26 August 1973 · Hidden in vehicles
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.
At about 10.15 p.m. on 26 August 1973 two West Berliners, a printing worker born in 1942 and a car mechanic born in 1946, were arrested at the Drewitz crossing. They had tried to take an East German graduate engineer to West Berlin in the boot of the Opel driven by the first man.
According to the Stasi report a West Berlin escape organisation had recruited them in mid-August 1973 for several runs on the transit route; they had agreed to bring out an engineer and a woman for 5,000 DM a head ("Kopfgeld von je 5 000 DM").
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
- Information Nr. 874/73 über die Festnahme von zwei Einwohnern von Berlin (West) wegen des Versuchs des staatsfeindlichen MenschenhandelsDDR im Blick (Stasi-Unterlagen-Archiv)
Facts checked against the sources: November 2026
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Cite this page
Berlin Experiences, “An engineer in the boot of an Opel at Drewitz, for 5,000 DM a head”, Berlin Wall Escapes, 2026, https://berlinwallescapes.com/escapes/engineer-opel-boot-drewitz-1973/ (accessed [date]).
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