Guard Jumping the Berlin Wall.
It seems we will never see another time in which the world was as divided as it was during the Cold War. The world went so far as to split the city of Berlin down the middle in order to establish division between its two separate economic systems, with capitalism on the western side and communism on the eastern.
Of course, this lead to the construction of the now infamous Berlin Wall. Although we know it as the massive concrete divider, the original wall was merely a mess of barbed wire to stop people from illegally crossing over. Despite this, the West Germans were actually quite tolerant of those that crossed into their side to escape the oppression of the East.
This photograph shows a young border patroller for East Germany as he takes the ultimate leap to cross over to the other side. Through some digging it was actually found that the true identity of this man is Hans Conrad Schumann. Schumann was unfortunately the victim of an atrocity.
He was originally from West Germany back when the country was still unified. When the country was divided, he was living in the eastern half, meaning he was trapped away from his family. To get back, he signed on to become a border guard in order to cross back home. In 1961, he jumped the wire he was hired to guard and ran off to rejoin his family. He would eventually return home, but his end would still be unfortunate. Schumann died in 1998 after hanging himself.
Writer / Quiz Creator
Andrew Nicholas is a passionate reader and writer on the subjects of history and mankind. He is a published author, critic, and poet who grew up in the friendly scenery of rural Ohio. He is a graduate of Wright State University and a regular student of historical curiosities.