16 October 1961 · Window jumps · Bernauer Straße
Family D. jumps onto a truck's tarpaulin
A long-planned escape: at 12.30 a truck pulled up and a couple, their 15-year-old son and a friendly couple jumped onto its canvas cover.
Family D. had decided to leave long before and prepared their escape from their first-floor flat at Bernauer Straße 23. When the guards broke open the flat afterwards, they found that "all valuables and items of clothing of value" were missing.
At about 12.30 on 16 October 1961 a truck drove up in front of the house. The couple and their 15-year-old son jumped onto its tarpaulin.
A friendly couple escaped with them; they had already been resettled from their own flat on Swinemünder Straße.
Sources
- Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer – Bereich C: Der Bau der Mauer (Orientierungsplan und Ereignismarken), marker C 392Stiftung Berliner Mauer
- C 392 – Digital Guide, Berlin Wall MemorialStiftung Berliner Mauer
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The Mathern family leaves by the ground floor
Alarmed when the first front doors on Bernauer Straße were locked, the Mathern family fled from their ground-floor flat on 17 August 1961.
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Three generations jump into the net at Bernauer Straße 10
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