The document discusses several famous separation barriers throughout history: - The Berlin Wall separated East and West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, dividing families and communities for 28 years until it was torn down. - Barriers in Belfast separated Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods beginning in the 1970s to prevent violence, though there is now discussion of removing them. - The US-Mexico border has a 130km barrier to prevent illegal immigration and drug smuggling, though expansion is controversial due to environmental concerns. - The 248km Korean Demilitated Zone wall separates North and South Korea, standing as a stark reminder of the division of the peninsula.

1. “Walls in the 20th
century”
Marina Bertuna
Carolina Lux
Language and Culture II
"Instituto Superior Palomar de Caseros“
Teacher Training Programme

2. A separation barrier is a wall
or fence constructed to limit the
movement of people across a
certain line or border, or to
separate two populations. These
structures vary in placement
with regard to international
borders and topography.

3. Probably the most famous
examples of a separation barrier
are:

4. Berlin Wall
• The Berlin Wall was placed in Berlin,
Germany.
•It was put there to separate
East Germany from West
Germany .

5. The wall divided East and West Berlin for 28
years, from the day construction began, on August
13th 1961, until it was dismantled in 1989.

6. During the years 1953 to 1989, some people on the
Eastern side who lived in houses near the wall spent their
nights digging tunnels under the wall from their basements
trying to escape to freedom in the West.
When the Western side found this out, they placed guards
on the wall, and if they saw an escapee, that person would
be shot. Friends and even family were separated. People
would peer over the wall to see their friends. Even soldiers
would cross over the wall.

7. When on 9th November the East
German government announced
that entering West Berlin would be
permitted, crowds of East Germans
climbed and crossed the wall, joined
by West Germans on the other side in a
celebratory atmosphere.

8. When it began, the wall was just rolls of barbed wire.
Later they added cement walls with guard towers.
Many people died trying to escape over or under the
Berlin Wall. When the wall came down one section
was left in memory of those who died.

9. Belfast Wall
• This wall was built in order to separate
Catholics and Protestants neighbourhoods
in Belfast, Derry and elsewhere in
Northern Ireland.

10. The barriers themselves consist of
iron, brick, and steel walls up to 7.6
m. high, topped with metal netting,
or simply a white line painted on
the ground similar to a road
marking.

11. The first barriers were
constructed in the early
1970s, Originally few in
number, they have
multiplied over the years,
from 18 in the early 1990s
to 40 today. Most are
located in Belfast.

12. In 2008 a public discussion began about
how and when the barriers could be
removed. Many of the residents who live in
the communities have expressed their
anger at any suggestion that they will be
taken down.

13. The US Mexico border
The United States has constructed a
separation barrier along 130
kilometers, border with Mexico to
prevent unauthorized immigration into
the United States and to deter
smuggling of contraband, particularly
illegal drugs.

14. Due to concerns about
environmental impacts,Obama
said: "I think that the key is to
consult with local communities,
whether it's on the commercial
interests or the environmental
stakes of creating any kind of
barrier”. (The New York Times April 16, 2009)

15. There has been legislation in the
U.S. Congress on lengthening the
barrier, but progress has been
slow, both from lobbying and lack
of funding.

16. Korean Wall
The Korean wall is a
concrete barrier
that is allegedly built
along the length of
the DMZ in South
Korea

17. The Korean wall is 248 kilometres long
and separates North- and South Korea.
.

18. The wall itself is 5 to 8 metres high.
It was built between 1977 and 1979.

19. “The world became a better place
to live in after the fall of the Berlin
Wall, because each outbreak of
freedom stimulated another
outbreak”
Thomas Friedman (American
journalist)

20. “There are many people in the
world who really don’t understand
what is the great issue between the
free world and the communist
world. Let them come to Berlin”
J.F.Kennedy (1963)

21. Sources:
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_barrier
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States%E2%80%93Mexico_
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Demilitarized_Zone
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Wall
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/images/hist_
• http://image.absoluteastronomy.com/images/encyclopediaimag
• http://www.lindsayfincher.com/gallery/d/893-2/belfast_mural_w

22. Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...
John Lennon (1971)