During that time he reported extensively on political developments in postwar Germany. In one letter home dated October 1948, he wrote:
You know just about as much as we do about what is going to come out of this mess. The decisions will not be made here. However the reflection of our policy shows here first and as far as I can make it out, we are preparing to continue this air lift for two years if necessary. There has been nothing that gives any hope for the lifting of the blockade in the near future. The Russians go as far as they dare without overtly precipitating war. I get the feeling that we do the same more or less. And the feeling is that there will not be any open, official conflict between the two major powers.In another letter dated September 1948, Roz wrote about the devastation in Berlin:
We drove into the city the other day. [Edward R. Murrow] wanted to see what was left of it. The only opinion I have of the Germans after seeing Berlin and the other parts of Germany we've driven through is that they sure were damn fools. I think before the war Berlin must have been one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Now, there is no city. For miles on end there is nothing but rubble. You are startled when you see a building standing until you drive close to it and see it's only four walls with no insides. . . . It is very depressing to go into Berlin proper. As Ed said, it looks like the end of the world. It looks like something out of a fantastic story magazine; something that looks like a civilization of the past, now dead.Below are some of Bill Downs' reports from 1948 to 1950. The text is adapted from his typewritten scripts.
1948
July 22, 1948 to September 22, 1948: Berlin's newspaper propaganda wars
July 30, 1948: Politics and the black market in West Berlin
September 12, 1948: Communists hold "Victims of Fascism" rally in Berlin
September 13, 1948: Rumors of an "X-Day" putsch
September 14 to September 16, 1948: Outcry over the sentencing of West German protesters
September 17, 1948: The East-West standoff rattles the city
September 18, 1948: US celebrates Air Force Day by ramping up the airlift
September 19, 1948: Uneasy quiet ahead of UN meeting
September 20 to September 23, 1948: Western Allied Commanders convene on the eve of UN meeting
September 24, 1948: US increases the airlift operation
September 25, 1948: Worried speculation of Soviet interference in the airlift
September 26 to September 28, 1948: The Western occupation powers appeal to the UN
September 30, 1948: The tenth anniversary of the Munich Agreement
September 30 to October 12, 1948: One hundred days of blockade
October 2, 1948: War of nerves behind the Iron Curtain
November 16, 1948: Moscow withdraws recognition of Ernst Reuter
November 18 to November 26, 1948: Elections near as the Anglo-American airlift continues
November 21, 1948: Downs' car vandalized
November 28 to November 30, 1948: Eastern sector Communists oppose West Berlin elections
November 30 to December 4, 1948: The East-West divide widens
December 4, 1948: West Berliners go to the polls
December 6, 1948: Berlin, the "island of anticommunist opposition"
December 7 to December 10, 1948: The deepening isolation of West Berlin
December 16 to December 20, 1948: The French destroy Soviet-controlled radio transmission towers
December 18, 1948: Signs of economic difficulty reported in the Soviet zone
December 19 to December 30, 1948: Christmas in Berlin
December 1948: Germans making the most of the holiday
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| A crowd of approximately 200,000 listens to Mayor Ernst Reuter speak in Berlin at a demonstration against the policies of the SED and the Soviet military government, September 9, 1948 (source) |
1949
January 1949: Bill Downs on the "moral reconstruction" of Germany
January 4, 1949: The Kasernierte Volkspolizei
January 5, 1949: The Harnack House club
January 10 to January 24, 1949: The fascist remnants in Germany
January 12, 1949: Simmering tensions over the Ruhr
January 13, 1949: Dispute over missing German war prisoners in Russia
January 14, 1949: The West Berlin assembly prepares to meet in Schöneberg
January 14, 1949: The Communist-Socialist divide in East and West Berlin
January 17, 1949: Protests against the Ruhr occupation
January 24 to January 29, 1949: The Socialist Unity Party convenes in Berlin
January 26, 1949: The future of the two Germanies
January 28, 1949: West Germany's booming industry alarms Britain and France
January 30, 1949: Reports of a shakeup for the US military government in Germany
January 31 to February 13, 1949: Stalin's conditions for lifting the blockade
February 7, 1949: Social Democrats accuse Soviets of espionage
February 9, 1949: Debate over Cardinal Mindszenty's sentencing in Budapest
February 16, 1949: Tensions grow as the Berlin blockade continues
February 17 to March 4, 1949: The eight Russians who refused to leave Frankfurt
February 19, 1949: Criminal trials in Munich
February 19 to February 20, 1949: Five men charged with espionage against the United States
February 23 to February 24, 1949: The Soviets opt to remain in Germany
March 2, 1949: Ultranationalism in West Germany
March 8, 1949: Fear dominates Leipzig
March 11, 1949: Soviets conduct defensive exercises along the Elbe
March 13, 1949: The West prepares for indefinite blockade
April 17, 1949: Easter in West Berlin
April 18, 1949: The US stages a major field exercise in Germany
April 19, 1949: New wave of blockade speculation in Berlin
April 20, 1949: The Kremlin reconsiders its blockade policy
April 23, 1949: The SPD and CDU work on drafting a constitution
April 23 to April 25, 1949: Western occupation powers urge statehood for West Germany
April 26 to April 27, 1949: The Kremlin calls for a Big Four conference
April 28, 1949: General Clay announces he will step down as military governor
April 29 to April 30, 1949: Berlin readies for May Day
May 5, 1949: The price to pay for lifting the blockade
May 7, 1949: Strategic failure as the Soviets plan to lift the Berlin blockade
May 8, 1949: Victory Day ceremony in Treptower Park
May 10 to May 13, 1949: Soviets dispute Western claims of ending the counter-blockade
May 11 to May 12, 1949: Celebrations as the blockade is lifted
May 14, 1949: Western powers grant West Berlin more autonomy
May 15 to May 17, 1949: Unexpected anti-Communist movement in East Berlin elections
May 21 to May 27, 1949: Massive worker uprising hits East Berlin
May 28, 1949: Council of Foreign Ministers meets in Paris to discuss Berlin crisis
June 3, 1949: Gerhart Eisler criticizes the United States
June 4 to June 10, 1949: No end in sight for the elevated rail workers' walkout
June 6, 1949: Pro-Soviet propaganda downplays D-Day's significance
June 11 to June 16, 1949: Rail workers vote to continue strike
June 18 to June 29: Occupation powers clash over rail strike
June 19 to June 23: Deal sought to end rail strike
June 25, 1949: Airlift marks its first anniversary
June 30 to July 1, 1949: Traffic snafu in Berlin
July 2 and July 8, 1949: The East awaits the economic collapse of the West
July 3 to July 6, 1949: American High Commissioner John McCloy in Berlin
July 4, 1949: American occupation troops celebrate the Fourth of July
July 10 to July 14, 1949: The "Little Blockade" of Berlin
July 16, 1949: Tragic accidents in Germany
July 17 to July 29, 1949: The Catholic Church's "open warfare" with communism
July 19 to July 22, 1949: East Germany seeks a united front
July 25 to July 27, 1949: "Little Blockade" finally ends
July 29, 1949: Western Allies pay tribute to lives lost during the airlift
July 31 to August 2, 1949: Allied occupation officials convene ahead of West German elections
August 7 to August 15, 1949: Factions vie for power in West Germany
August 15 to August 17, 1949: United States backs right-wing coalition government
August 19 to August 21, 1949: The Communists lose influence in the West
August 22, 1949: American officials promote the Marshall Plan
August 24, 1949: Adenauer set to form coalition
August 26, 1949: Intelligence reports of increased Volkspolizei activity
August 29 to September 10, 1949: US officials appeal to Soviets to release two American youths
September 3, 1949: Tensions rise with the Yugoslav-Soviet split
September 7, 1949 to September 9, 1949: The West German parliament meets in Bonn for the first time
September 11 to September 15, 1949: Konrad Adenauer becomes Chancellor of West Germany
September 18, 1949: Son of Communist leader Max Reimann escapes the Volkspolizei
September 22, 1949: Adenauer government begins work
September 26, 1949: The Soviets successfully develop nuclear weapons
October 11, 1949: Massive pro-Communist parade down Unter den Linden
November 14 to November 15, 1949: Secretary Acheson meets with Allied High Commissioners
November 16 to November 25, 1949: Adenauer signs the Petersberg Agreement
November 30, 1949: East Berlin marks anniversary of rump magistrate's founding
December 4, 1949: American labor leader Walter Reuther visits Germany
December 5, 1949: Threats of violence overshadow West Berlin elections
December 6, 1949: East Berlin criticizes West; Germans clean up World War II battlefields
December 9, 1949: Yugoslav diplomats detained in East Berlin
December 10, 1949: The question of rearming West Germany
December 11, 1949: More purges in East Germany as technicians flee to the West
December 14, 1949: Soviet Foreign Minister Vyshinsky visits Berlin
December 15, 1949: Occupation powers back German youth movements
December 17, 1949: US ramps up economic ties to West Germany
December 18, 1949: Far-right nationalist movement emerges in Bavaria
December 21, 1949: East Berlin celebrates Stalin's birthday
December 23, 1949: Downs reports for the American Forces Network
December 24, 1949: Berlin prepares for its first Christmas after the blockade
December 24, 1949: Positive news for West Germany on Christmas Eve
December 25, 1949: Downs celebrates another Christmas in West Berlin
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| The Free German Youth marches in East Berlin to protest the Marshall Plan and the Western Powers, with a banner reading "Yankee, go home," May 1950 (source) |
1950
January 6, 1950: Downs returns to Berlin from New York
January 8, 1950: Germany reacts to British recognition of Communist China
January 13 to January 15, 1950: Adenauer meets with French Foreign Minister Schuman Meet in Bonn
January 18 to January 22, 1950: East Germany threatens to impose new traffic blockade on Berlin
January 25, 1950: Soviets shut down internment camps in East Germany
January 27 to January 28, 1950: East Berlin announces the creation of the Stasi
February 1, 1950: Traffic slowdown at Helmstedt-Marienborn checkpoint
February 6 to February 10, 1950: Klaus Fuchs arrested in Britain
March 1 to March 3, 1950: East criticizes Western preconditions for reunifying Germany
March 4, 1950: Soviet deportation plan for Germans stokes tensions with British
April 2, 1950: German Communists react to Senator Joseph McCarthy
April 28, 1950: East German lieutenant testifies Soviets building a German army
April 29 to May 2, 1950: East and West Berlin hold dueling May Day demonstrations
May 7, 1950: Political reshuffling on both sides of Germany
May 8, 1950: West Germans scoff at Communist declaration of "Liberation Day"
May 18, 1950: West Germany celebrates holiday as the East prepares for elections
May 20, 1950: US stages Armed Forces Day parade in Berlin