23 August 1961 · Over the wall
Over the wire with a ladder at Groß Ziethen
On 23 August 1961 an unknown man used a ladder to climb the border barrier at Groß Ziethen, south of Berlin, and got into West Berlin.
Groß Ziethen (today Großziethen) is a village on the southern edge of West Berlin. In August 1961 its stretch of the border belonged to the sector of the Blankenfelde border unit.
The Stasi situation report of 24 August 1961 lists, among five breakthroughs from the GDR into West Berlin on 23 August, an unknown man who climbed over the border barrier in the locality of Groß Ziethen with the help of a ladder.
Nothing more is known about him: the report gives no time, no exact place and no description.
Sources
- Jahrgang 1961: Lage nach dem Bau der Berliner Mauer (7) – Bericht Nr. 477/61, 24. August 1961Stasi-Unterlagen-Archiv (DDR im Blick)
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