Berlin: Walter's Wow

To most Westerners, the Berlin Wall is a brutal monument to Communism's need to imprison its subjects. Not to Walter Ulbricht. Last week East Germany's Red boss, after studiously ignoring the first four anniversaries of the ugly barrier that divides the city, openly celebrated its fifth birthday with a speech that made one wonder why he had not erected it years before. The Wall, orated Ulbricht, had 1) "saved the peace"; 2) proved the West "impotent"; 3) signified, by its unopposed erection, Allied recognition of the German status quo; 4) established "law and order" in East Germany; 5) halted Western "plundering" of his state; and 6) raised East Germany's standard of living. Thus, counseled Walter, the West should "stop shedding crocodile tears" over the barrier and recognize East Germany immediately.