7 September 1961 · Hidden in vehicles
A dental assistant from Leipzig is taken to West Berlin in a car boot
A Stasi case file records that on 7 September 1961 a dental assistant from Leipzig was taken to West Berlin in the boot of a car; she later returned to the GDR.
According to the catalogue of a Stasi case file, a dental assistant from Leipzig was helped to flee to West Berlin in the boot of a car on 7 September 1961. The file holds photographs of the car and of the place on the transit autobahn towards the Drewitz border crossing where she was picked up, and records her later return to the GDR. The case was one of 'Verleitung zum Verlassen der DDR' (inducing someone to leave the GDR); it includes a court file and a file of the public prosecutor of the Neubrandenburg district.
Sources
Whose account is this? Told from a GDR record only: documents of the GDR’s police, Stasi or border troops. No other account of the event is cited.
GDR records
- Verleitung zum Verlassen der DDR aufgrund der Fluchthilfe einer Zahnarzthelferin aus Leipzig am 7. September 1961 im Kofferraum eines PKW nach Berlin (West): Bd. 1: Untersuchungsvorgang (BArch MfS GH/25/64 Bd. 1)Bundesarchiv, Stasi-Unterlagen-Archiv (catalogue via Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek)
Known from a single report line: the source says no more than this page.
Facts checked against the sources: November 2026
Spotted an error, or know more about this story? Email us a correction or addition
Cite this page
Berlin Experiences, “A dental assistant from Leipzig is taken to West Berlin in a car boot”, Berlin Wall Escapes, 2026, https://berlinwallescapes.com/escapes/drewitz-car-boot-1961-09-07/ (accessed [date]).
Related escapes
3 June 1973
A cleaning-firm owner with East Germans in his car boot at Drewitz
Georg Burggraf, owner of a West Berlin building-cleaning firm, and a young assistant were arrested at Drewitz with East Germans hidden in the boot of his car.
5 August 1973
Two East Germans in a hiding place in a West Berlin student's van at Drewitz
A Free University student from West Berlin was arrested at the Drewitz crossing with two East Germans in a hiding place built into his small van.
24 August 1973
A teacher and her two children in a Ford boot at Drewitz
A West Berlin television technician working for the Jensch organisation was caught at Drewitz with a Friedrichshain teacher and her children, aged nine and six, in the boot of his Ford.
26 August 1973
An engineer in the boot of an Opel at Drewitz, for 5,000 DM a head
Two West Berliners recruited by an escape organisation were arrested at Drewitz with an East German engineer in the boot of their Opel.