3 June 1973 · Hidden in vehicles
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.
At about 11.50 p.m. on 3 June 1973 the GDR control at the Drewitz crossing arrested two West Berliners travelling on the transit route from West Germany: Georg Burggraf, born in 1937, an electrician who owned a building-cleaning firm, and a temporary secretary at his firm ("Aushilfssekretär") born in 1958. They had tried to take East Germans to West Berlin hidden in the boot of the car Burggraf was driving.
Proceedings were opened against both and against the East Germans; the case of the younger man was to be dealt with quickly because of his age. The report does not say how many people were in the boot.
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. 507/73 über die Verhinderung der Ausschleusung von DDR-Bürgern nach der BRD bzw. nach Berlin (West)DDR im Blick (Stasi-Unterlagen-Archiv)
Facts checked against the sources: November 2026
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Cite this page
Berlin Experiences, “A cleaning-firm owner with East Germans in his car boot at Drewitz”, Berlin Wall Escapes, 2026, https://berlinwallescapes.com/escapes/georg-burggraf-boot-drewitz-1973/ (accessed [date]).
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