5 September 1988 · Over the wall
Two young metalworkers set off the alarm lights and still get through at Buckow
At 3.20 a.m. on 5 September 1988 two metalworkers aged 18 and 21 climbed the barriers between the Groß Ziethen allotment colony and Buckow; they triggered the alarm lights but the guards did not stop them.
At 3.20 a.m. on Monday 5 September 1988 two young metalworkers, aged 18 and 21, crossed the border installations between Buckow in the West Berlin borough of Neukölln and the allotment colony at Groß Ziethen on the GDR side.
They set off the alarm lights, but the border troops did not stop them. Once in West Berlin they reported to the police.
Theirs was the latest in a chain of escapes over the previous days and weeks. The taz noted that the border troops had stopped three attempts by force but had used their weapons only once, and had wounded no one. The Senate chancellery condemned the shooting but would not speculate on the reasons for the wave; its spokesman said such phases had 'always happened now and then' and saw no sign that the order to shoot had been relaxed for the Leipzig trade fair.
Hildebrandt, chairman of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft 13. August, held the weather and the media partly responsible: attempts were generally more frequent in summer, and reports of successful escapes encouraged mostly young people to try.
Sources
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Related escapes
19 April 1988
Building cleaner's window-ladder escape
A 31-year-old building cleaner used a window-cleaning ladder to cross every barrier from Treptow into Neukölln while two guards fired 18 shots at him without a hit.
16 July 1988
Over the gate and into the control area at Checkpoint Charlie
A 23-year-old lorry driver working on Berlin building sites climbed a gate and a wire fence and tried to get through the control area at Checkpoint Charlie. People on the western viewing platform watched his arrest, and Western media published photos taken from there.
25 September 1988
Two young men run through the Brandenburg Gate and stop at a warning shot
On the evening of 25 September 1988 two young East Berliners ran through the Brandenburg Gate towards the West; they stopped when a guard fired a warning shot and were led away.
28 September 1988
Two get over the Wall at Bethaniendamm under fire; their companion is caught
At about 12.30 p.m. on 28 September 1988 two East Berliners aged 20 and 21 climbed the Wall at Bethaniendamm into Kreuzberg despite shots; a 20-year-old woman who wanted to go with them was arrested.
