Peter Leibing

This photo was taken by Peter Leibing, and it shows nineteen-year-old, military soldier, Conrad Schumann jumping over the barbed wire, of the to be Berlin Wall, from East Germany to West Germany, during the Cold War. During this time the Soviet Union had control over East Berlin, and West Berlin was under the control of America, Britain and France. The people of the East were very unhappy about the lack of political and economical freedom. The USSR had industrialised and militarised East Germany, causing many people to fear the Stasi; the most pervasive secret police agencies. On the other hand, West Berlin had the dominant currency, local democratic elections and free enterprise. Looking at the West from the East, it was appealing to many people, as they …show more content…
Even though this fear existed, when he had a chance to calm down from the day’s excitement, he was congratulated by many people walking past him. This photo, unfortunately, was see by his fellow soldiers and they resented him for what he did. They believed that if he betrayed them then, then he will betray the next people he surrounds himself with. He became one of the heroes of the free world, but a traitor to the East Germans.
When this was seen by people in other countries, they saw him as the symbol of the Cold War. The symbol they saw was the quest for freedom by the oppressed under the Soviet rule. Many people also feared that this would lead to more destruction as he was a sergeant in the Soviet army, and the Stasi would do anything to bring him back and punish him for what he did.
The values of this photograph are that it captures a moment in time in much detail. It could also have been a form of propaganda, to encourage the people to rise and stop what is happening to them. The photo is objective as it was not taken from a certain perspective, Schumann wanted to leave and that is what he did, the photo was just taken at the right