This freight train has just emerged from the fog near the Brocken summit as it has been stopped by two soldiers of the GDR border troops. They will now very carefully inspect the complete train and search for persons attempting to flee the GDR. In the former GDR, the border troops were closely watched to ensure that they could not take advantage of their inside knowledge to escape across the inner German border. Patrols were always manned by two or three guards at a time. They were not allowed to go out of each others' sight in any circumstances. If a guard attempted to escape, his colleagues were under instructions to shoot him without hesitation or prior warning. 2500 did escape to the West, 5500 more were caught and put to jail and a number were killed or injured in the attempt. A Bernd Seiler charter.