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Drawing upon official minutes stored in former Central Committee archives in Moscow, this essay documents the talks held by Warsaw Pact leaders from 3 August to 15 August 1961 during which the question of a peace treaty with Germany was discussed. The excerpts from the speeches given by the Communist leaders reveal that all were resigned to the fact that the West would not accept a treaty which included a provision establishing a so-called "free city of West Berlin". It was also clear that the "wooing away" of the GDR's work force, in other words the mass flight of its citizens to the West, could only be halted by closing the border between East and West Berlin, inasmuch as improvement of the GDR's economic situation seemed unlikely. Were the GDR to act alone, economic sanctions by the West had to be expected. The readiness of other Warsaw Pact members to support the GDR such an eventuality was definitely limited. Furthermore, the minutes make clear that for the Soviet leadership it was not ultimately a question of unity on the Berlin and German question, but a matter of strengthening the unity of Socialist countries under Soviet leadership which was threatened by China and Albania. (Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte / FUB)