The Brain Drain

• The Brain Drain (otherwise known as the refugee crisis) describes the event of skilled professionals, such as teachers, doctors, etc leaving East Germany to West Germany where they would receive better pay.

  This was an incredibly large issue for the East Germans, as these skilled workers were exactly what they required to rebuild their economy, and the impacts this was having because of how easy it was to travel from East to West Germany were enormous.

  • By 1958: 3 million East Germans (over a sixth of the entire population) had crossed the border to West Germany.