The Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall was built at the end of World War II, after Germany surrendered on May 7th, 1945. The exact numbers for the people who were killed at the Berlin Wall came out of documents that were used in trials to try people who were responsible for basically issuing shoot to kill orders. It wasn't clear from the get-go just how porous the border was, even though there was a wall. But yeah, when they started shooting people and putting in landmines, it became clear like you try to cross this border now at the risk of your own life.