It looked like the Iron Curtain (23 photos + text)

When people talk about the "Iron Curtain" I always remember the Soviet border on the lock with a border guard Karatsupa and his faithful dog. Nevertheless, it is not - the Iron Curtain was the border of the Warsaw Pact and the West, that is, primarily in Hungary, East Germany and Czechoslovakia. Soviet Iron Curtain on the border with Finland and Norway was a minor thing.
It looked like the legendary Iron Curtain in Czechoslovakia and I'll discuss in this article.

create the Iron Curtain in Czechoslovakia began, oddly enough, in the before-socialist times - in May 1945. The western border was patrolled reinforced patrols. The aim was to close the road to smugglers, deported Sudeten Germans, who were returning for property abandoned in the Sudetenland, as well as ROA and militants UPA that fighting to break in Austria and Germany. Yes, clashes with Bandera were not only in the Ukrainian Carpathians, but in the mountains of Czechoslovakia.
However, the border was quite leaky, and guards armed with the German, Soviet and French weapons and often dressed in civilian clothes, a picturesque sight.
This border began to emerge only in 1951, three years after the proclamation of the socialist Czechoslovakia at the initiative of the state security officer Ludwik Glavachki. On the most critical sections of the border it was stretched barbed wire under tension (the so-called "fence EDZ" energized 5-15 kV), and the rest came banal fence, along which there were patrols and under which was hidden in the grass, too, invisible barbed wire and many mines . It was the first version of the Iron Curtain.

In 1956, management decided to modernize the border. Instead of the old glorious EDZ were installed electric fence EZOH which ended his life so many offenders, and before him the electric signal U fence at 70 volts, which allows to determine violations of up to 100 meters. New EZOH predecessor was insidious in that the current went only on the top row, making sure that the lower number of no voltage, the offender got out up where he expected a mortal blow. However, for the most part it was turned off, but for all time the existence of fences, on average once a month on them defector died, and sometimes a border guard who confronted him in the darkness. The border was impassable.

Austrian border - Two PCB, signal fences, hedgehogs, towers

In 1960 came the change. It was decided to humanize the border and to remove mines and barbed wire under tension. Limit is extended inland and looked - signaling fence U-60 12-volt, control strips and predzabor against the penetration of animals to the signal fence. Before the border was 1-2 km from here, and in the Sudetenland and more. On violations outfit arrive until 2 minutes and run faster dogs 1-2 km - impossible. The border was shut.

At the same time it has been modernized border crossings. Mighty concrete barriers that could pass only a low speed, for attempting to break in Austria or Germany.

Attempt to break GERMANY failed - the Volga to fling away the barrier fortified

BARRIER hardly affected

So, it looked like a typical "iron curtain" in the 1980s? The start was enclosed with barbed wire border zone that starts at 4-10 km from the border (in some places it was not at all - for example, in Bratislava, which is directly on the border with Austria). Anyone caught in the border zone and brought to the frontier usually fined. Then, in the 1-2 km from the border began a glorious border road - concrete or asphalt along the entire border. In case of violation of her or jeep UAZ raced with a crew of three people and a dog. Along the road on one side towers were equipped with infrared vision devices, and on the other - predzabor animal control strips, signal U and the fence again predzabor animal. Control strips patrols monitored every day of two people. And then to the border and has had no barriers, only small temporary towers for border guards in case they needed to look around. This apparent "end the suffering" deceived more than one offender, who believed that, overcoming obstacles, it will automatically overseas. It dispels the illusion usually border dog that quickly overtakes him, and brought down to the ground. Interestingly, the area of the fence regularly landscaped signal (cut young trees and mowed grass) locals who guards gave permission imagine - they had no control and of which no one has escaped. The border was split about 10-km areas which were controlled by the company commander of the Border Guard (72-100 people).

ALERT!

The end of the "iron curtain" in Czechoslovakia came in December 1989 when the signal began to dismantle the fence and fence. After a couple of months, "Iron Curtain" was the last ...

Were successful attempts to cross the border? Certainly it was, although the procedure is less than the unsuccessful. The reason most often was a simple reason - the signal was off the fence, the border guard on the tower fell asleep. Shoots of the second kind were the original adventure in which guards were simply not prepared. For example, a flight in a homemade balloon. Or escape by train number 3717 "Prague-Al" when the driver previously damaged arrow on the German border, and instead of stopping Asha went at full speed to Bavaria, which was only 2 km from the railway station.

SKIP border zone Susice

The original was a runaway and Robert Ospalda other Austria in 1986 ... high-voltage lines, care in Austria. The fact that one wire acts as a lightning rod, and it will not go current. Friends built a cradle, which hung on him. Escape lasted 5 hours and exhausted guys climbed the fence directly behind the signal, that is still on Czechoslovak territory, but since their escape was not registered, they could easily pass this territory.

This is fortunate, others, especially those who died in the electric fence - no. However, I am not inclined to expose one side of the victims and the other villains. On the other hand, too, were the victims - evidenced by the memorial stone dedicated to the dead border guards, like this - an armed offender waited in the bushes and shot in 1979 by a machine border guard Milos dolls, normal 19-year old boy, called up from the village. The intruder was killed, but Doll died a few hours later. Or the case of the border guard Dobrzhihovskim, who shot a machine gun of his friend and went to Germany. Czechoslovakia demanded the extradition, but Germany did not give him, and he did not suffered any punishment ...

Border guards died here Milos DOLL.

The Iron Curtain was history. Although ... Not really - small parts of the border have been preserved in the museum at the border of Bratislava, Nova Ves and Czech Chizhov. The purely decorative and informative. Instead of arts? You'd be surprised, but survived and such. After a gentle revolution in the area Brzhetslavskoy company on the border of Austria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, it was decided to make the reserve and it was decided to leave the Iron Curtain in full as the boundary of the reserve. So the Czech Breclav curtain still exists and fulfills its role!

5 December 1989. REMOVING THE IRON CURTAIN IN BRATISLAVA.

PATROL in Sumava. NOTE HOW snowed!

And this is - exciting frontier. IT - Bratislava, which is directly adjacent to AUSTRIA, border zone NO BORDER - just a couple of meters, but much stricter PROTECTED.

AGAIN - BRATISLAVA, border near Devinska LOCK.

And this is - 1960.

Rig in HIGH-ON-Moravia SLOVAKIA

And this is - an unusual border. SIGNAL POST leads right Across the pond in South Bohemia. USUALLY Ponds make the border zone, BUT THIS WAS TOO FISH and to Him are allowed to access.