GERMANY:GERMANY MARKED the 60th anniversary of the Berlin Blockade yesterday by paying tribute to the Allied pilots who kept Berliners alive by air after the Soviets sealed off road access to the city.
German authorities hope this year's anniversary of the cold war's first hot phase will mark a turning point in sinking public perceptions of the US, which have not recovered from transatlantic differences over the Iraq war.
A recent Pew Global Attitudes survey showed that less than a third of Germans have a positive view of the US, down from 78 per cent eight years ago.
West Berliners remembered yesterday the dramatic announcement from the Soviet occupying forces on June 24th, 1948, that "technical difficulties" had forced a blockade of road and rail access through the Soviet zone to the Allied sectors of Berlin. By retaliating for the introduction of the Deutschmark to West Berlin, Joseph Stalin was determined to pressure the Allies into ceding full control of the city to him.
"We were just hungry, hungry, hungry," remembered Roswitha Wölz (73) yesterday. "My father put up a sign outside our apartment saying: 'Begging pointless - seven hungry children inside.'"
Rather than pull out, however, the Allies took to the skies, sending more than 278,000 flights into Tempelhof airport over the next 15 months, carrying more than two million tonnes of food, coal, medicine and other supplies.
"Perhaps two out of every 100 pilots dropped out sweets," remembered Klaus Weinert (69).
"And then there was a terrible shoving, even adults got stuck in."
On just one day in April 1949, 1,400 aircraft brought in 13,000 tons of supplies - with aircraft landing every minute.
The airlift remains very much alive in the memories of former West Berliners. In the recent failed referendum to retain Tempelhof airport, the biggest majorities in favour were in western neighbourhoods.
"If it wasn't for the airlift, probably there would have been no German-American friendship, because America would have left," said Helmut Trotnow, director of Berlin's Allied Museum.
"The airlift made former enemies become partners, co-operate, and that developed confidence that ended up in a partnership and friendship." After 322 days, the Soviets realised they were defeated and lifted the blockade.
The last survivors of the airlift, which claimed 78 lives, will be honoured at a special ceremony in Berlin tomorrow.