22 November 1961 · Over the wall · Bernauer Straße
Bernd Sp. leaves only his briefcase behind
Unseen by the guards, Bernd Sp. came from the Kobold works, used a door propped against a yard wall and climbed the Wall; his forgotten briefcase gave him away the next morning.
On the evening or during the night of 22 November 1961 Bernd Sp. escaped without being seen by the guards. He approached the border from the grounds of the Kobold works and reached the back yard of the house at Brunnenstraße 139.
He got over the yard's boundary wall with the help of a door leaned at an angle against it, which put him directly behind the border wall. From there he climbed over the Wall into the West unhindered.
He left his briefcase behind. The guards found it the next morning, and with the People's Police they reconstructed the escape, his route and his identity.
Sources
- Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer – Bereich C: Der Bau der Mauer (Orientierungsplan und Ereignismarken), marker C 403Stiftung Berliner Mauer
- C 403 – Digital Guide, Berlin Wall MemorialStiftung Berliner Mauer
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