April 20, 2018 Comments Off on How people managed to escape the Berlin Wall Views: 1793 Berlin, Virtual Memoirs

Most of the latter part of the past century was marked with the existence of the Berlin Wall, the Iron Curtain, one of the most notorious landmark features in the world, which deeply divided the 20th-century society. This was the wall that emerged in the aftermath of Berlin’s division among its occupants–France, U.K, U.S., and the Soviet Union–following the end of World War Two. Things moved in the wrong direction as escalations between the U.S. and Soviet sides dramatically escalated. These were the days of the Cold War.

Except for the Soviet Union, the other countries (or the Allies) did start to work on restoring Berlin, which was, more or less battered after the war. The Allies acted united on the west side of Berlin, and this part of the city quickly became more developed. On the other side, the east of the city stayed behind, and, a significant number of people used an opportunity to defect from the east or the then-known German Democratic Republic to the west… before the wall became a reality one grumpy morning in 1961.

It took the Soviets several years to entirely complete and strengthen the wall; it was an expensive and time-consuming project, made to protect people further defecting to the west, among other things. Another excuse for the wall was the fear of foreign spies and surveillance, which for the Soviets was unacceptable, although they themselves practiced it on their own people. But even a wall did not prevent people from wanting to escape a country where resources were scarce and where you needed to wait in a queue to purchase some of the most basic supplies for your kitchen. Estimates tell that about 5,000 individuals decided to give their shot to escape the East Berlin.

The stories of how people attempted defecting to West Berlin have become part of the collective memory of Berliners. While over a hundred of people have died in trying to pass through the wall in one way or another, others, who have perhaps been more fortunate, were, at the other end, able to tell a unique story how they made it through.

Like those who came on the other side on the nights of 3rd and 4th October, the now distant 1964. The channel that was opened through these two days is considered to have helped one of the largest mass escapes routes from east to west Berlin since the wall erected. Reportedly, some 57 people managed to sneak in through a tunnel underneath an apartment block in Strelitzer Straße. This escapade channel is now known as the Tunnel 57, and the people who used it came out on Bernauer Straße, underneath what was an abandoned bakery object.

The route might have functioned for a longer period if it wasn’t for two East Berlin guards who appeared on the site on the second night. There were shootings. One of the guards was killed by a person who helped the escape action, and that same person ended up severely wounded himself. A memorial plaque on the location has been installed to commemorate the events and the Tunnel 57.

As War History Online further writes, there was an escape also on a tightrope. This creative escapade concerns a trapeze artist from East Berlin who was not allowed to perform because of his anti-communist beliefs, and the German Democratic Republic was all about communism. His name was Horst Klein and after he complained that he needed the circus and the performances as much he needed the oxygen in the air, he went on to make the most famous move he ever did in his entire life. He passed the wall in December 1962 with the help of… electricity cable.

Klein reportedly perched on an electricity pole near the Wall and used a cable that hung over the notorious Death Strip in between the two walls. At the end of his effort he nearly lost all energy, but somehow made it on the other side and fell from the cable into West Berlin.

Klein was fortunate and so were people who used hot air balloon for their arduous journey from the east to the west. This story concerns Hans Peter Stelczyk, an aircraft mechanic by occupation. Reportedly, Stelczcyk picked the idea to use a hot air balloon to escape after watching an East German TV show about the history of balloons. He then asked one of his friends, Gunter Wetzel, a bricklayer by occupation, if he was up to device their own hot air balloon. His friend accepted the request. The pair worked hard to produce a hot air balloon and a mechanism for it, and though their initial attempts failed, at the end the two men managed to fly their families above the wall. Their fortunate date was 16 September 1979 when they logged about half an hour flight time.

Last but not least the story of the three brothers, who, one by one all defected from East Berlin to the other side. First to go was Ingo, in 1974, when he somehow managed to escape through minefields and fences, to finally use the Elbe river to escape East Berlin. The second brother was Holger, who, in 1983 used a zip line he produced himself to get to West Berlin. Only the third brother, called Egbert was now left on the other side, however, he was lucky to have siblings such as Ingo and Holger.

After Ingo and Holger reunited in West Berlin, they produced a wholesome plan how to rescue Egbert. Reportedly, they went so far that they learned how to operate with planes. After that, they took two ultralight planes, painting them and camouflaging them Soviet. Their fearsome attempt occurred in May 1989 when they also disguised themselves as Soviet soldiers and flew the planes into East Berlin only to pick up their brother. Finally, all three brothers were reunited, although, if Ingo and Holger waited a little bit more, they could have spared themselves the trouble. The Berlin Wall fell later that year, on 9 November 1989.

Normally, until then, people who wanted to escape considered all available options how to escape the east side, and the most lengthy routes included Hungary, Yugoslavia and going across the Baltic Sea. Sadly, not everyone made it through.

We also thought to remind you of Tempelhof, the abandoned Berlin airport that became a huge recreational park for public use

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