From Berlin Airlift to Berlin Wall

J. Elke Ertle discusses her memoir, “Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom.” This true coming of age story is told against the backdrop of the Cold War as it unfolded in Berlin following WWII. Born and raised in post-war West Berlin, two obstacles curtailed the author’s freedom during those years: the Berlin Wall and her equally insurmountable parental walls. In telling her story, she interweaves history with her own memories of the Berlin Airlift, the mounting East-West tension, the construction of the Berlin all, and the city’s enthusiastic response to John F. Kennedy’s visit to Berlin in 1963.