Europe: Berlin Breathing Spell

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After bringing Berlin to the boil, Russia last week let the city simmer a while. Soviet armored cars continued to shuttle through the Western sector; they drew only scowls from the crowds that had stoned them the week before. More than 300 East Berliners turned out for the funeral of Peter Fechter, the 18-year-old bricklayer who had been shot and left to die while trying to cross the Wall. Surest sign of relaxed tensions was the Western alliance's return to disarray. Despite President Kennedy's announcement that the Big Four had agreed "in principle" to a foreign ministers' conference on Berlin, they all seemed to have previous engagements. At week's end, the Big Four conference was off—like the pressure.