Berlin Airlift at UNC Charlotte

I go to school at the University of North Carolina here in Charlotte and I think we have a pretty awesome library. I work at the library security office and today we hosted an event that I had no idea about even though it was publicized for about 4 months.

The Berlin Airlift Exhibit, as it was called,  is a traveling exhibit that is displayed in many universities across the country and for the South East region of the United States, UNC Charlotte was picked to host the event. Yay for us :). I had a vague idea of what it was about since over the past week the library had accumulated a number of placards, notices and signs about the event and its

 history, but since I did not know the fine details I tried to pay attention (and take pictures for this blog) all night long. Mind you the photos are far below the level I usually like but I had to be sneaky since I wasn't allowed to (only library marketing staff can take pictures in there apparently).

To summarize the importance of the event: In post WWII, Germany was divided up by the Allied powers and occupied. West Germany was occupied by the British, French and the Americans, while East Germany was controlled by the Soviet Union. Within East Germany, the city of Berlin itself was under multinational occupation. During the Cold War crisis however, the Soviet Union blocked all entry to Berlin leaving the areas under control by USA, France and Britain in desperate need of food and other aid. The Soviet Union's did this in the hope that the other foreign powers would hand over Berlin to them because they were unable to provide people with necessities, thereby handing over full control of Berlin. 

In response however, the Western Allies formed the Berlin Airlift, an airlift that saw 200,000 flights carry over 13,000 tons of food daily to the people of Berlin for over a year. The mission was a success and humiliated the Soviet Union's attempt to gain Berlin. Since then, the Western Allies along with Germany, celebrate the Berlin Airlift and the members of the various Air forces that helped make such a humanitarian effort possible. 

At the Atkins Library at UNC Charlotte, Kurt Waldthausen, the German honorary consul, brought the German and American community in Charlotte together, to congratulate and commemorate the veterans in the area that helped with the Berlin Airlift. Kurt Waldthausen also gifted UNC Charlotte a Berlin Bear dressed as the Statue of Liberty which was aptly named "Lib-Bear-ty" (which I think also has a German meaning), and a shirt signed by US Air Force pilot Colonel Gail Halvorsen, the "Candy Bomber". Andrei Cherny, a former White House speech writer, Senior Fellow at Harvard's Kennedy School Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and author of the book The Candy Bombers, spoke about the importance of the Airlift, the lasting friendships and ties that it has created and the hopes it inspired in a defeated nation. Awards were then handed out to the veterans present who showed their appreciation with tears and warm smiles. To conclude the event, one of the veterans narrated a colorful tale of his time with the Airlift effort and how it changed him and his view of war. Finally there was a reception with a sumptuous German dinner full of Würste (sausages), sauerkraut, German beer, delectable meats, cheeses and much much more.  

While I wasn't involved in the event as much as 99% of the people there ( I'm neither American nor German so I don't share any of this history) it felt good to be a part of it and I look forward to getting involved with the Charlotte community more. Incidentally, the honorary consul of Germany, Kurt Waldthausen, said he'd been to Sri Lanka every year for 12 years back in the 80s. Felt a connection there haha.

Well that's it for my first proper blog post! Don't mind the messy layout or any grammatical errors. Until next time.