THE HOLE IN THE WALL THE SWEETEST CHRISTMAS MUSIC BERLINERS HAVE HEARD 
IN MORE THAN TWO YEARS HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH BACH 
OR HANDEL . IT WAS THE UGLY STUTTER OF JACKHAMMERS TEARING 
GATES IN THE BERLIN WALL, THE WHINE OF CRANES REMOVING ZIGZAG 
BARRIERS FROM HEAVILY GUARDED CROSSING POINTS . THEN, LATE LAST WEEK, 
THE CANDYSTRIPE CUSTOMS POLES WENT UP, AND THOUSANDS OF GRINNING, GIFT-LADEN 
WEST BERLINERS SWARMED THROUGH THE WALL FOR THEIR FIRST REUNIONS WITH 
EASTERN SECTOR RELATIVES SINCE AUGUST 1961 . A LONG ROW OF 
GLOWING CHARCOAL BRAZIERS WARMED THE APPROACH TO THE OBERBAUM BRIDGE, AND 
TWO BRIGHTLY LIT CHRISTMAS TREES GUARDED ITS WESTERN END . ON 
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RIVER SPREE, EVEN THE TRIGGER-HAPPY EAST 
GERMAN VOPOS WORE GRINS ABOVE THEIR CRADLED SUBMACHINE GUNS . ONLY 
TILL MIDNIGHT . IRONICALLY, COMMUNISM'S GRUDGING CHRISTMAS PRESENT TO WEST BERLIN 
SEEMS TO HAVE ORIGINATED IN THE TOY FACTORY OF NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV, 
WHO RESEMBLES SANTA CLAUS ONLY IN SHAPE . CHILLED BY THE 
RECEPTION EAST GERMANS GAVE HIM LAST SUMMER AT THE WALL, AND 
AWARE THAT THE SPIRIT OF DETENTE HAD NOT YET THAWED THE 
FROZEN PIVOTAL POINT IN EAST-WEST RELATIONS, KHRUSHCHEV TALKED EAST GERMAN BOSS 
WALTER ULBRICHT INTO OPENING NEGOTIATIONS FOR THE CHRISTMAS VISITS . ULBRICHT 
WAS APPARENTLY IN NO MOOD TO BE GENEROUS . THE HOLE 
IN THE WALL IS A TINY ONE BY ANY MEASUREMENT . 
ONLY THOSE WEST BERLINERS WHO HAVE IMMEDIATE RELATIVES IN THE COMMUNIST 
PART OF THE CITY MAY PASS THROUGH THE FIVE SPECIAL ENTRY 
POINTS DESIGNATED BY THE EAST GERMANS . PASSES, ISSUED BY EAST 
GERMAN POSTAL OFFICIALS, ARE GOOD THROUGH JAN . 5, BUT ONLY 
FROM 7 A.M . TO MIDNIGHT, EXCEPT ON NEW YEAR'S DAY 
WHEN THE PASS HOLDERS MAY STAGGER BACK AS LATE AS 5 
A.M . THOUGH SOME 800,000 WEST BERLINERS QUALIFY FOR THE PASSES, 
MANY OF THEM ARE FLUCHTLINGE REFUGEES FROM EAST GERMANY WHO WOULD 
BE NABBED BY THE VOPOS THE MOMENT THEY CROSSED THE WALL 
AND THEREFORE WILL NOT DARE TO TRY IT . TEARS & 
BRANDY . BUT DESPITE RESTRICTIONS AND RED TAPE, SOME HALF A 
MILLION WEST BERLINERS WILL PROBABLY MAKE THE SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY BEFORE THE 
HOLIDAY SEASON ENDS MANY OF THEM MORE THAN ONCE . TEARS 
AND BRANDY FLOWED AS THE FIRST VISITORS CROSSED THE WALL . 
GRANDPARENTS SIZED UP SNOW-SUITED TWO-YEAR-OLDS THEY HAD NEVER SEEN EXCEPT IN 
PHOTOGRAPHS . " DOES THE BABY MEET THE FAMILY STANDARDS ? 
" ASKED ONE PROUD WEST GERMAN MOTHER . " JA, SCHON, 
" WEPT THE GRANDMOTHER . ALTHOUGH THE WEST BERLINERS ARRIVED LADEN 
WITH EVERYTHING FROM LEBKUCHEN TO LONG UNDERWEAR, NOT ALL THE GIFTS 
CAME FROM THEIR SIDE OF THE WALL . ONE EAST GERMAN 
LAD BLEW A YEAR'S SAVINGS ON TWO GEESE, A SWEATER AND 
A BOTTLE OF BRANDY TO WELCOME HIS LONG-IMMURED RELATIVES . SOME 
WESTERN DIPLOMATS FELT THE COMMUNIST CHRISTMAS PRESENT WAS WRAPPED IN BLACKMAIL, 
NERVOUSLY AWAITED ULBRICHT'S NEXT MOVE . BUT THOUGH THE HOLE IN 
THE WALL WILL BE SEALED UP AFTER THE HOLIDAY SEASON, IT 
WILL NEVER SEEM SO IMPENETRABLE AGAIN . AFTER THIS BRIEF, TANTALIZING 
BREACH, THE WALL'S UGLY MASONRY WILL LOOK ALL THE MORE INTOLERABLE 
TO EAST AND WEST BERLINER ALIKE . 