April 1965 · False papers and disguises
A West Berliner jailed after an East German fled on his papers, April 1965
In April 1965 an East German used a West Berliner's identity papers to flee to the West; the West Berliner, who had visited relatives in East Berlin that weekend, was jailed there, the AP reported.
The Associated Press reported from Berlin on 18 April 1965 that a West Berliner who had visited relatives in East Berlin that weekend was in jail because his identity papers had been used by an East German to flee to the West.
The report as read gives neither the crossing point nor the day of the escape.
Sources
Whose account is this? Told from a press report only.
Press
- West Berliner Arrested As East German Flees (19 April 1965)The New York Times (AP)
Facts checked against the sources: October 2026
Spotted an error, or know more about this story? Email us a correction or addition
Cite this page
Berlin Experiences, “A West Berliner jailed after an East German fled on his papers, April 1965”, Berlin Wall Escapes, 2026, https://berlinwallescapes.com/escapes/east-german-papers-used-by-west-berliner-1965/ (accessed [date]).
Related escapes
16 August 1965
In the shadow of a tourist bus at Checkpoint Charlie
A young man walked out of the Checkpoint Charlie control area unchecked, keeping to the blind side of a West German coach full of American tourists.
September 1961
Ingrid crosses at Friedrichstraße on her fiancé's sister's US passport
In late September 1961 a graduate student in West Berlin walked his East Berlin fiancée, her hair dyed to match the photo, through the Friedrichstraße/Zimmerstraße crossing on his sister's US passport.
21 October 1961
Hasso Herschel leaves on a Swiss passport
Weeks after the Wall went up, the later tunnel builder Hasso Herschel left East Berlin on someone else's Swiss passport and immediately began looking for a way to get his sister out.
May 1962
Reinhard Spiller drives his parents out on a forged diplomatic pass
In 1962 the engineering student Reinhard Spiller, who had got to West Berlin himself two days after the Wall went up, drove his parents out through Checkpoint Charlie using a fellow student's Austrian passport and a forged diplomatic pass, then helped about 50 more people out the same way.