National Declassification Center and CIA Host Berlin Symposium at National Archives January 14
Press Release · Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Washington, DC

Conference marks declassification of more than 11,000 related documents

Washington, DC…On Tuesday, January 14, 2014, from 9 AM to noon, the National Archives National Declassification Center (NDC), in partnership with the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) Historical Review Program, hosts a symposium: "A City Divided: Life and Death in the Shadow of the Wall." Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero will provide opening remarks. Symposium speakers will explore newly released and published declassified documents that reveal East and West Berliners' struggle for life and death in a divided city. The event is free and open to the public and press, and will be held in the William G. McGowan Theater of the National Archives Building in Washington, DC (email NDC@nara.gov to reserve a seat).

The National Archives Building is located on the National Mall and is fully accessible. Attendees should use the Special Events entrance on 7th and Constitution Ave, NW. Metro: Yellow and Green lines, Archives/Navy Memorial/Penn Quarter station.

Speakers:

• Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero
• National Declassification Center Director Sheryl J. Shenberger
• CIA Director of Information Management Services Joseph Lambert
• National Declassification Center Program Manager Neil Carmichael
• George Washington University and Woodrow Wilson Center Historian Dr. Hope Harrison
• Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Director of the History and Public Policy Program Dr. Christian F. Ostermann
• CIA Senior Historian Dr. Donald P. Steury

With his iconic speech on June 26, 1963, President John F. Kennedy united the citizens of Berlin with the United States by stating that he too was a Berliner. In 1986, 24 years later, President Ronald Reagan declared in Berlin: "I do not come here to lament. For I find in Berlin a message of hope, even in the shadow of this wall, a message of triumph." Last fall, the NDC released more than 11,000 pages of newly declassified Berlin-related documents from1962 to 1986—the years between these two famous speeches. Symposium attendees will receive a free publication and DVD compilation of more than 1,300 of these documents, and an additional 1,140 documents will be posted online [www.archives.gov/research/foreign-policy/cold-war/berlin-wall-1962-1987].

Related release: Last week, (January 4, 2014) the NDC released a July, 1961, photo essay by James R. Florent entitled Flight to the West. Commissioned by NATO, this article is now public for the first time – nearly 53 years later – and is online [www.archives.gov/research/foreign-policy/cold-war/berlin-wall-1962-1987/].

For Symposium information: Please email ndc@nara.gov

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For Press information, contact the National Archives Public Affairs Staff at 202-357-5300.

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