Bundesarchiv Bild 183-11500-1440, Berlin, III

Fotothek df roe-neg 0006153 008 Blick auf die Ehrentribüne mit Walter Ulbricht,

The 3rd

World Festival of Youth and Students The World Festival of Youth and Students is an international event organized by the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) and the International Union of Students after 1947. History The festival has been held regularly since 1947 as an eve ...

(WFYS) was held from 5 to 19 August 1951 in Berlin, capital city of the then German Democratic Republic, and organised by World Federation of Democratic Youth. The motto of the festival was "Peace and Friendship against Nuclear Weapons" The third WFYS was held in a period of growing international tension between the Soviet Union and the western powers; it took place against the background of the Korean War and the spread of communism in Central Europe and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. The festival was meant to showcase the young German Democratic Republic, formed in the Soviet sector of postwar Germany. West German police and the US military tried to prevent international delegates from crossing the western sector of Germany to attend the festival. In response, an operation was arranged to smuggle young people across the country in small groups. Jan Myrdal wrote about incidents where young people were shot at by West Berlin police when trying to cross the West German border. The festival's sports programme featured an athletics competition.World Student Games (UIE)
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2014-12-09.

References

External links

Poster
World Festival of Youth and Students International sports competitions hosted by East Germany 1951 in East Germany 1951 conferences 1951 in multi-sport events Multi-sport events in East Germany Festivals in East Germany East Berlin Events in Berlin 1950s in Berlin Sports festivals in Germany 1951 festivals 1951 in East German sport {{Europe-festival-stub