View from the West: Soviet Tanks in East Berlin (June 17, 1953) For residents of West Berlin, the deployment of Soviet tanks in the Eastern zone came as a shock. In this June 17th photograph, Berliners standing in the British portion of Potsdamer Platz watch as Soviet tanks drive across Leipziger Platz and down Leipziger Straße in the Soviet sector. Photo by Benno Wundshammer.