The Berlin wall separated the Russian sector of Berlin from the rest of Berlin. It was constructed in 1961 and taken down in 1989. The USSR built the wall in order to keep citizens from crossing the border in the more popular western sector of Berlin. They had good reason to do this, before the wall was erected 3.5 million Germans used west Berlin to escape USSR Germany. While the wall was up over 5000 Germans crossed into west Berlin and escaped to the free world. There is no official death toll from the wall but many estimates are around 200. The guards were ordered to "do not hesitate to use your firearm, not even when the border is breached in the company of women and children, which a tactic that the enemy has used often. Many different ways of getting over the wall were used. Some of these included hot air balloons, zip lines, tunnels, and even sewers.