Following World War II, the city of Berlin was carved into four occupation zones. The life conditions on each part were not equal and during the period from 1949 to 1961, around 2.5 million people from East Germany had fled the Soviet section of Berlin. The Soviets were concerned and the East German leader Walter Ulbricht, in order to stop the flow, had barbed-wire-and-cinder-block barriers thrown up in early August 1961. In the photo, the primary subject is 19-year-old border guard Hans Conrad Schumann, crossing the barrier. The West Berlin crowd were enticing Hans to come on over and he himself has then said, that he does not want to “live enclosed,” and suddenly jumped the barbed wire. The photo quickly made its way to the press and the iconic image of Hans leaping over the barrier became a symbol of freedom. The young soldier went on to live quietly in the West, however, Hans himself did not deal well with the newly-found fame and his status of an icon and, sadly, committed suicide in 1998.